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Amen okay we're continuing this evening with the book of Ephesians and we are in chapter number five if you remember in the beginning of the series I explained how the book of Ephesians can be broken up into two parts and the first would be chapters one two and three dealing with a lot of doctrine and a lot of teaching we see you know he hits on salvation the indwelling of the holy spirit replacement theology you know the mystery of the gospel now four five and six really delves into the practicality of that teaching which is a good admonition for us to make sure that when we learn doctrine we we seek to figure out a way that we can apply practically in our lives right and obviously we want information we need information we need knowledge we need wisdom and prudence but we also need to know how we can apply those things and the book of Ephesians is great at that because again that first half a lot of doctrine second half how to put it into practice and we really get into that here in chapter number five verse number one look what the bible says be therefore followers of god as dear children if you remember in chapter number four he begins to give a lot of you know rules so to speak and really talking about putting on the new man right and talking about you know let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor evil speaking be put away from you he talks about those who you know were stealing let them steal no more you know people who lie don't let you know they shouldn't lie anymore and he just gives a lot of these rules but then in verse number one of chapter five he says be therefore followers of god as your children so in other words just be a follower of the lord and at the end of the day if you are walking with god if you are following the lord you will accomplish a lot of these things in your life you know sometimes people wonder like what is the key to the christian life well you know there's many keys but at the end of the day if you could if you could just love the lord your god with all your heart soul mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself you're going to be able to fulfill all the commandments of god you're going to be able to repent of these sins and put away from yourselves you know wicked deeds and add to your life virtue and that which is pleasing unto the lord look at verse number two it says and walk in love as christ also have loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and his sacrifice to god for a sweet smelling savor now what does he mean by that he's basically saying you know our life should be characterized by sacrifice right you know sacrificing your time talents and treasures for your family for the stranger for the person who's unsafe for the brother in christ why because jesus christ gave himself a sacrifice as well and we see here that he says that he's given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to god for a sweet smelling savor now savor what does that word savor mean savor simply is referring to the odor that's something that gives out okay and more specifically it's obviously it's it's a callback to the animal sacrifices of the old testament we know that jesus christ is the lamb of god who should take away the sins of the world and what he says there when he says the offering and sacrifice to god for a sweet smelling savor he's referring to the holocaust offering that jesus christ made for all of humanity you understand so obviously this is poetic but it's also something that literally happened okay because jesus christ yes literally burned in hell for us for three days and three nights but we obviously understand according to act chapter two in different portions of scripture that his soul was not left in hell neither did his flesh see corruption so yes he did go to hell for three days and three nights his soul went to hell for three days and three nights and he did that for us he said was your proof well there's plenty of proof throughout the bible to prove that you know you look at jonah for example prophesying you know talking about how he was in the in the uh in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights and he likened it unto hell jesus christ then in the new testament quotes that and says that he's going to be in the center of the earth for three days and three nights we have david prophesying of this but how about just using the animal sacrifices of the old testament to prove that because the animal sacrifices of the old testament were offered they were a burnt offering and this is what this is talking about he says a sweet smelling savor right you know when animals are burned it creates a sweet smelling savor right brother jose okay that's what it does you know and so um obviously in the literal sense when animals are burned they're barbecued or whatever you know they they they create a very attractive odor okay uh a sweet smelling savor and the spiritual application that he's making here is that jesus christ when he offered himself when he went to the center of the earth or as ephesians chapter four puts it you know what is it that he ascended but that he descended first into the lower parts of the earth you know he offered himself a burnt offering in hell for us and that was a sweet smelling savor unto god why because it was a sacrifice that jesus christ made for us for all the world he's the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world go to second corinthians chapter two if you would hold your place there in ephesians chapter five so he says walk in love and love is being characterized as sacrifice because what he likens it unto is jesus christ giving himself an offering and a sacrifice as a sweet smelling savor so in like manner you know we should offer ourselves as a sacrifice so to speak in fact look at second corinthians 2 verse 14 says now thanks be unto god which always causes us to triumph in christ and make it manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place for we are unto god a sweet savor of christ in them that are saved and in them that perish to the one we are the savor of death unto death and to the other the savor of life unto life and who is sufficient for these things you know certain people i don't know i mean i can't imagine why you know they don't like the smell of barbecue or you know uh smoking you know you got vegans and vegetarians out there which i believe they're lying you know like oh that smells achy you like it okay but there's probably people who don't like that smell you know there's probably people who don't really appreciate that odor others it's just that causes you to salivate right i mean you start just a mere thought of you know doing some pork butt or you know right or what else brisket you know just any type of just just the thought of that being barbecued or smoked it's just like oh man that's that smells delicious it sounds great it's a savor of life right it's not into death well you know the spiritual application there is that you know we have christ in us the hope of glory and to some we are a savor unto death like oh there goes those christians again you know oh those people i hate christians i hate all that religious stuff and it's like a savor unto death oh man these people believe in the bible look how they dress and look they go to church and there they go preaching again and saying all these things it's like a savor of death it's like they hate it it's detestable to them and but however you know there's other people in this world that actually attracts them you know they hear the preaching they hear the singing they see that the families and it's a savor of life it's like man it's just wholesome to see a mom and dad and her kid and their kids just walking around to the restaurant or a store it's like that's savor of life you know you know we've gotten to a point now where my wife and i if we go anywhere we just everyone stares at us i'm sure albert you kind of get that a lot i mean you get that in church too you know but you know we get into a point where we go places and you know because we're the way we're dressed or you know how well behaved our kids are you know they're just kind of like stares and just like whispering each other you know and it's not they're not i don't think they're saying anything bad they're probably just like they're like one two three four and then they look at my wife and they look at me and then they kind of look at us like we're crazy or something other people it's it's a it's a savor of life though they're like wow that's pretty cool that these people are having like babies and stuff because that's not very common right and so uh what this is saying here is that you know we're supposed to be a what a living sacrifice right i beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of god that you present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to god which is your reasonable service and you know we're to prove unto the world we're to show the world christ in us and don't allow the world to determine what christ should be right don't uh well that's not very christ like well you don't know what you're talking about though so you know i'm representing jesus christ i'm an ambassador of jesus christ you know what it's foolish to think that some unregenerated unsaved individuals never read the bible can come to me and tell me what jesus is like well that's not very christ like well you've never read the bible so how do you know you know that's not you know that's not very christian jesus wouldn't do that how do you know you never even read the gospels so we're to be a representative of that now um go back to ephigians if you would first peter two five says he also has lively stones are built up a spiritual house in a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to god by jesus christ and if you think about it you know this makes sense with just what jesus did and what we see throughout the gospels where the bible tells us you know if any man will come after me let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me and so we're obviously supposed to follow the lord and that requires a denial of self it requires for us to sacrifice our ambitions our goals our aspirations you know the the things that we desire we're to put that on the altar and die to die to self die daily why so that christ can be magnified so he can be elevated and exalted because he's the most important person you understand and you know our lives should be characterized by sacrifice not just for the lord but even for others right we should sacrifice ourselves for others and in fact in ephigians five we're going to see that with um the the relationship between a husband and wife and we'll get to that in just a bit and so he says that there in verse number two he says and walk in love as christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to god for a sweet smelling savor verse three says but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness let it not be once named among you as becometh saints so this is where the practicality comes into play it's it's easy to say hey live a sacrificial life and you know and and make sure that you you you put yourself on the altar and i'm sure there's liberal churches that say that but hold on a second let's get a little more specific right fornication uncleanness and covetousness let it not be once named among you so now he's getting specific now he's saying you know a way that you can offer yourself as a sweet smelling sacrifice is by not committing these things you know the fornication uncleanness not being a covetous or a greedy person he says there let it not be once named among you as becometh saints he's basically saying don't be characterized by these things you understand and it's not to say the christians cannot partake of these things because they're sinners christians are sinners we're all sinners we are all have the propensity you know to to commit sin we're always going to sin this side of eternity but what i believe this is saying is this is that you shouldn't be characterized by those things it shouldn't be named among you okay becometh saints that word become is often referring to something that uh that is changing or into something else but it's also used to describe something that is attractive you know you understand or suitable so what he's saying here is that you know fornication uncleanness and covetousness that's not suitable for you as a christian okay it's not suitable for anybody but especially christians you understand because fornication the body is not for fornication neither fornication for the body but god shall destroy both it and them the bible says in first corinthians chapter 6 okay the body is for the lord and so you know it's basically telling you here you know uh you shouldn't be characterized by these things you're a saint even though sometimes you miss the s okay and you ain't you guys get that you know obviously we're not saints because of the works that we do or anything like that you know we're saints because we're separated unto the lord by christ jesus we're accepted into beloved but he's basically telling you you need to behave like a saint though okay you know and no you know this isn't referring to like some catholic you know uh you know saint that's burning in hell who's been in you know hell for the last two thousand years but they're but they're given the the the title of sainthood or something you know mother teresa i don't care how many times the catholic church calls her a saint she's not saying she's burning in hell today okay and in fact she's not even a saint according to catholic standards okay you know uh i remember i um i had a friend who had a friend who was a basically uh mother teresa's bodyguard or something right and and he he told him he said man you know people say all this stuff about mother teresa but mother teresa was was a chain smoker she smoked a lot of cigarettes every single day you know well that's not very catholic of you it's like how in the world are you going to be a saint when you're a chain smoker well folks let me just say this there's probably christians who are saved who are chain smokers and they're more of a saint than mother teresa because obviously it's not based upon your words but even according to their standards she's not a saint and many of them the same thing you know joan of arc that crazy psychopath woman who will see visions or whatever of a cross a burning cross and it's nonsense folks a saint is someone who has believed on jesus christ okay and the bible tells us that we should behave as thus especially sometimes we should behave like what we truly are on the inside which is the inward man the new man okay verse four says neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting and here's another way of saying it which are not convenient so when he uses that phrase in verse number three as become its saints it's synonymous with which are not convenient it's not convenient for you to behave this way and be characterized by these things why because we should look what it says but rather giving up things we should be characterized by a a heart of gratitude okay we should be characterized by holiness a heart of gratitude gravity etcetera verse five says for this you know that no whore monger nor unclean person or covetous man who is an idolatry hath any inheritance in the kingdom of christ and of god now what is a whore monger well let's break it down okay a whore you know this is something that this is a war that's commonly used in the bible but a whore is just a woman who just sleeps around it could often be likened unto a prostitute or just a woman who you know just has multiple physical partners a whore is just the best way to describe it i don't know what to tell you a whore is a whore guys you know stop asking a whore monger is someone who basically sleeps with the whore which is the male okay it's like man these are these are just so like controversial words yeah but it gets the point across doesn't it like can you describe what a whore is it's a whore it's like you know and so he says for this you know that no whore monger nor unclean person by the way when it says unclean person or in verse number three where it says all uncleanness obviously this could be referring to you know spiritual uncleanness uncleanness is often referring to like fornication lasciviousness um inordinate affection but i i believe it's also referring to just cleanliness in general okay you know uh it's interesting how the further you get from the bible the further you get from god the more actually physically unclean things become and let me just prove that to you how about you know countries like southeast asia you know i've never been there my wife's been there but she'll tell you and i've talked to multiple people that when you go into cambodia for example it smells like trash as soon as you come off i was gonna say come off the boat as soon as you come off the airplane it just smells like trash there and i remember uh um a brother of mine he a brother in christ he basically was telling me he was like man it smells so bad but i got used to the smell after a while he goes but then i i got a coke and then i i opened the coke and i drank it you know how the like the fizz it kind of opens up your nasals you know you open up my nasal and then the the smell just of of garbage just came in because it's so just filthy and dirty you know that's how most places are who are involved in idolatry they're just filthy unclean places because it's not just unclean spiritually it's unclean physically as well you know the more you get away from god the more unclean you will be these homeless people that are out there i guarantee you they're not reading their bibles if they're saved they're not like reading their bibles consistently or anything you know that's why they can do the things that they do the most unclean individual in the world which is a reprobate sonomite are involved in the most unclean act so the further you get away from god the more unclean you are that's why it's important young man take a shower okay you know cleanliness cleanliness is important according to the bible um you know um there's much i can say about that but let it not be once named among you or or should i say this let it not be once smelled among you okay i remember years ago um i knew a guy and and we're trying to kind of rehabilitate him and he was you know he was he was in church and he's a saved guy and um but this guy brother albert's laughing because he knows exactly what i'm talking to but i'm talking about you know it's not albert okay but there's this guy and he he he stunk he never took showers he smelled really bad and you know he had other issues you know he was a he was a kleptomaniac okay this guy was a major kleptomaniac he was like a professional kleptomaniac kleptomaniac is someone who just steals all the time okay and um the guy just stole up and the guy just stunk he just smelled and i remember like you know my father-in-law he told me he's like hey i want you to disciple him you know and i'm like oh great thanks you know because i got to bring him into my car i got him taking places and my car actually smell when you would leave the car the the smell you know how many know what charlie brown is charlie brown you guys ever seen charlie brown you guys know pig pen remember the smoke or the little dust you know thing that was kind of that's kind of how it was and i'm not joking and you can ask albert it was that bad and i remember i i i talked to my brother-in-law and i told him i said i need your help i need to have a sit down talk with this guy and and i need you there to like back me up because i'm gonna tell him to take a shower and we're gonna burn his clothes or get him washed or do whatever we got to do but i'm not trying to offend the guy you know i'm not just trying to be like mean to him but something obviously no one's telling them though so they're smelling it no one's telling us i was like we got to tell him so i called him in for a meeting we'll call him bob okay and and he came in and i said bob you know we got to talk to you about something man and i said um you're you're you have a smell and it's very offensive i was like i'm just you know i'm not telling you this to be offensive towards you i'm just telling you for for your sake but your smell offends people did you do you know you smell and he said he didn't even know the guy didn't even know and i said but don't worry look and we bought like shampoo and all this stuff and i said look we got a trash bag for your clothes throw them in there my brother-in-law's gonna go wash your clothes he's gonna go you know put the fabric softener and we got the whole ordeal going on and i said i want you to take a shower right now and i want you to use all these products i told him that you know and it helped you know and i said scrub really good so you got to tell your kids right hey scrub really good you know and i you better scrub really good and be but but here's the thing is that my problem was is that i was trying to fix something you know something on the outside but there was actually a heart problem because the reality was is that he was just a kleptomaniac he was dirty on the inside understand and that was just like an outward expression of the filthiness that was within and even though he was he we got him clean you know he was still stealing and then we ended up finding out about that later on and so you know uncleanness and uh filthiness yeah i could be referring to you know fornication adultery lasciviousness in order an infection but you can also apply it to just hygiene right making sure that you know you're not your your breath isn't offensive towards others your your hey your armpits guys are not offensive towards others don't worry i i'm only going to say this once and you won't have to hear it again this is important though okay you know well i don't know i just like to feel the way i smell and you know look folks you know if you're close to someone in our church and and they have that type of uh scent you know be kind to that person and let them know folks i have a booger on my face tell me i got a booger on my face don't just let me walk around church with a booger on my face and not say anything you understand don't you want someone to tell you i want people to tell me okay and so let it not be once named among you so we'll move on from that uh he says no whoremonger unclean person or covetous man which is an who is an idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdom of christ and of god now people try to use this verse to say that you know uh this is why you have to repent about your sins you know if you're committing these sins you're not going to go to heaven but that's actually what it's the exact opposite of what it's saying okay because here's the thing go to galatians chapter five and i'm going to give you my interpretation of this uh what i believe this is saying here and i believe it makes sense because here's the thing galatians 5 has something similar has a similar list and similar wording in regards to the kingdom of god but it's a little different look at verse 19 of galatians 5 it says now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness idolatry witchcraft hatred variants emulations wrath strife seditions heresies envings murders drunkenness revelings and such like of of the which i tell you before as i've told you in time past that they would do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of god now notice that in the beginning when we read in verse number 19 it says now the works of the flesh are made manifest because these sins that we see here are only committed by the flesh your spirit which is born of god cannot sin why because the seed remained within him and he cannot sin because he is born of god according to the bible so when you get saved you're a new creature in christ old things have passed away behold all things have become new your your spirit is born of god but that doesn't mean your flesh won't sin your flesh can still be susceptible to these sins you understand you know wrath strife seditions heresies even fornication you know envings drunkenness revelings all these things and you know what your flesh is not going to inherit the kingdom of god when you die your body will be buried six feet deep and when you resurrect it'll become something completely different why because flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of god that's why your body needs to be completely transfigured and transformed in order to be in the presence of god if your body at this moment would be in the presence of god you just disintegrate you know you you burn up with the brightness of his coming because his holiness and our sinfulness are just not compatible at all you understand we would not be able to stand before a holy god he we would just completely just melt i don't know you know disintegrate or something you just die okay and so in order for us to stand before god in our in in our bodies they have to be transfigured they need to be resurrected they need to be completely transformed and be a body that's completely without sin so galatians 5 is telling us that the flesh the works of the flesh that are being made manifest the flesh is not going to inherit the kingdom of god so when people say oh you know if you're committing drunkenness you're not going to go to heaven well my flesh isn't going to go to heaven my resurrected body will though now you say well you know then how do you explain ephesians chapter 5 well go back to ephesians 5 if you would so galatians 5 says that the people who do these things the flesh you know they shall not inherit the kingdom of god whereas ephesians 5 says that whoever commits these things hath they don't have any inheritance in the kingdom of god so the one says that the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of god whereas this one says whoever commits these things they shall have no inheritance in the kingdom of god so you know if a person just lives a carnal life they get involved in drunkenness and revelings and idolatry and covetousness and they're kind of characterized by those things as a christian when they die they're not going to have any inheritance in the kingdom of god they're not going to have anything okay they're basically going to be a broke joke in heaven understand go to first corinthians three first corinthians three so on one aspect the works of the flesh are made manifest and the flesh shall not inherit the kingdom of god that's why we need a resurrected body but on the other hand in ephesians chapter 5 those who commit these things yeah they're going to inherit the kingdom of god because their spirit is saved but here's the thing and yeah they will have a resurrected body because that's synonymous with our salvation but here's the thing is that they're not going to have anything when they get there understand now obviously we understand that the the the reward ceremony you know doesn't take place until the inauguration of the millennial reign and you know part of the reward obviously is the resurrected body that you receive and and i've preached on that many times before but uh you know at the at the establishment of the millennial reign when jesus christ comes to ruling reign with uh on upon this earth when the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our of our god and of his christ that's when he begins to distribute the rewards for the things that we've done here and you know i think it's going to be a big day but you know what it's going to be a sad day for a lot of people because they're going to be like oh man you know what do i get and and they're going to be god's going to be like well let's try it by fire and see what survives because we'll see what you've done what you've done look at first corinthians 3 11 for other foundation can no man lay then that is laid which is jesus christ now if any man build upon this foundation gold silver precious stones would hate stubble every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is so in other words you'll bring your works before god obviously we don't know exactly how this is going to look but if it survives and it's kind of like gold silver precious stones it could withstand the fire but here's the thing if you're living in uncleanness fornication you know you're not going to be judged according to those things your works which are none are just going to burn up it's like wood hand stubble okay he says verse 14 if any man's work abide which he has built there upon he shall receive a reward it's like oh got yourself some gold you got some precious stones if any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire so this is actually great proof to show that you can be saved not work and still be saved right because he says you know if any man's work shall be burned you know because he's not working he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire so the only thing he gets when he gets to heaven is just he has eternal life which was a gift but if he's living in sin which basically means he's not serving the lord he's not doing any works for god he's not maintaining good works what's going to happen it's going to burn he's not going to have any inheritance in the kingdom of god okay go back to ephigians if you would five so that's important you know we need to think about those things and and and meditate upon the fact that you know when you're weary and well-doing you're just kind of tired of coming to church you're tired of going soul-winning you're tired of uh serving your spouse you're tired of you know fill in the blank you're tired of of just living a godly life or something just remember you know be not weary and well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not understand and if you choose to quit you might not have an inheritance when you get there okay so that's what he's telling us he said look you know as become a saint this is what you should be characterized by you should not be characterized by these things get rid of these things look at verse number six let no man deceive you with vain words for because of these things come at the wrath of god upon the children of disobedience yeah that's for every liberal preacher out there don't let them deceive you with vain oh don't worry if you're in fornication god still loves you you got god's blessing on your life and all these things it's like those are vain words and these type of things are the things that god punishes people for okay he says because of these things come at the wrath of god upon the children of disobedience be not ye therefore partakers with them for you were sometimes darkness but now are you light in the lord walk as children of light now what is he talking about there well first of all i want to point out that in verse number seven it says be not therefore partakers with them this is basically insinuating that you could you know people say oh no once you get saved you're just always going to do right wrong because here he's saying don't be a partaker with them and it's basically telling us it's possible for you to be a partaker with them it wasn't possible then he wouldn't have to command you to do that he wouldn't have to command you to do so because it would just come naturally but it doesn't come naturally it requires effort on your part not to be a partaker of their evil deeds you understand now when he says here in verse number eight you were sometimes darkness but now you lie in the lord walk as children of light obviously we understand that you know now that we're children of god we have light but what i believe this is specifically referring to is the fact that we're enlightened you understand you know we're the light of the lord the bible tells us ye are the light of the world a city that is set on the hill cannot be hid neither do men light a candle put it under a bushel but on a candlestick and they give it light into all that are in the house let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven so this leads us to believe that you can actually put a bushel over your life over your light right because just because you're a christian doesn't mean you're automatically going to shine just because you're a believer just because you're on your way to heaven doesn't mean that you're automatically going to start shining brightly no because shining brightly is synonymous with the work you put in to it right it says let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works okay and in ephesians he says you were sometimes darkness i think the reason he's saying this is because you know he's talking to people who are in church this is the church at ephysis and you know there's a lot of christians out in the world but not all of them are enlightened so to speak a lot of them don't know a lot of biblical truths and you know what there might be people in here that don't know a whole lot of biblical truths but for the most part most of you have that light most of you are enlightened to spiritual deep truths you know what the bible says regarding many different topics and subjects you're the light in the lord and the bible telling us is telling us here walk as children of light so you need to behave yourself like how you believe you need to you need to walk according to what you know you need to be a doer of the word and not a hearer only and so yeah you're enlightened to the truth of the rapid rate doctrine you're enlightened to the truth of the consequences of fornication adultery you're enlightened to the truth of the devastating consequences of covetousness and greed god's saying walk as children of light then you know you're actually awake but you need to act like you're awake okay it's similar to what we see in ephesians 1 18 where he says the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his calling there's a lot of safe people out there that don't they're just kind of wandering aimlessly in life i'm talking about safe people who just don't know what they're doing with their life they're just kind of getting by they're not really living with any purpose they're they're living for the almighty dollar they're they're serving their own lust and desires they're not really doing anything with their life but people who are in church are actually enlightened to the hope of his calling why because we're constantly emphasizing what the hope of his calling is you know what god's purpose is for your life you know what the important things are who's the preeminent one what's important in your life these are the things that are being emphasized look at verse number nine for the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth proving what is acceptable unto the lord so the spirit that dwells within you tells you what is appropriate what is acceptable right in other words the spirit is not going to lead you to do something wrong okay you know and and people blame the spirit for a lot of things i feel just let the spirit to divorce my husband feel like god told me in a dream or something like that it's like well that's funny because the bible just speaks ardently against that it's wrong so yeah you could say it's the spirit but it's not the holy spirit because the spirit proves what is acceptable unto the lord it's in all goodness and righteousness and truth oh man i was just led by the lord to just fornicate with this girl and you think that's a ridiculous statement i mean isn't that a ridiculous statement yeah but it's a true story no cap true story there's literally someone in our church who told me that who literally said look you know he's like fornication is bad it's bad but just hear me out though it's like oh man he said that they he saw like a a rock in the shape of a heart and that was god's confirmation to to to you know come together with this girl and i said dude i can find dozens of rocks that make a shape of a heart dude i could find a cloud that looks like a heart if you want anything can become a heart if you if you look hard enough right it's not acceptable and even after i told him that he still persisted and said you know i saw he was looking at all these signs and and and and he said you know our um coming together basically the fornication that constituted their marriage that's that's pretty they got married there i'm like what he's like yeah i know it's weird but i mean i'm like no it's it's not weird it's wicked like this is it's it's called sin it's still fornication this is not correct this is wrong okay and by the way you know i don't recognize marriage unless you do it by the government yeah i said it you have to legally get married right i don't i don't i don't agree with that then then you better not get married here okay and you know what you know you better go somewhere else because if you're living with your girlfriend or boyfriend but you got married by a preacher or something like that but you never did it legally i considered that fornication still fornication got to do it legally and so um you know the spirit proves what is acceptable unto the lord the spirit will not lead you to do to commit sin folks okay he says in verse 11 and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them i love this verse because it's telling us you know separate from sin separate from the unfruitful works of darkness but that's not the only thing you're supposed to do he's saying yeah obviously you're supposed to separate from the unfruitful works of darkness you know that's that's what you're supposed to do initially but you're also supposed to reprove it what does that mean stand against it be vocal about your position against that sin and the reason i say is because you know a lot of christians will take the first half they like the first half oh yeah holiness yeah living a separated life yeah but hold on a second you're only halfway obeying though right so people who live like you know they want to live like the amish or something like that or it's just like they're so separated from the world and then they just they they got the right stance on everything uh but they're not correcting what they're separating from you're you're you're not being obedient that's a halfway obedience that's actually disobedience because god denied he did not tell you choose one or the other he didn't say look this is the whole command but you know it's labor day weekend you get 50 off or something like that and you can have the first half if you want or something you know no he says have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them okay for it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done to them in secret but all things that are reproved are made manifest by fox news no by the light well we'll just leave that up to you know the the conservatives and the right wingers no it's your job it's your job to be the light it's your job to reprove that which is wicked and evil in this world you're the light fox news is dark it's pitch black for whatsoever doth make manifest is light you know obviously we're to let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works glorify our father which is in heaven but you know when you turn on that light it not only shows your works it exposes the unfruitful works of darkness it shows the world what is wrong that's why i love churches like ours because there's no two ways about any subject we're like this is right and this is wrong it's like well i could kind of see it you know from no flat earth is stupid wrong okay vaccine is not the mark of the beast vaccines are wicked it's not the mark of the beast you know we can give you just a solid opinion biblically formed and tell you this is what it is why because we're the light that's why and we make manifest the unfruitful works of darkness we tell you what is wrong we tell you what is right oh who are you to uh children of light who are you to just say that well i'm a child of light this is my job this is like my life my life is just to do works and expose wickedness by my life so what do you do you're just looking for people doing wrong no i just walk around as light and then the roaches just show up that's how it works our church just exists and by existing it exposes the unfruitful works of darkness because we preach the entire bible and so the things that you didn't know because you know you know all these churches out here are like like black lights it's like a black light you know this isn't radical the things that we preach are not radical at all it's just light so when you turn on the light everyone's like oh man why are you so bright for what do you mean it's just you're just so dim is what it is i'm striving to shine brighter but you just think i'm really bright because you're just really dim that's that that's the problem you know and so i have a problem with people oh why are you guys always calling people out because we're supposed to approve the unfruitful works of darkness that's why why are you being partially obedient to god's commands why are you so rebellious why are you so i got a better question for you why are you so disobedient to god why why don't you why do you only want to separate from the wicked things of this world so it could benefit you because separating from wickedness benefits you right but you don't want to put in the other half i'll tell you why because you don't want to be persecuted right i'll tell you why because then you have a target on your back by satan himself but you know what we leave that up to the lord he's in charge of that my job is just to walk around as a light and and expose things and make manifest the things of this world that are wicked and evil okay he says wherefore he saith awake thou that sleep is verse 14 wherefore he saith awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and christ shall give thee light wake up those are for those of you who are uh falling asleep a little bit it's been a long week pastor i know i'm telling you to wake up awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead stop being dead someone who's dead someone who's asleep spiritually that's what he's saying so people who want to only fulfill that halfway promise or the halfway commandment they're asleep they're asleep at the wheel they're dead not in their trespasses and sin they're just dead in their works they need to add you know faith and works right in order to make manifest the wicked things of this world he says awake thou that sleepest arrives from the dead and christ shall give thee light let me read to you from john chapter 3 verse 19 and this is the condemnation the light is coming to the world the men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil for everyone that doeth evil hateth the light that's why i don't care if people hate me when people hate me and they tell me that they hate me i just think oh they're just evil oh you're just evil why because everyone that doeth evil hated the light no i just hate you for your spirit yeah you hate the holy spirit i guess because that's the only spirit i got i don't have like a wardrobe of spirits we're just like you know i have one spirit that's the holy spirit and if someone hates my spirit they hate what i say they hate who i am well everyone that do with evil hated the light neither cometh to the light that's why we don't get a whole lot of those people coming around this church lest his deeds should be reproved let me say this you know there's a lot of online listeners who i'm sure are good people and you kind of wonder like why don't they come to this church you know they live so close or in this area i'll tell you why because then their deeds shall be reproved because once you come to church you gotta abide by certain rules and that they don't want to abide by so they're just happy being on youtube land all the dislikes are now dislike dislike dislike i don't like this so be it care we're proving them amen verse 21 but he that doeth truth cometh to the light someone who actually wants truth wants to come to church they want to hear it they want to hear the truth that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in god they want to confirm that what they're doing is right amen yeah and if what they're doing is wrong they want to change it so someone who's sincerely looking for the truth someone who sincerely wants to serve god they'll come to the light just to say you know search me oh lord see if there be any wicked way in me right they have the truth fears no investigation i just want to grow i love the lord and if i'm doing something wrong i want to know that i'm doing something wrong so i can so i can correct it i can rectify it you know i want my deeds to be reproved or i want to know that my works are rotting god i want to know that i'm doing right that's a proper attitude to have go to first thessalonians chapter five so he says we're children of light okay and this is very similar to what we see in first thessalonians chapter five first thessalonians four and five are about the rapture and um here in verse number five look what it says it says ye are the children of light and the children of the day we are not of the night nor of darkness therefore let us not sleep as do others but let us watch and be sober for they that sleep sleep in the night and they that be drunken are drunken in the night but let us who are of the day be sober putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation now let me explain something i think i've said this in times past regarding um the rapture and our position obviously we believe in a post-trip pre-wrath rapture completely against the pre-tribulation rapture but what i believe this is actually saying when he says therefore let us not sleep as do others i don't think this is referring only to pre-tribbers although that's definitely the case okay because to a certain extent they're asleep at the wheel i believe this is just referring to just christians in general who are just living in sin and they're not awake to righteousness because it says there let us watch and be sober you understand so look you know you might have some pre-tribbers during the tribulation who are going to eat crow because they're going to be like oh dang but you know what if they're serving god and they're keeping sin out of their lives and they love the word of god you know i believe that they will be awake to so to speak okay you know they might be awake now because they're still serving god they're just off doctrinally on this thing and here's the thing i guarantee you there's a lot of post-tribbers okay poster pre-wrath rathers or whatever you want to call you know who know the doctrine but they're actually living in sin they don't have the breastplate of righteousness and you know what if the tribulation ever comes in our time they're they're gonna die and they're gonna dig and they can't be like but i believe in the poster pre-wrath rapture because that's not gonna fly it's about putting on the breastplate of righteousness you understand to be being watchful being sober that's what it means to be awake that would that's what it means to have the light okay he says in verse 9 forgot it appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our lord jesus christ who died for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him go back to ephesians if you would so what's the point of that the point is basically this is that you know as light you know it's basically it's two responsibilities you understand you know we need to make sure that we're putting on the breastplate of righteousness that we're living soberly that we're doing that which is pleasing unto the lord that we're exercising ourselves rather unto godliness right we're doing that which is pleasing unto the lord where we're being holy as he is holy striving to do those things adding virtue to our lives but on the other hand it also means to reprove the works of darkness because god doesn't want just a holy people he wants soldiers he wants fighters he wants people who are willing to go to war not some sissy who's just like you know oh they got all their ducks in order their their sword is nicely sharpened you know their armor is nice and nice and uh sparkly so clean no he wants you to actually go to war so yeah he wants you to put on the breastplate of righteousness but guess what he also gave you a sword i mean the armor of god it's a lot of it's to protect ourselves but you know what it tops it off with the sword of the spirit and you don't you don't you don't spank people with the sword of the spirit you don't just kind of play with it you know you use it to shank it you shank the unfruitful works of darkness you you ehood and eglon right that's what a sword is for i don't agree with that interpretation then why did god compare it to a sword he could have said you know take the stick of the spirit or something or take the paddle of the spirit take the slap of the spirit take the shaking of the finger of the spirit take the time out of the spirit did he say any of that he he he picked an instrument of death folks a sword has one purpose alone one purpose right it's to go to war now obviously we're not advocating for physical violence or anything of that matter where this is the spiritual application is the fact that we're supposed to use the spirit of the sword to slay the world you know to kill false doctrine and expose the unfruitful works of darkness to divide of sunder soul and spirit joints in the marrow amen and so we're to walk honestly as in the day not in rioting or drunkenness not in chambering and wantonness and we're to put on the lord jesus christ make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof we're supposed to live a holy life but we're all supposed to contend with the wicked folks and look this is one thing that i want to make sure i do for the rest of my life because i've noticed the pattern in baptist churches or just with men of god is that they lose the fight i don't mean they lose the fight like they get knocked out i'm talking about like they lose the fight in them they get to a certain age and they don't want to fight anymore you know you know i don't know laziness sets in or comfort sets in and they're just kind of putting on cruise control i don't want to do that i want to fight to the bitter end okay and that's what god expects for us to do okay and we'll stop there uh because i just realized that on sunday night i preached for an hour and like 20 minutes yeah and i and it's when i said we're not going to go very long and then i ended up preaching for an hour and 20 minutes so i'm not going to do this tonight okay i'll spare you that extra 20 30 minutes all right let's pray father we thank you so much for your word and lord thank you for the clear cut instructions that you give us in the bible and uh this is what we need to hear we need to know specific sins we need to know what is acceptable unto the lord and i pray god that you help us to be a light as individuals but also as a church and help us to fight the good fight of faith and i pray god that you be with us and and help us to be followers of you to do that which is convenient and becoming of a saint in jesus name amen