WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.639 I invite you to open your Bibles back to the text that we just read, the book of Titus, chapter three. 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:16.879 And last week we looked at these instructions that Paul is telling Titus to give to the Christians there on the island of Crete, there in the church. 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:23.199 And he's giving instructions, remember in verse one and two, about how they are to live in the world. 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:27.920 And it's essentially Jesus' instructions on being salt and light. 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:32.079 Verse 1 has to deal with how they are to live in the culture. 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:40.719 If you look at verse 1, Paul says, remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work. 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:55.280 That they're not to withdraw from the culture, but they're to be ready for every good work within the culture, to serve in different positions, visible positions in civic government and so on and so forth, doing good. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:58.479 And then in verse 2, he says, this is how you're to relate to other people. 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:08.959 He says, speak evil of no one, avoid quarreling, be gentle, and show perfect courtesy toward all men. 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:12.640 You might have noticed the ESV translates it all people. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:16.000 That's a very uh 21st century translation. 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:18.000 The word is all men. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:22.159 It means all of mankind is the idea. 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:28.959 So Paul's saying in in verse 2, you are to show perfect courtesy in grace. 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:30.079 The word is meekness. 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:32.959 You're to show meekness to all people. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:34.319 Everyone. 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:35.599 Everybody. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:41.519 And you might ask, well, what about the unbelievers who are mean to me? 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:43.200 What about those people? 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:46.400 Do you have to show perfect courtesy to those types of people? 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:48.879 I remember growing up in my Boy Scout troop. 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:55.760 There was this one fella, and he just made it his aim to get under my skin. 00:01:56.319 --> 00:02:00.319 And our parents made us walk to school together to the junior high. 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:06.799 And every day when we meet at the stop sign, it was like he had a barb waiting for me. 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:08.560 What about those types of people? 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:11.360 Are we to show perfect courtesy to those people? 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:14.400 What about those people in the media? 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:21.120 Like you turn on the view, and they're making fun of the beliefs that we hold. 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:23.840 They're mocking Christian truth. 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:33.039 What about the radical Muslim who is hell-bent on destroying the faith that we love and cherish? 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:36.319 Are we to show perfect courtesy to those people? 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:43.120 Well, I think what the honest Bible student takes a step back and says, yes, this is what Paul's saying. 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:54.639 So what could possibly be the motivation for that? 00:02:54.960 --> 00:03:08.159 I mean, my goodness, what how is how are we to be motivated to do this, to be salt and light, to live that type of way with our enemies, people that that disparage Christianity? 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:11.360 And Paul's going to give two answers to that question. 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:15.599 And the first answer is in verse three. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:20.960 He says, remember that's who you once were. 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:23.280 That's the first answer. 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:26.800 Remember, you used to be just like them. 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:43.120 And then the second answer, beginning in verse four, he says, remember that you, Christian, have encountered the kindness and the love of God, his mercy. 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:53.520 And so those two truths that we need to remember are to be the impetus for our actions in the world. 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:57.520 Those motivate us to do good to all people. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:01.520 I was reading this week the book of Jonah. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:03.199 Remember Jonah? 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:11.919 God, he's a he's a Jewish prophet, and God tells him to go to the sworn enemies of Israel, the Assyrians. 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:14.000 I mean, the Assyrians were nasty people. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:16.240 They would literally fillet people alive. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:20.399 They would torture and kill, and they were they were a wicked people. 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:22.480 And Jonah said, I'm not going. 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:23.839 I'm not going to go. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:32.959 And he went, instead of going east to Nineveh, he went west to Tarsus to get on a ship to sail across the Mediterranean. 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:36.959 He gets on the ship, takes off, God sends a storm. 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:45.040 Jonah goes hides in the belly of the ship, and they begin casting cargo over. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:51.279 And eventually they they come to the realization someone's God must be upset at us. 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:57.199 And they talk to Jonah and they said, Hey, didn't you tell us that you were fleeing from the presence of a God? 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:00.639 And he says, Yes, the God who made heaven and earth. 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:02.560 I'm fleeing from his presence. 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:07.600 He told me to go to Assyria, and I'm fleeing in the opposite direction. 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:13.920 And uh Jonah says, the only way you're going to get the storm to stop is if you throw me overboard. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:18.399 So they begrudgingly, reluctantly, they pick him up. 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:19.680 I mean, can you imagine this? 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:28.879 Being thrown into the stormy Mediterranean, and he's pushed down beneath the surface. 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:31.439 And put yourself in Jonah's shoes. 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:39.040 What do you think he's thinking as as he's sinking deeper and deeper and deeper into that ocean? 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:41.040 He's thinking, I'm done. 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:44.399 In fact, he tells us this if you read Jonah chapter 2. 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:45.439 I'm done. 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:48.160 He says, I'm on the gate of Hades. 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:51.920 I am about to I'm I am about to die. 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:55.199 And and question, is that what he deserved? 00:05:56.079 --> 00:05:57.199 A hundred percent. 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:02.079 He was fleeing from the presence of God, disobeying God. 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:05.519 And in that moment, what does God do? 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:07.199 He sends a fish. 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:08.959 Now we're quick to say a well. 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:10.240 Maybe it was a well. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:12.720 The Bible says a fish. 00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:14.800 A fish swallows him. 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:24.639 And in the belly of that fish, he reflects and he says, famous words, salvation is of the Lord. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:27.279 I've experienced his salvation. 00:06:27.839 --> 00:06:37.519 And so Jonah, coming to grips with his depravity, he experiences this loving kindness of God that God rescues him in the depths. 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:43.839 Do you think he goes to Nineveh then with a changed heart? 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:46.319 Saying, okay, I've learned the lesson. 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:48.000 What's the lesson? 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:52.639 I too am a rebel, and I too was saved by grace. 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:54.079 That's the lesson, right? 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:57.839 He goes and he preaches in Nineveh. 00:06:58.240 --> 00:06:59.360 And then, do you remember? 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:03.759 It takes him days to preach across the whole city. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:07.439 And he preaches this message of turn or burn. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:10.240 Repent or the city is done. 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:11.439 That's his message. 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:13.120 Repent or die. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:25.120 And then he grabs like a lawn chair or something, and he goes and sits outside the city and he says, Okay, Lord, give it to him. 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:29.120 I'm waiting to see Sodom and Gomorrah part two. 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:37.360 And it doesn't happen because God showed mercy and grace to the city that they repented. 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:38.800 What's the lesson? 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:41.519 What's the lesson Jonah should have learned? 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:44.560 You are like them. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:48.480 You're a rebel, and you were shown grace. 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:57.199 Therefore, you are to do good to all men, not just the Jew, but also the Gentile. 00:07:57.519 --> 00:07:59.439 Jonah didn't learn the lesson. 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:02.319 I think in the end he did, because he wrote the book. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:04.959 But we need to learn that lesson. 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:14.399 Let's not be like Jonah, who we've been converted, and now we're looking at the world and saying, you get yours. 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:15.360 No, no, no. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:21.199 Let's remember who we were and what God has given us. 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:22.560 Does that make sense? 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:24.480 That's the whole message. 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:26.079 But let's look at it. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:28.000 So, first, motivation. 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:31.920 Remember who you once were. 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:36.320 Is anyone born into the new covenant? 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:37.600 No. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:39.600 You must be born again. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:44.639 I heard somebody say recently, I was born into a Christian family. 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:46.399 I've always been a Christian. 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:48.159 That's incorrect. 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:50.879 You're not born a Christian. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:57.440 Because of Adam's fall, every single person is born into sin. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:00.480 Every single person is born a sinner. 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:02.240 That's Romans 5.12. 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:05.679 For in Adam we all sinned. 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:12.240 Romans 3.23, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:13.440 Everyone. 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:18.080 Paul says, No one seeks after God, no not one. 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:22.480 There's not one baby that's born as a God seeker. 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:28.399 Notice how inclusive this statement is in verse three. 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:33.360 For we ourselves were once foolish, etc. 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:35.600 For we ourselves. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:38.559 Who does the we ourselves include? 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:49.759 It includes Paul, it includes Titus, it includes all the Christians in Crete that have so far believed. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:59.279 So what he's saying is, is verse three, yes, does verse three describe the unbelieving world today in which we live? 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:00.320 It does. 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:04.799 But it describes who we once were. 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:11.840 So when we look at this, let's not just be pointing our fingers and say, yep, yep, yep, I seen in the world, yep, yep, yep, I seen in the world. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:16.799 Remember, this is who we once were. 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:20.080 This is us that he's talking about. 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:27.440 Now, the there's six descriptions that he gives of the unbelieving former life. 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:43.519 The first two relate to God, the second group of two relate to ourselves, and the final two relate to our relationship with our fellow man. 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:45.759 So he's going to give these. 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:58.639 And by the way, this contrast that Paul does here, this is he does this everywhere, where he says, This is who remember who you once were. 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:03.200 So before we look at the first one, let me give you a couple cross-references. 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:04.240 Jot these down. 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:06.000 Romans 6, 17. 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:19.120 But thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:22.559 So he says, how does he describe us before we're believers? 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:23.919 Slaves of sin. 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:26.159 But now we're obedient. 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:28.480 Colossians 1 21. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:50.000 And you who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he is now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:12:00.320 So Paul's constantly trying to get into our heads, into his readers' heads, that they have been saved from a life of sin. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:03.440 So let's look at these descriptions. 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:10.080 Again, the first two relate to God, our former relationship to God. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:13.519 He says, We were once foolish. 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:16.000 You could say senseless. 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:27.039 It means unable to understand or discern spiritual things, that you cannot comprehend religious truth. 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:29.519 Doesn't mean that you don't understand everything. 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:36.159 Doesn't mean that you don't understand certain sciences or or or engineering. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:41.120 It means that you fail to understand religious truth. 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:46.399 The fear of the Lord, Solomon said, is the beginning of wisdom. 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:53.840 So that is the gateway into understanding godly biblical truth. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:59.279 The unbeliever does not understand spiritual realities. 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:00.399 They cannot. 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:01.600 Do you understand that? 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:03.279 They cannot, they will not. 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:16.240 Paul says, Ephesians 4.18, they, the unbelievers, are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to their hardness of heart. 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:29.440 The reason why the unbeliever, have you ever been in an argument and you're trying to persuade maybe an atheist about the existence of God and you walk them through the arguments and they're saying, I get that, I get that, I get that. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:32.879 Okay, so do you believe, do you believe that God exists? 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:33.519 No. 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:36.320 I do not, I cannot. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:43.919 What you're running up against there is not logic, it's hardness of heart. 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:53.279 The reason why the unbeliever refuses to understand spiritual things is because they don't want to, because they're in rebellion against God. 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:54.480 That's very important. 00:13:54.799 --> 00:14:10.240 Paul says, 1 Corinthians 2 14, the natural person, the person who is not indwelt by the Spirit, does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he's not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:30.960 So you can study religious truth, you can go to seminary, you can even teach theology in certain institutions, but not even begin to understand spiritual dynamics that are taught in the New Testament. 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:44.960 For example, there's a politician in my home state of Texas, he's running for synod, and he's even been attending seminary at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, went liberal, by the way, a long time ago. 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:51.360 And he he's claiming to be a representative of Christ in the public square, this individual. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:15:00.240 And he's saying things like, it's okay to accept the whole LBGTQ lifestyle. 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:07.039 He's saying all roads eventually get you to the same spot. 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:13.919 You don't have to be necessarily a Christian to or claim to follow Christ to get to heaven. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:18.559 If you get there through Buddhism or one of these other religions, you'll get there. 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:23.120 He even said, uh, God's not necessarily Christian. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:29.120 Well, of course, God isn't in and of himself Christian, but certainly Christianity is the way to God. 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:32.559 I am the way, the truth, and the life, Jesus said. 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:35.519 No one comes to the Father except through me. 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:44.960 Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, talking about the lit, the litany of sins that this politician embraces, Paul says, do not be deceived. 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:49.519 Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 00:15:50.480 --> 00:16:04.799 So what I'm saying is that until you are born again, I don't care how many degrees you have or what you claim to teach about Christianity, you do not understand spiritual things. 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:06.960 And that's who we once were. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:10.080 We did not understand spiritual things. 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:14.480 Secondly, he says towards God, we are disobedient. 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:16.639 Disobedient. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:24.559 It's a word he uses, and it means unwilling to be persuaded. 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:28.159 Unwilling to be persuaded. 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:44.799 If you've ever been maybe in a Chick-fil-A, like on a Thursday or Friday night, and you see a family, and there's that kid that's running away from their parents, and you see the mom and dad, they're saying, come back, come back to us, come over here. 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:48.480 And you know, this whole gentle parenting thing's going on. 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:50.240 He's not listening. 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:52.320 He's not listening. 00:16:53.200 --> 00:17:02.799 And the more the parent coaxes, the more that child runs, refuses to obey. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:04.559 Isn't that a picture? 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:08.480 That's who we are before Christ. 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:16.079 We are unpersuadable, hell-bent on doing what we want to do. 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:18.400 We are lawbreakers. 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:21.119 We do not want to obey God. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:31.440 And by the way, in the 20th century, two worldviews emerged out of 19th century philosophy. 00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:33.440 Two worldviews emerged. 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:36.319 Both were atheistic. 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:40.400 Secular humanism and Marxism. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:46.400 And let me say this: both of these worldviews are worldviews of disobedience to God. 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:48.240 That's really what they are in a nutshell. 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:51.279 Secular humanism says all that exists is the here and now. 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:52.640 Secular means age. 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:56.799 All that exists is what you can see and feel and touch in this age. 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:00.720 Marxism says all that exists is materialism. 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:02.400 Again, atheistic. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:12.319 Therefore, we judge people based on the haves and the have-nots, and we need to distribute the material equally. 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:16.480 Both were radically atheistic. 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:21.359 Both radically rejecting the idea of God. 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:33.759 So not only are we born disobedient, but in the 20th century, what you had, like Dewey and all these people, uh, why was there a crusade to take down the Ten Commandments from the classroom in the courtrooms? 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:39.680 Because the the worldview said, like Nietzsche, God is dead. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:47.440 We no longer acknowledge the reality of an infinite God who is the lawgiver. 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:50.880 It is a worldview of disobedience. 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:54.319 How many of you were in that worldview, right? 00:18:55.359 --> 00:18:59.440 How many of you bought the lie of secular humanism? 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:00.799 God doesn't exist. 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:04.240 Therefore, just eat, drink, be merry, you know, party. 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:06.799 We have to be honest with ourselves. 00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:09.839 This is this is the air that we've lived and breathed. 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:14.160 So that's man, the first two related to God. 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:18.079 The second two are man as he is related to himself. 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:19.680 Look at what Paul says. 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:21.680 He says, led astray. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:24.640 Very interesting word, planao. 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:26.960 It's where we get our word planet. 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:33.359 And it means a wanderer, someone who wanders away from a course. 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:43.119 And if you think about the ancient astronomers, when they would look up in the night sky, you would have stars, and stars would be in fixed positions every night. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:47.440 You look out, the stars in relatively the same place every night. 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:49.440 But what do the planets do? 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:50.720 They wander. 00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:56.240 It looks like they're moving to different places amongst the stars. 00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:01.759 And what Paul is saying is that is the unbelieving life. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:06.079 You wander from worldview to worldview. 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:07.599 You are searching. 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:10.000 You are deceived. 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:15.279 You are, the NIV translates it, deluded, you're led astray. 00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:17.759 Led astray by who? 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:21.119 Who are you led astray by as an unbeliever? 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:31.839 Paul says, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, that is the spirit that is now at work and the sons of disobedience. 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:39.359 John says about Satan in Revelation 12, 9, that he is the deceiver of the whole world. 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:41.599 The deceiver of the whole world. 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:44.880 So unto yourself, you're led astray. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:48.079 You're going from pleasure to pleasure. 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:50.799 You're going from idea to idea. 00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:56.000 How many times have you heard the unbeliever describe their life as I'm on a search? 00:20:56.240 --> 00:20:58.079 I'm on a search. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:03.599 And what Satan does, by the way, he's so sly, isn't he? 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:14.480 The way that he lures us as unbelievers in our unbelieving life is not by promising terrible things, but good things, pleasure. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:35.440 I think it's interesting in uh in Pilgrim's Progress, uh Bunyan describes a character called the Flatterer, who is an agent of Satan, and he comes to Christian looking like a shining angel, and he leads him away off of the path. 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:37.839 He leads him astray. 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:42.960 Remember in Lewis's The Lion, the Witch in the Wardrobe, the Wicked Witch. 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:46.960 What does she lead Edmund astray with? 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:49.039 Turkish delight. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:51.200 Turkish delight. 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:54.720 Here, have some Turkish delight and betray your family. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.359 Satan is always promising these. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.559 These things to us in order to lead us astray. 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:06.160 I came across this quote. 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:11.599 This is commentator William Hendrickson and uh Simon Kistemacher. 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:14.079 They wrote a commentary on this book. 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:34.319 They said, quote, made to wander from the truth, living in a world of unreality, imagining that license is liberty, though considering ourselves to be free, we had become slaves. 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:37.119 We had become slaves. 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:39.680 And that leads directly to what Paul says next. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:48.079 He says, Not only are we led astray, we are slaves to various passions and pleasures. 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:50.960 Now that is strong language, isn't it? 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:52.960 Like slaves? 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:57.759 Passions, let's look at these words, passions and pleasures. 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:04.559 These are are oftentimes Paul uses them, these words negatively. 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:12.160 So for example, passions, 2 Timothy 2.22, he says, flee youthful passions. 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:15.279 Flee youthful passions. 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:26.480 He says in 2 Timothy 4.3, he says, in the last days, people will have itching ears and accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:32.799 It describes the the pulsating desires of your sinful flesh. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:37.920 And you think about a youth, what are what are youth tend uh tending to do? 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:40.880 To give in to those youthful passions. 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:51.039 Pleasures are often used to describe worldly pleasures that Satan offers us that are the fruit of self-centered desires. 00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:54.559 James describes them that way in James 4.1. 00:23:54.960 --> 00:23:56.640 But notice that word slaves. 00:23:56.799 --> 00:23:58.319 I think that's an important word. 00:23:58.799 --> 00:23:59.839 Slaves. 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:04.400 Slaves to various passions and pleasures. 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:11.680 That word means that you're in bondage, that you're chained, that you cannot get away, right? 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:19.839 That that you are that you are coerced, if you will, by your own pleasures to do something. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:27.200 And what we've said in American culture is tragically, follow your heart. 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:35.359 And that what we learn in nearly every Disney film that little kids are being taught. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:40.480 Follow your pleasures and passions. 00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:43.920 They will never lead you astray. 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:44.960 Wrong. 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:49.279 They are the definition of being led astray. 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:54.079 Maybe if you were uh in college, in secular university, did you ever hear this? 00:24:54.240 --> 00:24:57.279 If it feels good, do it. 00:24:57.599 --> 00:24:58.960 Remember that one? 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.240 Slavery to various passions and pleasures. 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:12.000 And then the final group of two, how we relate to our fellow man, he says, passing our days. 00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:13.759 That means leading a life. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:23.039 You know, you wake up from one day to the next, to the next day, and he says, we're leading this life day to day in malice and envy. 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:30.799 Malice is hate, moral perversity, evil towards our fellow man, people that do terrible things to our fellow man. 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:33.279 He says, this is who we are, and envy. 00:25:33.519 --> 00:25:38.079 Envy is coveting what someone else has, desiring what they have. 00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:41.119 You look and your life is so empty. 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:46.160 You've been following your passions, your pleasures, and you're empty because you don't have God. 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:49.200 And you look at others and you say, you know, they seem to be happy. 00:25:49.359 --> 00:25:50.960 I want what they have. 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:55.359 And that envy begins to tear you apart. 00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:59.119 So many crimes, so many evils are committed out of envy. 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:01.599 Remember Joseph's brothers? 00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:04.640 Joseph had the technicolor coat. 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:10.480 They were jealous, they were envious of the favor that their father had bestowed upon him. 00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:11.279 And what did they do? 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:12.400 They threw him into a pit. 00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:20.000 They took the coat, they ripped it up and pretended to, they staged it like he'd been torn apart by an animal. 00:26:20.400 --> 00:26:26.400 The religious leaders in Israel, they were envious of the attention that Jesus received. 00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:28.160 So what did they do? 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:32.400 They crucified the Lord of glory. 00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:37.119 Envy tears your life apart. 00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:40.480 All sorts of evils it leads to. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:43.279 And then he says, sixth. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:48.160 And this this is this is an amazing phrase. 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:53.519 Hated by others and hating one another. 00:26:53.920 --> 00:27:00.880 The word hated means something that is odious or detestable. 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:05.039 Like something that you that you don't even want to touch. 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:08.480 You think about something in your house that's odious, detestable. 00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:14.720 You're putting on the rubber gloves because you don't want to to you don't want to directly touch this thing. 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:20.880 And Paul's saying, that's who you were to other people in your life. 00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:23.759 You were odious to them. 00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:27.839 And then he says, and then you were hating other people. 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:32.559 You ever meet somebody and everybody else in their life is their problem? 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:38.720 And they and they complain about their educators, they complain about their parents, they complain about their siblings, they complain about their friends. 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:42.480 Everybody else in their life is the problem. 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:48.319 And you're listening to this, and you say, What's the common denominator in all of these things? 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:48.960 You. 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:51.200 You're the common denominator. 00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:59.200 We get the educators, the parents, the people in here, we ask them what they think about you, they're gonna say something similar. 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:02.000 So this is the unbelieving life. 00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:04.319 So you so you you look at it and it's whole. 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:06.240 Think about what Paul is saying. 00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:08.079 This is who we once were, right? 00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:28.720 We're foolish, we don't understand the things of God, we're lawbreakers, we're we're unpersuadable, we're disobedient to God's commands, we're led astray in the world, we're slaves to our passions and our desires, we're filled with envy and hate towards other people, and other people hate us, and we hate other people. 00:28:29.359 --> 00:28:33.440 That, my friends, is the doctrine of total depravity. 00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:35.200 That is total depravity. 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:38.400 It doesn't mean that each of us was as bad as we could be. 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:53.920 It doesn't mean that each of us committed the atrocities that that that maybe Hitler or or a Pol Pot committed, but it means that our mind, our affections, our will, in totality are at war against God. 00:28:54.720 --> 00:28:59.119 Just like what Paul is saying, the rest of mankind. 00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:06.240 So the the response is have compassion on people, right? 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:11.759 Not to say, look how good we are because we're here at the King's Chapel on Sunday morning. 00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:13.920 That's not the that's not the response. 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:17.200 The response is you were like them. 00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:19.680 So have compassion. 00:29:20.319 --> 00:29:21.839 Be good to all men. 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:28.240 We want to be merciful people, kind people, people who do good in the world. 00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:30.799 And so Paul says, remember this. 00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:39.920 There's a second thing he wants us to remember, a second motivation, and this is where it really gets amazing. 00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:41.359 Really amazing. 00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:46.640 Notice whenever Paul uses this little Greek word day, it means but. 00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:48.960 It's an interjection. 00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:52.559 And this is a glorious interjection. 00:29:53.119 --> 00:30:04.319 Paul says essentially, remember the kindness and the love of God towards you in Christ Jesus. 00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:05.759 Don't forget this. 00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:07.200 Don't forget this. 00:30:07.359 --> 00:30:08.720 Don't move past this. 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:12.720 He says, but it's amazing. 00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:22.640 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior, appeared, He saved us. 00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:25.440 What amazing truths. 00:30:25.599 --> 00:30:31.680 Thinking about this, we're talking about God of God's, the eternal, infinite God. 00:30:32.319 --> 00:30:36.880 And what Paul says about this God is he says, He's kind. 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:38.720 He's good. 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.960 This word good means extravagant benevolence. 00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:48.720 Extravagant kindness. 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:52.079 Paul uses it in Romans 2.4. 00:30:53.119 --> 00:31:01.119 He says, God's kindness, his goodness is meant to lead you to repentance. 00:31:01.519 --> 00:31:03.759 He uses it in Ephesians 2.7. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:17.200 He says that he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness or goodness toward us in Christ Jesus. 00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:20.799 So it's just this wonderful benevolence. 00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:22.240 Isn't that amazing to think about? 00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:32.079 That your God is a God who is so generous and kind, benevolent towards sinners. 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:37.279 And then he says, and loving kindness. 00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:42.640 That is a phrase, it's hard to translate this phrase. 00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:46.000 It's philanthropia is the Greek word. 00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:48.079 And philos means love. 00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:52.880 We get our word philanthropy from that. 00:31:53.519 --> 00:31:57.440 Philanthropia, it's only used one other place in the New Testament. 00:31:57.599 --> 00:32:01.519 Luke uses it when Paul is shipwrecked on Malta. 00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:08.559 And remember, the Maltans came over and they built a fire for those who had been shipwrecked. 00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:12.480 And Luke says they demonstrated philanthropia. 00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:19.440 Paul uses that same word here, but here he's talking about God's benevolence towards us. 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:33.680 So if you put these two words together, he's talking about a generosity, a kindness, an unmerited benevolence that is given to us. 00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:50.160 Now, what I think he's describing here is the moment in your life when for the first time you came face to face with the kindness and the love of God in Christ. 00:32:50.559 --> 00:32:52.559 We might call it conversion. 00:32:52.799 --> 00:32:55.359 We might call it being born again. 00:32:55.839 --> 00:33:06.720 We might call it some, you know, Billy Graham, make a decision, but we're talking about, we're talking about that moment when you are genuinely converted. 00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:13.119