Let's do it.
Amen. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. We're going to get started with song number 210 as you find your seats.
Song number 210, Wonderful Grace of Jesus. Song number 210. And if you are able to, let's all stand together for song number 210.
Song number 210. We'll see it on that first verse.
Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin. How shall my tongue describe it? Where shall its praise begin?
Taking away my burden, setting my spirit free. For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus, deeper than the mighty rolling sea.
Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain, all sufficient grace for even me.
Broader than the scope of my transgressions, greater more than all my sin and shame.
O magnify the precious name of Jesus, praise His name.
Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching to all the lost. By it I have been pardoned and saved to the utter most.
Chains have been torn asunder, giving me liberty. For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus, deeper than the mighty rolling sea.
Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a mountain, all sufficient grace for even me.
Broader than the scope of my transgressions, greater more than all my sin and shame.
O magnify the precious name of Jesus, praise His name.
Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching the mostly found. By its transforming power, making Him God's dear child.
Purchasing peace and heaven for all eternity. And the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus, deeper than the mighty rolling sea.
Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a mountain, all sufficient grace for even me.
Broader than the scope of my transgressions, greater more than all my sin and shame.
O magnify the precious name of Jesus, praise His name.
Wonderful seeing the Son of our service with a word of prayer. Dear God and my Father, we thank you so much for just allowing us to be here in your house.
We thank you so much for your wonderful grace, Lord God, that saves us.
And Lord, we do pray that you please just bless every aspect of the service.
Please bless the singing unto you and most of all the preaching of your word.
Please fill our passion with your Holy Spirit, Lord God, guide him through the scriptures.
Bring to the remembrance of the things that he has studied, Lord God.
I pray that you would also just be with us in the congregation.
Help us, Lord God, to just have open ears and open hearts to receive your word with gladness as well.
I pray now these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
You may be seated at song number 66 at Calvary.
Song number 66.
Song number 66 is our second song.
We'll sing it on that first verse.
Years I spent in vanity and pride,
caring God my Lord was crucified,
knowing not it was for me time on Calvary.
Mercy there was great and grace was free,
pardon there was multiply to me,
there my burdens so found liberty at Calvary.
By God's word at last my sin I learned,
then I tremble at the light,
until my guilty soul imploring turn to Calvary.
Mercy there was great and grace was free,
pardon there was multiply to me,
there my burdens so found liberty at Calvary.
All the love that true salvation's planned,
all the grace that brought it down to man,
all the mighty gold that God did spend at Calvary.
Mercy there was great and grace was free,
pardon there was multiply to me,
there my burdens so found liberty at Calvary.
Now I've given to Jesus everything,
now I gladly won't have asked my King,
now my rapture song can only sing of Calvary.
Mercy there was great and grace was free,
pardon there was multiply to me,
there my burdens so found liberty at Calvary.
Alright great singing, thank you for being here tonight,
welcome to First Works Baptist Church,
just a few announcements before we sing our next song,
which will be 349, The Comforter Has Come,
song number 349, if you want to get that ready.
Of course our Sunday morning service is at 1030 Sunday evening at 5pm,
and then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock,
and we are currently going through the book of Matthew,
so I hope to see you during our midweek service.
You see the soul winning times and teams,
if you want to learn how to preach the gospel,
you can see me after the service to be placed on a team,
so you can receive some training there,
and then you see the expecting mothers list,
if you can keep them in prayer,
and then the important reminders there at the bottom.
Tomorrow is the TJ soul winning,
and we'll meet here at the building at approximately 9 o'clock,
and then we'll head out to TJ,
and so if you'd like to participate in that,
you can see brother Ulysses for more details,
but you do need your passport in order to cross back into the United States.
We will have dinner out there,
and so please be in prayer that we'd see a lot of people saved tomorrow,
and that God will just prepare the hearts of the people we're going to speak to.
There's actually a family out there who lives in TJ,
and there are new IFB listeners,
and so they're going to be joining us tomorrow,
so we're looking forward to that,
and Lord willing, we'll just get a lot done tomorrow.
And then this coming Saturday, September 16th,
is the Fontana Soul Winning Marathon.
That'll be at 9.30 a.m.
If you could do us a favor,
and if you're going to participate in that,
please sign up in the back, okay,
because we need a head count of everyone who's going to be there.
We'll meet at Veterans Park.
You have the address there.
That'll be at 9.30,
and so it'll be a regular marathon schedule from 9.30 to 11.30 will be the first half.
Then we'll have some lunch,
and then after that we'll have the second half as well,
and so pray that we see a lot of people saved on that day,
but make sure you sign up in the back if you're going to be coming to that.
And then next Sunday is our sixth year anniversary,
and just praising God for a great six years of our church's existence.
We will have lunch and cake after the morning service,
and so I want to encourage you to bring your family and friends
and just a visitor on that day,
and of course the sermon will be geared towards the anniversary.
And then on Friday, September 29th, is the homeschool field trip.
That'll be at Kids Space Children's Museum meeting there at 9.45,
and then the address is there as well,
and so if you'd like to be a part of that,
of course you have to be homeschooling your kids,
but if you want to participate you can see my wife for more details.
Of course that activity is free, and so just keep that in mind.
And then you see the regular reminders there at the bottom.
Please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching
so as to not be a distraction during the service.
Let's take some soul winning numbers from this past week.
Salvations from Monday to Thursday.
Any salvations from Monday to Thursday?
Three.
How about Friday and Saturday?
Salvations for Friday and Saturday?
One.
And then this afternoon.
Salvations for this afternoon?
Five.
Five for Brother Marcus' team?
One.
One for Brother Cody's team?
One for Brother Maury's team?
One.
One for Brother Elise's team?
Did I miss anybody?
Going once, twice, thrice.
All right, keep up the great work.
Let's go in and sing our next song.
349, The Comforter Has Come.
Song number 349, The Comforter Has Come.
Song number 349, see it on that first verse.
Oh, spread the tidings round
Wherever man is found
Wherever human hearts
And human hopes abound
Let every Christian tongue
Proclaim the joyful sound
The Comforter has come
The Holy Ghost from heaven
The Father's promise give
Oh, spread the tidings round
Wherever man is found
The Comforter has come
The long long night is past
The morning breaks at last
And hushed a dreadful wail
At fury of last
As o'er the golden hills
The day advances fast
The Comforter has come
The Holy Ghost from heaven
The Father's promise give
Oh, spread the tidings round
Wherever man is found
The Comforter has come
Lo, the great King of kings
With healing in his wings
To every captive soul
The Lord of all his praise
And through the vacant cells
The song of triumph rings
The Comforter has come
The Holy Ghost from heaven
The Father's promise give
Oh, spread the tidings round
Wherever man is found
The Comforter has come
Oh, boundless love divine
How shall the song of mine
Two wondering mortals tell
The matchless grace divine
That I, a child of hell
Should in his image shine
The Comforter has come
The Holy Ghost from heaven
The Father's promise give
Oh, spread the tidings round
Wherever man is found
The Comforter has come
Amen. Wonderful seeing you.
At this time, our ushers will be receiving the offering.
And please turn your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 4.
piano plays softly
Good evening, tonight we're in Ephesians chapter 4.
And the Bible reads,
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you
that you walk worthy of your vocation,
wherewith ye are called with all lowliness and meekness,
the suffering forbearing one another in love,
endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit,
even as ye are called in one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all,
who is above all and through all and in you all.
But unto every one of us is given grace
according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Wherefore he saith, when he ascendeth up on high,
he leave captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.
Now that he ascended, what is it but
that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same also
that ascended up far above all heavens,
that he might fulfil all things.
And he gave some apostles and some prophets
and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
for the perfecting of the saints
and for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ,
that 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,
that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro
and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men
and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
But speaking the truth in love,
may grow up into him in all things which is the head of even Christ,
from whom the whole body fitly joined together
and compacted by that which every joint supplieth
according to the effectual working and the measure of every part,
maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
This I say therefore and testify in the Lord
that she henceforth walk not after as other Gentiles walked
in the vanity of their mind,
having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them because of the blindness of their heart,
who being past feeling have given themselves over to lasciviousness
to work all uncleanness with greediness.
But ye have not so learned Christ,
if so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him
as the truth is in Jesus,
that ye put off the former conversation the old man,
which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust,
and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
and that ye put on the new man which after God is created
in righteousness and true holiness.
Wherefore putting away lying speak every man truth with his neighbor,
for we are members one of another.
Be angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath,
neither give place to the devil.
Let him that stole steal no more,
but rather let him labor working with his hands the thing which is good
that he may have to give to him that needeth.
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,
but that which is good to the use of edifying,
that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
And grief not the Holy Spirit of God,
whereby ye are sealed into the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking
be put away from you with all malice.
And be kind one to another, tender hearted,
forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Let's pray, dear Lord God, thank you for this church you've given us, Lord,
and the Bible you've given us, Lord, and for salvation.
We thank you for pastor as well and pray that you bless him right now
as he preaches your word unto us, Lord.
And just give him boldness and give us and the congregation ears to hear,
Lord, we pray this all in Jesus' name, Amen.
Okay, Amen, we are in Ephesians chapter 4,
and the title of my sermon tonight is,
It's Not Enough, It's Not Enough.
Look at verse 28, it says,
Let him that stole steal no more,
but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good,
that he may have to give to him that needeth.
And we'll come back to that verse in just a little bit,
but the title of my sermon is, It's Not Enough.
You can't really expect in a Christian life to do the bare minimum
and expect maximum results, right?
The bare basics are good, however, it's not going to yield an incredible payoff.
And sometimes you have to realize that it's just not enough.
Doing the bare basics sometimes is just not enough
in order to get exceeding and incredible results and incredible payoff.
Now let me just say this, in a Christian life,
you can be right with God doing the bare basics, okay?
You can be right with God doing the bare minimum,
doing the bare basics, you know, attending one service out of the week
can still keep you right with God.
God, His hand can still be on you, His blessing can be on you,
there's nothing wrong with that.
Reading a chapter a day, you can still be right with God
reading a chapter of the Bible a day,
doing the bare minimum requirements in found in the Word of God
can still yield a blessed Christian life, okay?
So don't misunderstand what I'm saying tonight.
If you're a Christian who just does the bare minimum,
you do just the bare basics, it doesn't mean God's not going to bless you,
it doesn't mean God is going to chastise you,
it doesn't mean you're a bad Christian,
it just means you're not going to yield an incredible amount of results
because of the fact that the principle is,
bare minimum effort cannot produce maximum results, okay?
We have to realize that.
Exceeding rewards behooves exceeding effort, okay?
So if you want to get rewarded greatly in the Christian life
and be blessed greatly of God, you have to put in the effort for that.
Now, this isn't referring to salvation, okay?
The exceeding effort for salvation was given on the behalf of Christ, right?
We're talking about the Christian life,
and here's the thing is obviously I'm preaching to the choir here
because this is a Sunday night service, okay?
And a Sunday night service is a group of people
who obviously are trying to yield some pretty good results
so they realize that it requires a good amount of effort to do so.
So let me give you some illustrations
to kind of explain what I'm referring to in this particular sermon.
You know, you think about a job.
To get a job, you put in a resume, get a job,
you work your hours, and get a paycheck.
Pretty simple, right?
You work your 40 hours or whatever,
and you get your paycheck, and you just have that job,
and basically you could essentially be a good employee
by fulfilling the bare minimum requirements of that job, right?
Just putting in the 40 hours, coming into work on time,
leaving on time, doing and taking care of your basic responsibilities
will yield a paycheck at the end of the week or biweekly or whatever it may be.
However, if you want to get a raise, if you want to get a promotion,
if you want to become someone important in that company,
you know, it requires more than just that.
It requires for you to do that which is not necessarily in the job description, right?
To kind of go the second mile, do more than is required of you
in order for you to receive that promotion and become a manager, a supervisor,
and ultimately one day to take over that company, okay?
Whatever it may be.
But you understand what I'm saying is that it doesn't take much.
You can do the bare minimum and just get the job, and you know what?
You'd be a good employee, but to move up in that job,
to become an important person and actually get a raise
and get paid a good amount more than you're getting paid for the bare minimum
requires a lot more work.
Here's another example.
When you think of boxing or fighting, any type of fighting competition,
you know, you can do decent just defending yourself the entire fight.
You know, not getting hit and defending yourself and, you know,
just avoiding the takedowns.
Let's just say MMA, for example, you avoid and you're blocking.
But you know, if that's what you do the entire fight,
you're not necessarily going to win now, are you?
Why? Because, you know, a good fight,
if you want to come out on top, not only requires good defense,
it requires an offense as well.
You know, you're not going to get a knockout by only defending yourself, okay?
And in fact, you're not necessarily even going to get any points.
Let's say it goes to a unanimous decision.
Let's say we're talking about jiu-jitsu or something like that
or even Muay Thai kickboxing.
I'm not sure how the points work with MMA,
but I'm sure there's a point system there to a certain extent.
You're not going to necessarily come out on top
and become the victor in that particular fight by only defending yourself.
You actually have to have some sort of offense, operation of offense.
You want a knockout.
You want a submission of some sort.
You can do pretty well just defending yourself, not getting hurt,
not getting knocked out, but in order to win,
you've got to make sure you actually have a good offense as well.
Here, let me give you another illustration to kind of help us understand
what I'm referring to here.
I think of, for example, something that's very near and dear to my heart,
which is powerlifting.
In order for you to get strong in powerlifting,
you can't just lift weights.
You actually have to eat a lot of protein.
So if you're only lifting weights
and you're just lifting weights, lifting weights week in and week out,
you're actually going to be spinning your wheels
because of the fact that when you lift weights,
you're breaking down the muscle tissue,
but if you're not getting a good amount of sleep,
you're not getting rest, you're not eating enough protein,
then the muscle that's being broken down is not going to be built up again stronger
because you're not necessarily putting in what you're giving out.
You understand?
Yeah, you'll be able to maybe squat some more.
You'll be able to deadlift some more.
You'll get a little stronger, but eventually you're going to cap out
because powerlifting is just not enough.
I'm going to preach to myself right now.
I'm going to preach against myself right now.
I have this coach who coaches me on powerlifting,
and he always gives me these crazy accessories,
and I always skip the accessories.
Maybe not always, but most of the time I skip the accessories
because he gives me like, for example,
tomorrow I haven't even looked at my program.
That's at the end of the day.
I have two sets of squats, and it's like ten sets of four,
and then it's just like a back-off set of one set of five
or something like 300, 315 or something,
and then I have to do deadlifts after that, which is another two sets,
and then after that it's just like I have to do RDLs,
Bulgarian split squats, and those are ugly.
Those are atrocious.
I hate Bulgaria because of the fact they invented the Bulgarian split squat.
And then sometimes he'll have me do planks with weights on my back or something.
It's easy for me to just do the squats and the deadlifts and say,
you know what, I've done enough, that's enough,
and so I'm just going to go ahead and skip these accessories.
But the truth is that those accessories are there for a reason.
Now I'll be honest with you, tomorrow I'm skipping accessories again,
but I have a good reason for it.
You say why? Because we have TJ Soling tomorrow,
so I have to do the bare basics tomorrow.
So tomorrow I've got to get the squats and the deadlifts in
before we go to Mexico and do the real spiritual lifting.
But I'll probably skip the other accessories throughout the week too.
No, I'm just kidding.
But obviously I'm not going to see great results if I don't adhere to the program.
Now obviously when it comes to powerlifting,
if I'm going to skip something that's going to be accessories,
it's never going to be the actual basics themselves.
But at the end of the day, it's not enough to just lift.
You've got to eat well too.
It's not enough to just lift and eat well.
You've got to sleep well too.
And so you see here that sometimes even in the Christian life,
it's just not enough.
It's not enough to just do the bare basics,
do the bare minimum requirements,
if you're trying to yield some incredible results
and rewards in the Christian life.
You've got to make sure you go above and beyond that,
exceedingly abundantly above,
and that you have to essentially go the second mile in the Christian life
in order to be really successful in the Christian life.
Think about someone who wants to be a pastor, for example.
You're not going to be a pastor just reading the Bible once a year.
You're not going to be knowledgeable about the Bible,
just reading the Bible once a year.
You've got to study it day in and day out,
read it a couple times a year,
discipline yourself to actually know what the Bible says,
memorize scripture, memorize concepts of the Bible.
You're not going to be just a pastor just knowing the Bible, by the way.
There are certain requirements that you have to meet
that could be a challenge for someone to actually meet those requirements,
but you know what?
The average Christian can't be a pastor
because the average Christian only does the bare minimum,
the bare requirements, and therefore they are a novice, the Bible says,
and you can't ordain a novice.
Let's be lifted up with pride.
He falls into condemnation of the devil.
So what I'm saying here is that you have to realize that if you want to be rewarded,
if you want to succeed in your marriage, you can't just do the bare minimum.
It's like, well, I provide for my wife, so that should be enough.
No, if you want to have a successful marriage,
you've got to add a little romance into that thing.
And I've got no amens on that one.
Can I get one?
Hey, Ulysses, can I get an amen back there?
Amen, all right, here.
I could require it from him because he works here.
You've got to have some romance.
There you go, finally.
Hey, I have no problem asking the congregation to say amen either.
Can I get an amen?
It's about time, Rory.
I was wondering where you were at.
It's just like, well, I have marriage, and I'm married,
and therefore I'm successful in my marriage,
not necessarily because the bare basics of getting married is proposing,
getting married, you have that covenant, and then that's it.
No, that's not it.
If you want to have a successful marriage, you have to actually work it.
You have to work at it, invest in your marriage, date your wife,
date your spouse, and continually cultivate that relationship
as the years go by.
Marriage is not something that just you push a button
and it just takes care of itself for years on end.
You actually have to work on it.
If you don't work on it, it begins to degrade, it will atrophy,
and then you're going to find yourself in a world of trouble in the coming years.
So in order to have a successful marriage, getting married is not enough.
Getting that ring on her finger is not enough.
If you want to have a happy marriage, you actually have to go above and beyond that
and work that marriage to have a successful family.
For example, raising kids for the Lord, just having kids is just not enough.
You have to raise them in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord,
teach them the ways of God, homeschool them, teach them the Word of God,
help them to walk in the Spirit, preach the Gospel unto them.
It's a lifelong process in order to raise kids for God.
You see where I'm coming from that sometimes in the Christian life it's not enough.
It's good if you do the bare basics.
That's what's required of us as Christians.
However, if you really want to be successful in the Christian life,
you've got to go above and beyond that.
In particular, I'm going to go through some of the things that are found
specifically in Ephesians 4.
Obviously we can apply this in many different ways,
but there's actually a list in Ephesians 4 that we can cover tonight.
Look at verse 28 again.
He says there, and this is in regards to stealing,
He says here,
Let him that stole steal no more.
For a lot of people, they think to themselves,
well that's success then.
If I'm a kleptomaniac and I just like to steal,
I guess in order for me to stop having that bad habit,
I've just got to stop stealing.
It's like, oh, I'll just stop stealing.
But you know what, that's actually not enough.
Because it says there,
But rather let him labor,
working with his hands, the thing which is good,
that he may have to give to him that needeth.
So essentially this is the principle of replacement.
Not stealing is not enough.
You've got to actually replace it with a godly virtue,
such as working.
Now hold your place there, go to Exodus chapter 22,
because let's talk about stealing for a minute.
And no, no one's stealing in our church.
What inspired this sermon, pastor?
Did you catch wind of someone stealing from the offerings or something?
No, I didn't catch wind of anything.
I don't think anybody's a thief in our church.
Not that I know of, at least.
But you know what, this is a sin that's common to man,
and it's important that we talk about this.
And if you're trying to, let's say for example,
we do have someone who struggles with being a thief.
Maybe not stealing at the church or whatever,
but maybe you steal at your job.
Maybe you steal from your parents.
Maybe you steal from friends and family,
regardless of how much or how little,
regardless of what it is.
It's still stealing.
And one of the first commandments that we see in the Ten Commandments
is, thou shall not steal.
So obviously God takes this very serious.
When you take something that does not belong to you,
that God does not want you to have,
there is a couple steps that God wants you to do
in order to remedy this sin of stealing.
First and foremost is that you have to make restitution.
So when it says, let him that stole steal no more,
there's actually another step that you have to take,
and that is you have to make restitution
for the things that you took that did not belong to you.
Let's look at an example of this in the Old Testament, Exodus 22, verse number 1.
If a man shall steal an ox or a sheep and kill it or sell it,
he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.
So what does it say in here?
You know, if you go, let's say you're a thief,
and you take your neighbor's ox,
and you kill it because you want to eat it,
or you want to use it to make money so you sell it,
the Bible says that you have to restore to your neighbor
five more oxen for that one ox.
You may think to yourself, how is that even logical?
Wouldn't it make more sense to just restore one ox for that ox?
Why do I have to restore five for one?
You know why? Because it'll teach you not to steal again.
But you know what? It also teaches you another thing,
and that is, well, if I'm going to buy five oxen,
I have to work to buy five oxen,
and so once you work and you make enough money to purchase five oxen,
then you're like, that was dumb. I could have just worked to buy one ox.
You understand what I'm saying?
So the punishment of restitution not only restores that which was stolen
and gives you a distaste for theft,
but it also helps you to realize, hey dummy, you could have just worked.
Instead of stealing, you could have just worked and just earned five oxen yourself.
Instead of just one.
So you see how that works there?
It says, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.
Listen to this in verse number two.
If a thief be found breaking up and be smitten that he die,
there shall be no blood shed for him.
If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him,
for he should make full restitution.
If he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
So what is this referring to?
Well, here's the thing is that the punishment for theft
at the most basic level of just stealing possessions, such as livestock,
we're not referring to people because obviously the Bible
institutes the death penalty for kidnapping.
But when it comes to possessions, livestock, things of that nature,
the solution is restitution.
But verse number two is implying that a person is breaking into a home
to steal an ox or livestock or some sort of possession.
And obviously, if they're breaking in, they're not going to break in
during the day, right?
Most thieves, I mean, nowadays, I guess they do do it in broad daylight,
but in times past, you know, they just did it during the night
and they don't have electricity.
So the householder, the man of the house, if he hears someone
breaking into the house, he's not going to think they're trying to steal something.
He's going to think they're trying to do something nefarious,
wicked, rape, murder.
I mean, his mind can be running wild.
So in light of that, he smites the thief thinking that he's like a murderer
or something like that, and he dies.
The Bible actually says that no blood shall be shed for the person that dies.
Okay, why is that?
Because of the fact that what this is implying is that the householder
had no idea what that guy was in the house for.
So he could have been there for any reason.
He didn't know, like, hey, are you stealing something?
Yeah, okay, all right, well, whatever you take, just remember,
you know, five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.
He just hears noise.
He sees someone in there, and so he takes his life thinking that,
you know, he's got to protect his family, but no blood shall be shed for him.
But then it says in verse number three, if the sun be risen upon him.
So in other words, you know, the householder sees what he's doing.
He's picking up the television.
No televisions in those days.
But he's picking up some sort of possession or something.
He's like, okay, he's trying to steal something.
He's not trying to kill.
He's just trying to take something that doesn't belong to him.
He's stealing my property.
It says there shall be blood shed for him.
So what does this teach us?
It teaches us that the death penalty should not be instituted
for someone who steals things.
You know what?
Social media is filled with people who praise other people
for taking someone's life or stealing something.
You know, oh, they steal a case of beer, and then they run out,
and then the store clerk just shoots them with a shotgun.
And people are like, yeah, he'll think twice before he does that again.
That's wicked.
Taking someone's life for beer, for a case of beer?
I mean, folks, that's not biblical at all.
You saw what he was taking.
Now, obviously, there's instances where people go into liquor stores
or, you know, convenience stores or whatever,
and they have a gun, right?
And I'm not talking about like a beer run.
Do you guys know what I'm talking about when it comes to a beer run?
People just run in there, they grab a beer, and they just take off, right?
But there's instances where they actually hold up the place.
Well, at that point, why are we laughing about beer?
Isn't that what a beer run is?
That's what a beer run is.
Am I incorrect on that?
I've never done one, but that's what I heard.
My brother and his friend years ago when they were younger,
they did a beer run, and his friend got shot and died.
Yeah, not funny anymore now, huh?
I don't mind making a situation awkward.
But, you know, he was doing a beer run, and he took a case of beer,
and the store clerk came out with a shotgun and shot him and killed him.
He died for a case of beer.
So that's not right.
But, you know, if someone goes into a convenience store,
a liquor store with a gun, even to steal,
you know, I believe that that store clerk has every right to defend himself,
because here's the thing is that you don't know if this person is going to pull the trigger and steal,
or steal and pull the trigger because they don't want you to see his face or whatever,
or just out of passion they kill someone.
You know, at that point, that person has the right to take that person's life out of self-defense, right?
But according to the Bible, if you know what they're up to,
they're not trying to injure you in any way.
You see that they're stealing some sort of property, and you kill that person,
then you should be put to death for that, okay?
Because the death penalty is not instituted for someone who just takes a possession or steals something.
It says, if the son be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him,
for he should make full restitution.
It's like, his life is not, you shouldn't cause him to lose his life for possession.
He should, if he takes that, get the authorities involved
and have him make full restitution for what he stole.
If he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft, okay?
Referring to a bond-servant.
So if someone steals a particular possession of someone, but they have nothing to pay back,
then they're essentially, they have to work for you.
You know, I remember growing up, watching TV, and you would hear about people who like,
they have no money to pay at the restaurant.
You guys know what I'm talking about?
They don't do this anymore, but they have no money to pay for the restaurant.
And then, at the end of the show, as the credits are coming down, they're like washing dishes, right?
But that's actually like a legitimate thing to do.
That's what should be done, is put in hours for the amount that they took,
whether it's a meal or whatever it may be.
It says in verse number 4, if the theft be certainly found in his hand alive,
whether it be ox or ass or sheep, he shall restore double,
if a man shall cause a field or a vineyard to be eaten,
and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field,
of the beast of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution.
So what is he saying here?
You know, there's instances in the Old Testament where a guy is broke so he can't feed his livestock.
So he would literally take his livestock to his neighbor's vineyard during the night,
and he's just like, go ahead and eat, you know, in the vineyard.
You know, that's stealing, okay?
I don't really know a modern day example of how that would work today,
but, oh yeah, siphoning gas, that's right.
You know, and we've had that happen a couple times,
where someone has literally siphoned gas out of our church van.
You know, they need to make full restitution to give us double of that gas, especially nowadays, right?
Or how about just when people take the catalytic converter?
I mean, that happens, and people aren't getting bold with that nowadays.
Before it was like in the middle of the night, but now it's just like almost in broad daylight,
because they're so fast with it.
I remember living in Montebello, and I just hear a saw, and it was like at, I don't know, 730, maybe 8 o'clock.
I'm like, what in the world is that?
And I go outside, there's a car right in front of another vehicle.
He had a saw, and he just like takes off the catalytic converter, and in a matter of like seconds, they're gone, you know?
And I knocked on my neighbor's door, and I was like, I think they just took your catalytic,
and he's like, what?
He goes out there, and he turns on the car, and it just sounds like a monster.
You guys don't want to talk about it, because when you remove that, it just sounds terrible.
But, you know, they do that.
They should make full restitution.
Now, let me just make myself very clear, is that I don't think Christians should necessarily focus too much on restitution, right?
Like if it's possible, it's possible, but I don't think it's, I think it's a waste of time to pursue restitutions.
Because of the fact that I believe the biblical model that we see in the New Testament is that we're just, you know, we just are willing to let things go.
And we allow ourselves to be defrauded, okay?
And, you know, if they take our co, let them have our cloak also type of a thing.
And just allow yourself to, you know, because at the end of the day, we're going to lose everything anyways.
And we know that God will repay us one day.
Now, obviously, it would be great if our country and our government actually instituted these things, but they don't.
Okay?
And so, it's almost pointless to even call the police when something is stolen.
Because they're not going to do anything about it anyways.
You know, they're just, they don't care.
I mean, a church was bombed, they didn't do anything about it.
Let alone if something is stolen, nothing's going to be done about it.
So, you know, it's better to just, you know, just give it unto the Lord, you know?
I mean, I remember one time during, it was the Easter service.
We had a Sony marathon in that Easter service.
They stole our van.
And, you know, we ended up finding it like a couple blocks down and it was stripped and out of gas or whatever.
But those people didn't go to jail for it.
And even if they went to jail, they would be getting out in a couple days anyways.
So, it's not like they're going to pay me back for the lost time or for the damage that was done to the van.
You know, we just have a really stupid way of doing things in our country and the world in which we live.
This is a good way of doing it, but obviously it's not going to take place.
But it's still important to know.
It says in verse number six,
So, the Bible places a great emphasis on paying people back.
Okay?
And let me say this.
If you borrow money from someone in our church and you say you're going to pay them back, pay them back.
Don't make it all awkward where it's just like, well, hopefully there's just a really good Christian and they just forget about the whole thing or something.
Now look, if they're a really good Christian, they probably won't approach you about it.
You know what I mean?
If they're a really good Christian, they will give you that money without expecting anything in return.
And in fact, any time I give money to another brother in Christ, I don't lend money to a brother in Christ.
I just give it to them.
Because, you know, then it gets all awkward when you're in church.
Especially if they haven't paid you back.
So I'd rather just gift it unto them because I'm doing it as unto the Lord and not expect anything in return.
And plus, when you give to the poor, it's like you're lending unto the Lord anyways.
That's what the Bible says.
So God will actually repay you.
But here's the thing is that, you know, if the people you're borrowing from does not have that attitude, pay them back.
It doesn't matter how much it is either.
Hey guys, if you're like, hey, pay for my meal now and I'll get you next time, make sure you actually do it.
If you make that oath, I got you next time as an oath.
I'm not pointing at anybody, I'm just pointing out.
I don't know if anybody's done, but maybe the Lord's leading me here.
You know, if you say, you know, I got you for next time, make sure you do it.
If someone gave you a sum of money and you told them, hey, I'll pay you back.
And if they say like, hey, if you can, that's fine.
If you can't, that's fine.
Then make sure you pay that back.
Because let me explain something to you.
When someone says that to you, they're saying like, I could use that money back, but if you don't have it, it's fine.
We can forget it.
But you know what?
You don't want to just be that type of Christian that takes advantage of someone else's generosity.
And you know, they might be giving of their poverty, too.
You know, some people are gracious enough to give of their poverty.
It's not like they have a large amount of resources, but they see you in need, make sure you do that.
And you know what?
I don't think there's anything wrong with considering the cause of the poor, even within churches, too.
Okay.
And so, you know, let me also say this.
We shouldn't be Christians in our church just constantly asking for handouts, either.
Okay.
You know, if you're on a soul winning team, and you're on a soul winning team, and your soul winning team is going out to eat,
you know, either, and they're always paying for you.
I know we're getting kind of, you know, I haven't been on any soul winning team, so I haven't seen this.
But I know the nature of the beast, though.
Someone's constantly paying for you.
First of all, don't have a spirit of expectation that that person is always going to pay for you.
Secondly, be happy with whatever you get.
Don't be all picky about it.
Beggars can't be choosers.
Amen.
And then thirdly, pay back.
Get your team letter next time.
Or get whoever's paying for you next time.
Or you can say this, you know what?
I'm not going to go out with you guys today.
I'll go out with you next.
And don't try to get sympathy from people.
Oh yeah, I wish I could go, but no, you guys go on without me, you know.
I just, I'm not going to, I'm fasting today or something, you know.
Get a job.
Amen.
And let your team leader know.
And by the way, if you can't afford, if you can't afford going and buying a meal every single week,
then just tell your team leader, I'll go out with you guys once a week.
That's what I can afford right now.
And you know, if they say to you, if they say to you, well, you know, we got you one Sunday out of the week
or out of the month or whatever, then just receive and say, all right, thank you.
But you know what?
If you're constantly there and you're just expecting for people to buy your meal when you're out sowing
and you have the spirit of expectation where you're just staring at people and everyone sees,
or it's just like, well, I'm not going to eat, I'm just going to hang out.
That means please buy me a food and feel sorry for me or something.
Don't be that person.
Don't be that guy.
Okay.
Don't put people in an awkward position during sowing when you guys go out to eat,
or it's just like, oh, I'm not going to eat, I'm just here to hang out.
You're really just going to sit there and watch everyone eat.
And here's the thing.
You're going to provoke the bowels of Christians in your team to feel bad and be like, you know,
I'm just going to buy them something.
But that's not right to do.
Stop taking advantage of people and be thankful if someone does treat you out.
But you want to get to a point where you're working with your hands that which is good
and you're giving to him that needeth.
It should get to a point where you become that person who's being taken advantage of,
not the person who's taking advantage.
And I'm being facetious here.
What I'm saying is, you know, don't be that guy.
Okay.
Be thankful if someone buys you a meal.
But don't go sowing and then you go with your team
and you're just expecting for Brother Maury to pay for your meal.
Like, well, he's never going to say no, so I'm just going to, you know, I'll take a number three.
Maury, you already know what I want, right?
You got me, right?
You know.
And you know what?
Here's the thing.
There's certain people in our church that, and Maury might be one of them, I don't know.
Okay.
There's certain people in our church that won't say no.
There's generous people, you know.
And so that makes it even worse if you have that attitude of expectation.
Okay.
Don't be that person.
Get a job and earn some money and become a person who is so valuable that, you know what,
you can be a blessing and actually buy a meal for someone that's sowing.
Buy a taco or a dollar burger or something like that.
Whatever.
And so make restitution.
And if you're that person who I've just been referring to this entire time,
then get a job and let your team leader know, hey, for the next month, I'm just buying your meal.
For every single time you've ever purchased me a meal, I'm going to get you back.
Because I appreciate that.
I feel like I've got a personal testimony over here, you know.
Who's on Cody's team?
No, I'm just kidding.
Point them out.
No, I'm just kidding.
Now obviously the law of restitution doesn't apply to kidnapping.
Kidnapping requires the death penalty because God places a higher value on people than things.
Okay.
And so to steal someone is obviously a grievous sin.
It's wicked.
And often is associated with human sex trafficking and things of that nature.
And so go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3.
Now I know I chased a rabbit there, but I think that's necessary to talk about when it comes to the subject of stealing and restitution.
But let me say this, you know, if you have a problem with stealing and being a thief,
and you're like, well, I'm just going to stop stealing.
Well, that's not enough.
You need to work with your hands that which is good.
You need to labor, meaning working with your hands.
And so if you like, you're just like, well, I'm going to stop stealing.
Okay, well, here's your first step.
Make restitution for the things you stole.
Number two, get a job.
And don't try to get a perfect job either.
I hear this a lot where it's just like, well, I'm just waiting for that perfect job.
Oh man, yeah, but my boss is just like a reprobate, so I'm not going to work there.
My boss has blue hair or something like that.
Dude, everyone has blue hair nowadays.
You know, that's just the world in which we live.
Stop making excuses.
Why are you not working?
Just get a job anywhere.
And you know what?
When you clock in, you're not necessarily clocking in as Christian so and so.
You're clocking in as an employee.
Now, you should labor as a Christian.
And you shouldn't be one of these people, listen to me,
who jump from job to job to job to job to job to job to job.
Have consistency in your life.
Okay, and when I mean consistency, I mean you should be at a job for years.
It's always good to have consistency at your job for years because it shows stability.
It shows that you're not just a person who's just like,
because most people who go from job to job to job, they basically show, first and foremost,
that they can't work under an operation of a boss when they're not the boss.
So they have a problem with their supervisor.
They have a problem with their boss.
They have a problem with their environment.
And more often than not, they try to point something out in the company that's un-Christian,
and that's the reason why they want to quit their job.
But let me just let you in on a little secret here.
Pretty much every job in the world is un-Christian.
There are no jobs that are Christian jobs other than the pasturing or something.
So you're going to have some boss who cusses you out.
Who cares?
And that's another thing.
You're like, well, I want to quit my job because my boss is so hard on me.
He just yells at me.
Maybe you need to be yelled at a little bit, though.
I think you need to be yelled at a little bit.
Yeah, but he says some cuss work.
Maybe you need to be cussed out a little too, though.
Because maybe you didn't get that enough growing up.
I didn't agree growing up and being cussed out as a kid by authorities,
but I created some thick skin, and sometimes that's what young people need.
And so toughen up.
If your boss cusses you out and he's mad at you, well, then do a better job next time.
And maybe you won't get yelled at or cussed out at.
And then you'll be a boss somewhere down the road, and you can cuss people out all you want.
But you need the labor to get a job.
And there should be no job that's below you either.
As a Christian, there is no job below us because any job that we have, we do it as unto the Lord.
If you're washing dishes, praise God.
If you're a security guard, praise God.
Because you're doing it as unto the Lord anyways.
So it's an honorable job as long as it's honest.
But the point is, get a job.
Look at 2 Thessalonians 3, verse number 6.
It says,
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly,
and not after the tradition which he received of us.
For yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we behaved ourselves not disorderly among you,
neither did we eat any man's bread for naught,
but wrought with labor and travail night and day that we might not be chargeable to any of you,
not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensemble unto you to follow us.
For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, not working at all, but our busy bodies.
So why is the Apostle Paul referring to people who don't work as being disorderly?
Well because of the fact that they're not following God's order.
And God's order is for a man to work off the sweat of his brow, to provide for his household,
and to not be worse than an infidel.
So if a man is not doing that, at that point he's behaving himself disorderly,
and the result of that, the consequence of that is being a busy body.
Just getting involved in matters that doesn't pertain unto him, not working, just being a tattler,
just like it talks about in 1 Timothy 5 regarding the woman.
So he says there, if a man does not work, neither should he eat.
It says in verse 12, Now then that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ,
that with quietness they work and eat their own bread.
So listen to me, according to the Bible, not only should you not be able to eat if you don't work,
and the reason why is because food is a great motivator for work.
That's why it blows my mind.
It ticks me off every Sunday.
Some of you already know what I'm going to say.
When you're going off the freeway, and you've got this Mexican there, working his tail off,
selling you fruit, looks pretty good, in the heat, he sells flowers, he sells fruit,
what you need, he's got it.
And then, we're talking about some 35-year-old Mexican, right, hustling up and down,
because he doesn't have his papers or whatever, so he's got to make money somehow.
He's laboring.
And in that same exit, there's some 17-year-old dude begging for the money that this guy's working for.
And they end up giving it to the dude with the sign that says, you know, or whatever.
And I've seen worse signs too, by the way.
One time I saw a sign, I think you saw a sign like this too, where there's nothing on the sign.
The guy is so lazy, he's such a derelict, he doesn't have the decency to actually grab a marker
and write something, a petition on the cardboard.
He just puts the cardboard up.
He's too lazy to write.
And I guarantee you, that guy still makes more money than most of us.
Because those dudes make a lot of money, depending on where they're at.
I've heard of some getting up to $2,000 a week for literally holding up a sign.
I saw another guy that said, family kidnapped by ninjas need $1 for karate lessons or something.
I mean, at least that was good.
It was funny. I didn't give him anything.
I'm sure people gave him money for that, though.
And so you have one guy who's literally begging for money because to dig, he is ashamed.
And by the way, that guy I'm sure was born in the United States, by the way.
That's the worst part. He's born in the United States.
He could literally just go get a job anywhere and make a lot of money.
And yet this guy was not born in the United States.
He came over illegally, probably, yes.
But the guy's, and he's not even complaining.
And I guarantee you, that guy goes home at night and does not complain at all.
He brings home the bacon and feeds his 30 kids.
The other guy's just a busybody, disorderly derelict.
Don't give money to those people.
And so let me say this.
So anyways, aside from the fact that you should not eat if you don't work,
the Bible says that as Christians, we shouldn't even associate with lazy people.
That's what the Bible says.
He said withdraw yourselves from people like that.
So here's the thing, guys.
I like you, and I want to keep hanging out with you.
But if you don't get a job, I don't want nothing to do with you.
Simple as that.
And I'm not saying you have to be some CEO of a company
or be some important manager or supervisor.
Go work at Little Caesars, and then we can be friends again.
But if you're just so lazy,
and I don't even know how lazy people can even attend a church.
I mean, especially if you're laboring to go preach the Gospel,
you're laboring in the Word, but you're just unwilling to get a job.
And I don't know if anybody in here does not have a job,
but I'm sure after this sermon, whoever possibly may not have a job
will get a job this week.
In fact, there's a guy in our church. He's here tonight.
Okay, stop looking at him, John.
There's a guy in our church who wanted to come to our church for so long,
but when he finally decided to come to our church, he's like,
I can't go to church until I get a job.
He's like, I'm going to go get a job first,
and then I'm going to go to First Works Baptist Church
because I don't want to get called out for not having a job.
And you know what? Amen.
I'm friends with that guy.
That's an honorable thing to do.
I think it's great.
And so it's not enough to just not steal.
You have to make restitution.
It's not enough, by the way, to just get a job.
It has to be, it says work that which is good.
So it has to be an honest job.
No drug dealing, no Jewish predatory lending practices,
no usury.
Proverbs 28 verse 8 says,
Listen to this.
An unjust gain increases his substance.
He shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.
God does not look kindly upon you paying your bills with unjust gain
by being dishonest and stealing or whatever it may be.
I don't know how it works, especially with companies nowadays,
but kind of stealing time from your boss,
that's not right to do.
That's unjust gain.
Well, he steals time from me when he expects me to stay longer.
But here's the thing, though, as a Christian,
if your boss is expecting for you to work longer,
and let's say he doesn't pay,
are you serving your boss or are you serving your boss as unto the Lord?
Because at the end of the day, you think God doesn't see that?
You're going to end up getting paid way more in the long run
because you are being a blessing to your boss
and maybe you're being defrauded in the short term,
but I'm telling you the experience you're going to get in the long term,
the blessings you're going to get in the long term,
far outweigh the overtime that you should have gotten or something.
And so it has to be honest work.
But let me just say this, that's not enough either, though.
It says you have to give to him that need is.
So it's not enough not to steal.
You've got to labor with your hands that which is good
and then ultimately become an asset.
Right?
Be a person, a source of blessing,
where you have enough resources that when someone's in need of something,
you can give unto them.
And you know what? There's no greater joy than that.
To be able to give to someone who can't return it unto you is a blessing.
Because here's the thing.
In the Christian life, there's going to come needs.
You're going to hear about needs.
And you know what? When you're walking with God, you want to meet those needs.
But there's nothing worse than wanting to meet a need,
but you're just not capable of doing it.
That's a horrible feeling because you're like,
Man, I wish I could be a blessing to this person because they need it, but I can't.
So it's almost a blessing, not almost, it is a blessing to be a blessing.
I mean, it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Because now God has situated you in such a position in life
with the resources and money that's coming in,
that now you can be a blessing to others.
You have enough resources and funds that if a need arises,
you can take someone out to eat.
You can buy people groceries if they need it.
You can purchase a particular possession that maybe someone needs that you've heard about.
I mean, that's a blessing.
When you become the source of blessing, that is a blessing.
Now, let me say this.
Is that if you choose just not to steal,
and again, I don't think there's any thieves here,
but let's just because of the scripture calls for it.
If you're just like, Well, you know what?
I'm just not going to steal, you can be a good Christian.
Because it's good just to not steal.
It's just good not to be a thief.
However, if you want to be an exceeding good Christian,
you work with your hands that which is good,
and you give to him that needeth.
But not stealing is just not enough.
If you want to have some exceeding results and exceeding rewards and be an asset.
Go back to Ephesians chapter four, if you would.
Ephesians chapter four.
It's not enough.
See this concept here.
Let me also say this, you know, according to Ephesians four,
is, you know, it's not enough to just put off the old man either.
And here's the attitude a lot of Christians get when they first become a Christian.
It's like, Well, I just got to stop doing all this bad stuff,
all these bad habits.
And you know what, it's good to just like, stop those sinful habits.
But you know, let me say this, it's not enough.
It's good for the short term success.
It's not enough for the long term success.
Look at verse 20 says,
But ye have not so learned Christ, if so be they have heard him and have been taught by him,
as the truth is in Jesus.
So what do you need to do aside from the fact that you're adding to your faith virtue,
in other words, you're cleaning up your life,
you're not committing those particular sins or whatever it may be.
Well, you have to learn the truth, you got to learn why you're doing it.
Why? Because of the fact that it's good for you, for example, not to steal,
but it's even better for you to read the Bible as to why you shouldn't.
It's one thing to know it's not right to do this,
it's another thing to actually make it a biblical conviction.
Because things stick in the Christian life when you make it a conviction.
You understand?
That's why people struggle sometimes because they're not necessarily driven by convictions.
They kind of do the Christian life without knowing why it is that they're doing it.
You understand?
And so here it says that if you learn Christ,
you've heard him and have been taught by him,
as the truth is in Jesus referring to those biblical convictions that you end up adopting and making your own.
Your core values is what we're talking about here.
So it's not enough that you put off the old man, you also got to learn the truth.
So don't be this Christian in our church where you're like,
I hate homos too.
But why do you hate homos though?
I don't know. That's what everyone else does.
Or just be like, because they're disgusting.
You're on the right path here.
You're not far from the kingdom of heaven, amen.
But we need to kind of go through the scriptures and make it a biblical conviction of yours.
You understand?
Because we don't want you to be like a seasonal Christian.
Or it's just like you just believe it right now because that's what everyone else believes.
You should believe it because it's what the Bible says.
So you got to learn the truth.
You got to learn what the Bible actually says and adopt it and make it your personal core values and what you actually believe.
Behind closed doors, at church, at home, no matter where you are, it's like this is just what I believe always.
It's cool to not like sodomites, but you know what?
It's also biblical and that's what I believe.
You should know why you come to church.
You should know why you come to church three times a week.
If I pull you aside and say, show me a book, chapter, and verse as to why you come to church three times a week, can you answer that?
If I came to you and said, why do you read the Bible every single day?
Can you give me a book, chapter, and verse on that?
You see, it has to be a biblical conviction of yours.
Everything that we do in the Christian life should have some form of either a clear verse in the Bible or a verse where we extrapolate a principle by which we live.
You understand what I'm saying?
Because if you don't, in the long term, it's not going to stick.
Because that which is not a core value, a clear core conviction will not stick.
That's why you have pastors in their 50s and 60s who are a compromisers because they didn't really have it as a conviction in the first place.
That's why they stopped soul winning.
They started switching Bibles.
They started accepting the homeless because it was never a conviction to begin with.
It wasn't part of their core value.
You understand?
And so if you really want to believe it, you've got to see what the Bible says about it.
Why do you go soul winning?
Can you show me a book, chapter, and verse on that?
Why is it that you do the things that you do?
Those have got to be core.
It's learning the truth for yourself.
And you know what?
Maybe tonight you've got to go home and say, you know what?
Actually, I've got to look into some of these things.
I haven't really thought about that.
Hey, why do you want to have a lot of kids?
Well, because everyone else is having a lot.
Because I'm trying to be Pastor Mejia.
I'm trying to be Brother Jose.
I'm just trying to win here.
Win what?
You've got to see what the Bible says about that.
You've got to make it a core value, not just because it's cool to have a lot of kids, although
it is, but because it's biblical.
Why do you want to do it?
You should know from the Bible.
Look what it says again.
It says in verse 22, they put off concern in the form of conversation in the old man,
which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust.
But that's not enough.
Why?
Because it says there, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.
So learning the truth and then allowing yourself, listen to me, to be brainwashed by the truth.
Yeah, I said it.
The Bible has to brainwash you.
This is a Christian brainwashing institution, and I'm not afraid to admit that.
You come here, and my agenda every single Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Thursday evening is to brainwash you.
How dare you?
I'm washing your brain from all the filth, all the garbage and nonsense and false ideologies
and stupid stuff you learn in college and things you get out in the world.
You're coming here, and I'm just scrubbing your brain, showing you what the Bible says so you can think biblically.
What is that called?
Being renewed in the spirit of your mind.
You have to have your mind transformed.
So it's not enough to just put off the old man.
You've got to learn the truth, and then also you've got to have mental assent to these biblical truths.
You have to know what the Bible says.
You have to have your mind transformed.
The reality is this.
You know, when you first became a Christian, there's some truths that you heard that kind of offended you.
Or maybe there's some things that you heard and you're just like, whoa, that seems a little too much.
Like, oh man, I can't believe you said that.
Oh wow, why this and that?
But it's only because you haven't had your mind renewed.
Once you adopt the biblical principles as being your own, you allow the Holy Spirit to work in your life.
After a while, when you start hearing these truths, you're not like, whoa, you're like, yeah, amen.
I agree with this.
That's having a renewed mind.
You know, when you talk about women not wearing pants, because the Bible says that women shouldn't wear pants,
there's women that are just like, ugh, ugh.
They just have this reaction, it's just like, is this a cult?
But then once you start learning what the Bible actually says about it, a couple months down the road,
then you're just like, yeah, I wish women would stop wearing pants.
I mean, the women would say that, right?
When you start talking about women being a keeper at home, having children guiding the house,
bearing children guiding the house and being a keeper at home,
initially that is like, women have a knee-jerk reaction to that.
You know what that means? It means you need to have your mind renewed.
And now in the day and age in which we live, it's not even the women who are freaking out about that,
it's the guys who are freaking out about that.
They're all about equal rights and all this stuff.
But it's not enough to just put off the old man, you have to have your mind renewed.
And then ultimately, verse 24, that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness,
and righteousness and true holiness.
Putting off the old man will get you in the ballpark of success,
but it's not going to get you the home run and back home.
It'll get you on the bench.
It'll get you in the sport.
But if you actually want to succeed in the Christian life, you have to bat and hit a home run,
which means that you have to learn the truth, embrace the truth.
You have to have your mind renewed and put on the new man, and then you start scoring.
See what I'm saying?
Why? Because being on the bench is not enough.
You want to be an MVP in the Christian life, you can't be a bencher.
Look what it goes on to say in Ephesians chapter 4, let me just finish up here.
I thought to myself, this is going to be a 40 minute sermon.
And I'm going beyond 40 minutes, sorry.
I'm not sorry.
Look what it says in verse 25.
Wherefore putting away lying.
So hey, it's good not to lie.
Right, bearing false witness or just lying in general.
Oh, why lie?
But you know what, it's not enough.
It says, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
What is he saying here?
You know, it's good to be a person who's not just constantly telling lies,
but it's better to be a person who's always telling the truth.
Because you could be a person who just doesn't tell any lies,
but then you're not preaching the gospel and proclaiming the truth to others.
You could be a bare basic Christian where it's just like,
well I'm just not going to be a dishonest person,
but how about just being an honest person and telling people the truth?
That's another thing.
And then look at verse 29.
It says, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,
but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace into the hearers.
Now what is corrupt communication?
Well, you know, people think that this is referring to cussing,
but you know, I'm looking at verse 31 and I don't see an F word here or an S word or a whatever word on there.
Right, or you guys have the same version as me?
I mean look down, right?
Let all bitterness and wrath and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice.
So when it talks about corrupt communication, verse 31 is what it's referring to.
So you can't apply this to cussing and say, oh you know, this is applicable to cussing.
And they'll often take you to 1 Corinthians 15 where it says,
evil communication corrupts good manners.
And this is very much an old IFB way of interpreting the Bible,
where they love just pulling out one verse because it just sounds good, right?
Evil communication corrupts good.
You're going to be a bad mannered person if you cuss.
But in the context of 1 Corinthians 15, it's actually referring to the resurrection.
And it actually tells you what that evil communication is.
Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.
And he says, be not deceived, evil communications corrupt good manners.
Now why would saying let us eat, drink, and be married for tomorrow we die
be something that would corrupt our manners?
Well because our manner of life is often determined by what we believe.
So a person who says let us eat, drink, and be married for tomorrow we die
is a person who's just living carelessly
and they don't really care about what's going to happen this side of eternity,
but we actually care now, don't we?
Because we want to get people saved, we want to live righteously, and we believe in a resurrection.
It's so funny, when we went Christmas caroling last year,
progressive Christians are the funniest Christians ever.
They're the dumbest Christians, but they're the funniest Christians.
Because we went to a house, and the sign had a, you know it was 1 Corinthians 15,
and it said like, let us eat, drink, and be married.
This is for Christmas.
And I'm just like, they don't realize this is not a good verse to put for Christmas.
But they probably got it from some progressive Christian store who obviously is selling it.
You know what I mean? It's just like that one time that I saw a calendar of,
you know those calendars that have a verse for the day?
And then the calendar read like, all this will I give unto you if thou would bow down and worship me.
And it's just like, oh this is great. That's like Satan saying that though.
But back to verse 29, you know it's good not to be bitter and be wrathful,
and have anger and clamor, and have evil speaking, and be malicious,
but you know what, that's not enough.
The Bible says that we're supposed to speak to the use of edifying,
and minister grace unto the hearers.
In other words, our words are to give life, right?
Whether by counsel, by preaching the gospel, by giving a word of exhortation.
In other words, don't just be a negative person all the time.
Have some positive things to say too sometimes.
And some of you negative speakers out there just need to turn off the news.
Because most of that negative talk comes from just paying attention to what's going on.
And out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.
He says, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
And then lastly, he says there in verse 31,
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice.
So don't be a person who's constantly reviling, and speaking evil, and being loud, and angry.
He says be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
So it's not enough for you to just not speak the wrong things.
You need to be kind to people too.
Be gracious, be tenderhearted, and it says there, forgive one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
And so it's important for us as Christians to realize that not doing the wrong things is good,
but it's just not enough if you want to be a really good Christian.
You've got to put on the new man too.
You've got to speak the truth.
You've got to be honest.
You've got to work with your hands out which is good.
You have to be kind and tenderhearted.
Oh, my wife, she knows I love her.
I pay the bills.
That's not enough though.
You've got to add some romance to that marriage, amen?
Go out on a nice date and enjoy the company of your wife and say sweet things into her ear, whatever.
Buy her a rose or whatever it is that she likes, chocolates.
That's a little much.
If you want to be a great husband, then that's what you've got to do.
You know, I wash his clothes.
I clean the house.
Isn't that enough?
No, it's not enough sometimes.
Maybe we need a massage every once in a while.
Hey, man.
A little back scratch?
Hey, a little back scratch.
But I cook and I clean and I do all these things.
Isn't that enough?
It's not enough.
We need the back scratch.
You know, we're not even asking for a foot massage either.
Sometimes the back scratch is sufficient.
You just hit that one little spot, you know, to the left a little bit to right there.
What am I talking about?
It's just the principle of going the second mile in the Christian life.
Now, if you want to just go the first mile, you'll be a good Christian.
You'll be a good Christian.
God's hand will be on you.
He's pleased with you.
You want to go to one service a week?
God's pleased with you.
You want to read one chapter a day of the Bible?
God is pleased with you.
If that's what you want to do, God is pleased with you.
But don't expect maximum results with minimum effort because it's just not enough.
Let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for your word.
And, Lord, help us as your people to go the second mile, Lord.
And I pray that you help us to realize that when we do the bare basics, as you told the
servant, when he's done everything that was commanded for him to do, he was the unprofitable
servant.
For he did that which was commanded for him to do.
And so in order for us to make a profit in the Christian life, we need to recognize that
the bare basics are not enough.
We need to go beyond that.
And I pray you help us to do so as your people.
God bless us as we fellowship.
And bring us back here safely on Thursday for the Bible study in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Song number 336 in my last song.
Song number 336, constantly abiding.
Song number 336.
We'll sing it on that first verse.
There's a peace in my heart that the world never gave.
A peace it cannot take away.
Though the trials of life may surround like a cloud,
I have a peace that has come there to stay.
Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine.
Constantly abiding, rapture divine.
He never leaves me lonely, whispers oh so kind.
I will never leave thee, Jesus is mine.
All the world seemed to see of a savior and king
when he sweetly came to my heart.
Throttles all fled away and my night turned to day.
Blessed Jesus, how glorious thou art.
Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine.
Constantly abiding, rapture divine.
He never leaves me lonely, whispers oh so kind.
I will never leave thee, Jesus is mine.
This treasure I have in a temple of clay.
While here on his foot so I grow.
But he's coming to take me some glorious day.
Over there to my heavenly home.
Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine.
Constantly abiding, rapture divine.
He never leaves me lonely, whispers oh so kind.
I will never leave thee, Jesus is mine.