WEBVTT 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:08.560 As we continue in worship, I encourage you to turn in your Bible to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 21. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:13.359 I'll be reading verses 20 34 through 38. 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:22.480 And if you happen not to have a Bible with you, there should be one located in the pew in front of you, and you can find the scripture passage on page 881. 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:26.079 That's 881 of the Pew Bible. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:27.839 Encourage you to look on. 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:34.799 And if you're here today and you don't own a Bible or don't have uh easy access to one, please take that one home with you. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:43.359 We are privileged to be able to give away Bibles every week, and uh we would love for you to have it if you don't have one. 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:48.880 Luke chapter 21, beginning in verse 34. 00:00:51.200 --> 00:01:03.759 But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:08.480 For it will come upon all who dwell in the face of the whole earth. 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:19.200 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:31.280 And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged at the mount called Olivet, and early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:35.040 This is God's word. 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:41.040 Why don't we read the Bible more? 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:43.439 Why don't we pray more? 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:47.200 Why don't we share our faith more? 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:50.000 Why don't we forgive more? 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:52.079 Or trust more? 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:56.959 Or rest in God's grace more than we do? 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:00.959 What are you living for? 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:05.760 What are you living for today? 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:18.080 It's the beginning of a new year, and of course, many people will have New Year's resolutions of things that they're going to do, and they make a decision, I'm going to go to the gym. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:19.919 I'm going to get a gym membership. 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:29.199 I just read a statistic in the newspaper, and it said 70% of all New Year's gym memberships will go unused. 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:38.000 In fact, if everyone who actually had a membership went to the gym, they wouldn't have the capacity to hold it. 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:45.840 So they know that you will make the commitment, you will make a decision, but you will not follow through. 00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:51.120 Oftentimes we live the Christian life that way. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:03:03.680 We go from meeting to meeting, from camp to camp, from event to event, and we make decisions, and those are good things, but the reality of it is that it doesn't last. 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:09.840 This morning I want to talk about spiritual dullness. 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:12.879 Spiritual dullness. 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:18.719 Jesus says here, watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down. 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:24.159 Jesus isn't talking to the Pharisees. 00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:39.439 He's not talking to the fair-weathered disciples who followed Jesus while things were going well, but as soon as the teaching got tough, it says that they turned and followed him no more. 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:43.759 Jesus says this to the twelve apostles. 00:03:44.639 --> 00:04:02.639 He says it to his closest followers, those who have been walking with him, living with him for over three years, who had seen his miracles, who had seen the dead raised, who had seen the blind get sight, who had seen the mute speak, who had seen the lepers cleansed. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:16.560 He was telling his twelve disciples to watch their hearts lest they be weighed down and become spiritually dull. 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:21.199 He's talking to us. 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:34.319 He's talking to us to guard ourselves to recognize the reality that you and I are prone to spiritual dullness. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:05:21.040 You and I get to walk around like an evangelist. 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:26.639 God is warning us. 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:37.920 God is warning us that our hearts can become dull and unaware of spiritual reality. 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:40.639 That's what he's telling his disciples here. 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:52.959 He's saying, be careful, watch your heart, otherwise you might not know and be aware of spiritual reality that is all around you and is about to happen. 00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:59.279 He says that he is returning, that he is coming back. 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:02.560 And for those who have eyes to see, they'll be aware. 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:05.680 For those who have ears to hear, they'll be able to hear. 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:13.519 But if you become dull of hearing and dull of seeing, you will not see and you will not hear. 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:17.759 Well, what is spiritual dullness? 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:23.920 The writer to Hebrews says this in Hebrews chapter 5, verses 11 through 13. 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:30.480 He's talking to them about spiritual truths, and he says, I have much to say to you. 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:35.680 And it's hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:44.639 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:53.519 You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness since he is a child. 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:57.120 But meat is for the mature. 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:04.319 And the writer to Hebrews is writing to believers and saying, by this time you ought to be teachers. 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:08.319 You ought to be leaders in the church. 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:10.240 You've been Christians long enough. 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:18.800 You've known Christ, you've walked with Christ long enough that by this time you ought to be on the front lines of the Christian faith. 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:27.680 But the reality is, is you still are babes in Christ because of your spiritual dullness. 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:31.040 You have become dull of hearing. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:36.160 He says there's a lot that you still need to learn. 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:54.560 The great preacher Jonathan Edwards described it this way: He says, When the realities of God and his gospel grow dim, and unbelief and worldly affection so strong that the heart of the church wanders to the lusts and rivalries of a secularized mind. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:06.319 What Edwards said 250 years ago is that we can drift spiritually to the point where there is no material difference between us and the unbelieving world. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:19.680 There's no difference between how we act and react, how we respond in situations, that for all intents and purposes, our reactions and our responses are the exact same as unbelievers. 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:30.399 Here are some words that describe spiritual dullness, slowness, laziness. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:36.240 It becomes difficult to pick up your Bible and read or to take time to pray. 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:44.159 Lethargy, complacency, uninterested, normalizing mediocrity. 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:48.559 We begin to say, well, well, everyone else, nobody else is further along than me. 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:55.440 Nobody else is committed, so what does it matter if I just warm the pew every Sunday morning? 00:08:58.000 --> 00:08:59.840 Rationalizing sin. 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:07.279 We begin to minimize our sin and justify our sin and rationalize our sin. 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:16.159 We stop recognizing the holiness of God and the gravity of our behavior before that God. 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:23.919 Pride that you've arrived, you begin to think that there really isn't too much more room for growth. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:30.720 As I look at my life, I see myself in such a way that I don't recognize how far I still have to go. 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:35.679 Another author describes it this way concerning spiritual drift. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:38.960 He says, Your faith is ritual and routine. 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:45.279 There's no vitality, there's no life, there's no excitement, there's no anticipation. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:52.000 You go through the motions and you do it as ritual and routine, and it becomes religion to you. 00:09:52.799 --> 00:10:00.080 He says you mouth the words of hymns and prayers, but only out of habit, with no heart and eagerness. 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:07.039 Well, what do the results of spiritual dullness look like? 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:17.440 As I mentioned already, one clear sign is if your reaction is no different from everyone else when they see you angry, upset, or hurt. 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:25.279 If there's no greater love or forgiveness than your typical non-Christian, something is not right in your heart. 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:34.559 If you respond with the same anger and bitterness and resentment that is common among unbelievers, you have forgotten the gospel that saved you. 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:40.399 Jesus said this, You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:47.759 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:53.840 For he makes the Son rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:57.360 For if you love those who love you, what reward is that? 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:00.799 Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:05.679 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:08.799 Do not even the Gentiles do the same. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:19.120 When I was in high school, I became a Christian in ninth grade, had a zeal for God, I had a passion for God's word. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:30.399 I started reading the Bible that first summer after I had come to know Christ, I read through the New Testament, uh, took notes, uh, began witnessing, began talking to my friends. 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:34.639 But over the course of the next couple years, I began to drift. 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:38.399 I began to be influenced by my non-Christian friends. 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:46.000 I began to get pulled down to act the same way they acted and do the things they did and talk the way they talked. 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:54.080 And I still wanted to witness, and I remember being in the library in the in the area that groups could talk, and I was there with a friend of mine, Todd. 00:11:54.559 --> 00:12:00.399 Todd had grown up in this odd religion, and I and I began to share the gospel with him. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:10.159 I began to tell them about Christ, and right in the middle of it, Todd looked at me and said, Why should I believe what you're saying? 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:13.279 Your life is no different from mine. 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:19.759 And he stopped me dead in my tracks. 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:25.360 Spiritual dullness happens to all of us. 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:35.919 There's no way to avoid it if you don't guard your heart. 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:45.679 And I know even throughout my Christian life, even in being in ministry, that that you don't get a pass just because you're a pastor. 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:51.759 That God warns us like he warns the apostles to guard your heart. 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:55.360 And so this morning I want to talk first of all about the problem. 00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:58.639 What is the danger of spiritual dullness? 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:07.840 And then in the last few minutes, talk about the remedy of persevering through spiritual alertness. 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:18.879 And so let's look at the text of what Jesus says here, warning us about the reality of spiritual dullness of being weighed down by different things. 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:21.679 So, what is spiritual dullness? 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:24.960 He says, watch yourselves, let your hearts be weighed down. 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:29.120 What does the Bible mean about heart? 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:33.279 Again, just to refresh our memories, the heart is the seat of your being. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:36.159 It is who you are in your inner life. 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:40.320 It's your desires and your habits and your beliefs. 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:42.799 It's your intellect, your will, your emotions. 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:46.320 It is who you are, it is what motivates you. 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:52.879 Your thoughts, your choices, your feelings flow from your heart. 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:59.840 And so that you can look at the things that you desire and it gives you an indicator of what's going on in your heart. 00:13:59.919 --> 00:14:04.960 You can look at your emotions and your responses, and it gives an indicator of what's going on in your heart. 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:13.679 You can look at your words that you say, and it's a reflection of what is the reality of your heart. 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:21.840 And Proverbs tells us to keep your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the wellsprings of life. 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:29.759 Your heart is where your deepest passions lie that motivate you to act and react, to feel and respond. 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:39.840 Now the Bible tells us as Christians what ought to motivate us, and it ought to be the love of the Father. 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:45.440 What ought to compel us, Paul says, it's the love of Christ that compels us. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:59.360 It's the reality that God the Father has chosen you as his own, has sent his son to die for your sins, has called you into his family, and that you are the object of his affection. 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:06.399 And what ought to motivate and move our hearts is the reality of our sonship. 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:12.879 The reality that we are the adopted children of our Heavenly Father who delights in us. 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:20.480 And so often our Christian faith moves from joy and passion to duty and drudgery. 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:26.000 And life becomes dry. 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:33.279 We go through the motions, maybe we we we continue to read our Bibles out of a sense of duty. 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:45.440 We pray, but it's really more of a sense of obligation of mouthing certain words, of saying certain things, of taking a certain amount of time in the morning or sometime in the day. 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:49.279 And these things become duties rather than delights. 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:53.519 You become unmotivated. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:16:02.080 You hear of others talking in spiritual passion, and you begin to judge them and think, well, that's just emotionalism, or they're just hyping themselves up. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:06.559 Or maybe you even become cynical and think, well, yeah, they're just faking it too. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:16.960 Jesus says we can be weighed down, and and he's he gives two areas here in the text. 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:20.159 He talks about dissipation and distraction. 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:28.240 He says we can be weighed down with dissipation, first of all, or distraction. 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:34.720 Notice what he he says in verse 34. 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:39.840 He says, Lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness. 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:45.519 And what Jesus warns is that you can move from Jesus to Jack Daniel's. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:47.679 That you can move. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:51.200 Dissipation is an interesting word. 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:59.600 I didn't realize all of the connotations until I was looking it up this week in preparation for this sermon. 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:11.920 But dissipation is a word that describes drinking to the point of excess so that the next day you feel sick. 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:15.759 And dissipation is that sickness that follows the next day. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:17.519 We would call it a hangover. 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:26.079 And Jesus warns here and says that we can be weighed down with different things. 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:30.960 And one of the things he talks about is alcohol. 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:34.559 Now the Bible is clear, and we've talked about this. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:36.400 It's not inherently wrong to drink. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:41.680 In fact, wine is described as one of God's blessings in Psalm 104.15. 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:48.160 It says that God gave wine to gladden the heart of man in a list of things that God has given in his goodness. 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:56.000 But the Bible warns very clearly, do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery in Ephesians 5.18. 00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:58.079 And one author notes this. 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:05.680 He says, if you have been getting drunk, or if people who love you are concerned about how much you are drinking, stop drinking immediately. 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:09.759 If you find that you can't stop, this proves you have a problem. 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:18.000 Medication, medical attention may be needed to deal with the physical effects, especially if it's a strong chemical dependency has developed. 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:24.000 But at its heart, the abuse of alcohol is a spiritual issue that calls for the repentance of sin. 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:33.759 Now you may be sitting here thinking, well, I've never had a drop of alcohol in my life, so this passage doesn't apply to me. 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:44.559 But there's something underlying this at the heart of what Jesus is talking about, that alcohol is only an example of. 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:49.200 And that is our tendency to self-medicate. 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:51.759 And let me explain what I mean by that. 00:18:55.440 --> 00:19:04.640 Anything that you run to in times of pain or stress instead of Jesus is self-medication. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:15.119 Anything that you use to cope with life on a consistent basis is self-medication. 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:22.799 For some it might be alcohol and drugs, for others, it may be exercise or food. 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:31.359 The way of escape, the way to deal with life is to avoid it by going to the gym and working out six days a week. 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:42.000 Or maybe it's to indulge in food, and that little bit of pleasure that you get from the food that you're eating dulls the pain or the reality of what you're dealing with in life. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:44.799 Or it might be entertainment. 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:56.000 It might be sitting in front of the television for hour after hour getting lost in dramas and comedies in order to take your mind off the realities of life. 00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:01.519 And instead of running to Jesus, you run to ABC and CBS. 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:12.319 And you allow that to become your coping mechanism, the way in which you deal with life and you begin to lose sight of the reality around you. 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:37.039 It could be video games sitting in front of the video council for hours and hours on edge, vegging out and looking at these role-playing games and going for hours and hours and days and days at so much of the things in life, even good things, we can use to self-medicate. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:43.440 We can use to avoid the realities of life instead of running to Jesus. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:49.920 And so Jesus warns us that we can begin to get caught up. 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:57.359 We can lose sight of the goodness of God and the grace of God and the love of God and the care of God. 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:06.400 We can forget that God sees us and knows our hearts, he knows our lives, he knows everything that you're going through, that his eye is on you. 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:19.440 We can begin to forget the reality that God cares for you, that he loves you, that we don't have to run around like unbelievers do because he knows what we need before we even ask. 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:28.880 We begin to forget that we have a Father that is intimately acquainted with all of our ways and he is there for our good. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:40.960 And because we forget those things, because we become spiritually dull, we begin to run to other things in order to cope with life and we self-medicate, it doesn't have to be alcohol. 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:47.200 And so Jesus warns us of this reality. 00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:58.799 Notice what what else he says here, he talks about the cares of this life. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:02.400 The cares of this life. 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:06.240 And those things can be good things or bad things. 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:10.400 The cares of this life could be worry and anxiety. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:17.200 Worry and faith are really opposites, and to the degree that we're worrying, we're not trusting. 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:24.880 To the degree that we're focusing on our problems instead of focusing on our Savior, we lose sight of God. 00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:28.480 And so worry can cause our hearts to be weighed down. 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:32.559 We begin to look at our circumstances and only see the horizontal. 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:39.920 We look around and we see what's going on today and this week and this month, and we begin to wonder and worry. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:42.079 I don't know how things are going to work out. 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:44.799 I don't know what things are going to look like in the future. 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:47.839 I'm worried about myself or my family. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:50.480 And those things begin to weigh us down. 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:52.799 And all we see is the horizontal. 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:57.359 We stop looking up and remembering God. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:02.079 And so things in our lives can weigh us down, but good things can weigh us down too. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:04.000 Busyness can weigh us down. 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:14.000 We can become so distracted with the things of this life that we run from place to place and activity to activity. 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:16.079 We never have time to slow down. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:18.079 We never have time to rest. 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:27.599 Because we're so busy and so active, we never have time to think and reflect and rest and pray. 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:43.039 And so what Jesus warns us is the reality of spiritual dullness that can set in over time as we get caught up in either self-medicating or the distraction that causes us to forget the reality of the gospel. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:59.680 And it weighs us down day in and day out, and over time we continue to drift, we become more blind, we become more insensitive, we stop hearing the reality of God's word. 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:09.519 And so Jesus warns us of the reality of spiritual dullness. 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:15.920 The result of spiritual dullness, he talks about in this passage as well. 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:20.480 He says, That that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:23.599 Now that day, he tells us what it is. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:27.920 He says, For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:35.359 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place to stand before the Son of Man. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:37.839 He's talking about the second coming. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:49.200 He's talking about the reality that the same Christ who was raised from the dead, who ascended into heaven, that in the same way that he ascended into heaven, that Jesus Christ is going to return. 00:24:49.440 --> 00:25:01.119 And what Jesus says here is that we can become so caught up in this world that we're not even anticipating the reality of the second coming. 00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:06.960 He says it's going to come upon you suddenly like a trap. 00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:17.519 Now, we might be thinking to ourselves, well, but isn't Jesus supposed to come like a thief in the night? 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:20.000 I saw the movie. 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:23.599 You have to be old to get that reference. 00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:25.279 78, I think. 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:27.759 1978, not 78 years old. 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:31.599 But I want to turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 for a minute. 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:33.359 I want to show you something. 00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:38.319 And I want you to see what Paul says here. 00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:42.559 He's talking about the second coming of Christ here. 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:51.519 We're not going to get into all of the details of end times here, but he's talking about the second coming of Christ. 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:56.079 We see that at the end of chapter 4. 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:03.599 And then in the beginning of chapter 5, look at what he says in verses 1 to 3. 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:12.720 He says, Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need for anything to have anything written to you. 00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:18.160 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, okay? 00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:20.319 Look at what he says next. 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:21.599 Verse 3. 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:32.960 While people are saying there is peace and security, then suddenly destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:42.720 And so, like Jesus says, it will come like a trap, it will come suddenly a trap that you don't realize it's there, and then it springs on you, and it's too late. 00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:58.480 And Paul here says it's like it's like birth pains, that a woman is going along pregnant, wondering when the baby's going to come, and suddenly her water breaks, and and the uh the contractions start, and it's it catches you off guard. 00:26:58.559 --> 00:27:02.640 But but look at what he says next in verses four through seven. 00:27:04.400 --> 00:27:14.079 He says in verse four, but you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:23.680 But you uh for you are all children of light, children of the day, we are not of the night or of the darkness. 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:29.039 So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 00:27:29.359 --> 00:27:33.359 For those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:42.799 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 00:27:44.559 --> 00:27:49.920 You see, what Paul says here is the same thing that Jesus says in Luke chapter 21. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:28:01.440 He says that for the for the spiritually insensitive, for those who are dull or spiritually dead, that everything is going to catch them off guard. 00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:04.799 They're going to have no expectation, no anticipation. 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:13.119 But then he says to us as believers, he says, but you it shouldn't catch off guard. 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:24.000 If you're awake and you're alert, if you're ready, if you're prepared, if you're anticipating, it should not catch you like it does unbelievers. 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:35.359 And now, neither Jesus nor Paul is telling us that we're going to know the day or the hour. 00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:39.119 Jesus says, No man knows the day or the hour, even when Christ was on earth. 00:28:39.200 --> 00:28:42.400 He said, Not even the Son, but only the Father who is in heaven. 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:47.359 So he's not talking about date setting, but he is talking about anticipation. 00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:50.640 He is talking about expectation. 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:59.359 He's saying that those who are spiritually alive and awake, they're looking around and they're looking up and they're living for that day. 00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:07.200 They're living for the return of Christ and the consummation of all things as God unfolds his redemption plan. 00:29:13.119 --> 00:29:23.519 And so Jesus, in the Gospel of Luke, he tells us that for those who are spiritually dull, that all of these things are going to overtake them like a trap. 00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:30.559 And so then he gives us the remedy, he gives us the solution. 00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:35.519 How do we avoid spiritual darkness? 00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:38.559 Or what do spiritual dullness? 00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:40.480 What do I do if I'm already there? 00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:46.319 What if, as I look at my heart, as I look at my life, I realize I'm going through the motions? 00:29:47.519 --> 00:30:02.880 That as I think about the passion in my heart, when I'm at church, I may say spiritual things and I may sing songs or even raise my hand, but when I'm at home, uh the Bible sits until next Sunday. 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:05.759 And prayer is few and far between. 00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:10.640 What do we do if if we're in this place of spiritual dullness? 00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:18.480 Well, it's not merely a matter of a decision to try harder. 00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:26.160 Jesus talks about the perseverance through spiritual alertness, but it's not just making a decision. 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:41.759 That's one of the reasons why New Year's resolutions, although it's good to think about and fun to plan, the reality of it is, is you could just repeat last year's because you didn't do them the last time you made them. 00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:46.960 And we all know where good intentions lead. 00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:51.599 Now, it is true we do need to make a commitment. 00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:58.319 We do need to decide to repent and return to Christ, but it's more than just a decision. 00:30:58.880 --> 00:31:04.640 If you leave here today and say, okay, I'm just going to try harder to follow Jesus, you're going to miss the point. 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:12.880 Because it's not a matter of willpower, of just willing yourself into a new place, willing your heart to change. 00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:16.640 Notice what Jesus says. 00:31:16.799 --> 00:31:19.839 He says, watch yourselves, watch your heart. 00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:26.559 So we need to know our hearts. 00:31:27.200 --> 00:31:32.960 We need to, on a daily basis before God, take inventory of our hearts. 00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:40.000 And when things come out of our mouths, when we when we see things, begin to reflect and ask, where did that come from? 00:31:40.960 --> 00:31:48.160 Jesus says all of these things that come out flow from the heart, and so we need to recognize what's going on in our hearts. 00:31:49.279 --> 00:31:52.480 We need to know our tendencies and our weaknesses. 00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:56.400 We need to know the true depth of our sinfulness. 00:31:56.720 --> 00:31:58.640 One 18th-century pastor J.C. 00:31:58.799 --> 00:31:59.599 Ryle said this. 00:31:59.680 --> 00:32:04.880 He said, There is no sin so great, but that a great saint may fall into it. 00:32:05.039 --> 00:32:09.680 And there is no saint so great, but he may fall into a great sin. 00:32:12.160 --> 00:32:26.480 The reality is that all of us have indwelling sin that wages war against our souls, that we fight against day in and day out, and to know the reality of our sin, to see ourselves for who we really are. 00:32:28.559 --> 00:32:31.359 And to know the depths of our sinfulness. 00:32:32.240 --> 00:32:37.200 As I've said before, one man Jack Miller says, cheer up, you're worse than you think you are. 00:32:38.799 --> 00:32:47.599 Now, we need to be careful that when we look at our sin, that we forget to look through it through the lens of the gospel. 00:32:47.839 --> 00:32:52.720 Because if all we do is introspection and look at our sin, one of two things is going to happen. 00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:59.039 Either we're going to look at our sin and we can't face it, so we're going to rationalize it away. 00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:08.240 Or we're going to look at our sin and we're going to get a true glimpse of the depravity in our hearts, but apart from the gospel, we'll fall into despair. 00:33:09.119 --> 00:33:18.240 But when you look in the light of the gospel, you're able to be honest with yourself and look at your sin because you remember the cross. 00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:25.039 And so know the depths of your sinfulness, know your surroundings and your influences. 00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:29.039 And then bring them all to the Lord in prayer. 00:33:29.119 --> 00:33:30.880 Look at what Jesus says. 00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:38.400 He says, but stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things. 00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:46.240 And so Jesus tells us to pray, but what we pray is out of weakness. 00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:49.359 What we pray is the realities of what are before us. 00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:52.319 God, I am weak, but you are strong. 00:33:52.559 --> 00:33:56.079 May your strength be made manifest in my life. 00:33:56.720 --> 00:34:01.680 God, I look at my heart and I see how how prone to wander I am. 00:34:02.160 --> 00:34:03.839 How prone I am to stray. 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:08.159 How prone I am to leave you or to forget you or to ignore you. 00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:11.519 But God, soften my hardened heart. 00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:19.599 To cry out to Jesus and ask him to do in your life what he wants to do and what only he can do. 00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:26.079 And the only thing that hinders him from doing it is you going your own way. 00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:38.159 So Jesus says that we need to pray, but pray for alertness, realize our ability to be dull, pray for discernment to see what's going on. 00:34:38.480 --> 00:34:45.360 Pray for deliverance, the reality that things are going from bad to worse, but God is able to deliver us. 00:34:45.519 --> 00:34:47.199 Pray for endurance. 00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:49.760 Pray for faithfulness. 00:34:53.119 --> 00:34:56.480 But above all else, pray that you understand the gospel. 00:34:58.159 --> 00:35:03.920 I've said this last week, I've said it over and over again because it's such a reality in my own heart and life. 00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:07.280 I read a quote this week and it just stuck with me. 00:35:07.440 --> 00:35:12.320 It said, as a Christian, you never go beyond the gospel. 00:35:13.199 --> 00:35:15.199 You only go deeper in it. 00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:29.920 And the longer that we know Christ, the more we should revel in our forgiveness and stand in awe of the fact that God loves us and called us to be his own. 00:35:30.320 --> 00:35:37.760 To look at the cross, and the longer we live, the more we're gripped by the reality of our sin, but the more we're gripped by grace. 00:35:39.119 --> 00:35:43.119 To see the cross, to see the gospel, to go deeper in it. 00:35:44.239 --> 00:35:58.400 That every day we preach the gospel to ourselves, we allow the truth of who God is and what he has done to answer the deepest hurts and pains and fears of our hearts. 00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:02.000 And so we preach the gospel to ourselves. 00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:04.079 We don't go beyond the gospel. 00:36:04.239 --> 00:36:05.920 There is nothing else. 00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:10.800 The whole story of the Bible is a story of redemption history from beginning to end. 00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:15.519 It's all about Jesus and what He's done and why He came. 00:36:17.119 --> 00:36:19.199 And to go deeper in it. 00:36:19.840 --> 00:36:24.239 To renew our minds to the truth of God's word, but not as an academic exercise. 00:36:24.320 --> 00:36:34.239 To say, God, soften my heart and open my eyes as I read your word so that I might meet with you and see you and know you better. 00:36:34.960 --> 00:36:44.400 To renew our minds of the truth of God's word, to allow God's word to wash us with water, which is the word it says in Ephesians chapter 5. 00:36:44.559 --> 00:37:01.679 To feed our souls on God's word and pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to take that truth and impress it upon our hearts so that the true weight of spiritual reality impacts us and penetrates the dullness that we're prone to. 00:37:04.320 --> 00:37:10.639 Pray for a greater awareness of the love of your Father and the forgiveness that you have in Jesus. 00:37:10.800 --> 00:37:15.360 We never move beyond the gospel, we just move deeper in it. 00:37:19.280 --> 00:37:21.039 So what are you living for? 00:37:22.800 --> 00:37:24.400 Are you living for today? 00:37:24.559 --> 00:37:27.039 Are you living for circumstances? 00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:30.880 Are you living for that day? 00:37:31.119 --> 00:37:33.599 Are you living in light of eternity? 00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:42.159 Are you living in light of the reality that one day either we will go to be with God or Christ will return? 00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:49.519 Either I will stand before Jesus in my death, or Jesus will come back for me, and I will stand before him. 00:37:50.079 --> 00:37:53.360 But that is the day that we live for. 00:38:32.079 --> 00:38:39.360 It is a moment by moment repentant faith of confessing our sins and believing the gospel in our lives. 00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:58.079 It's a reality that we are going to pursue God above all else, that He is our object, that He is our goal, and that nothing else is going to get in our way and deter us, and that this is going to be the daily reality of our pursuit for the rest of our lives. 00:38:58.159 --> 00:39:05.519 It's not just a decision to make today and then to walk out here and forget what you are, what you've said. 00:39:05.679 --> 00:39:07.760 It's not a gym membership. 00:39:08.000 --> 00:39:12.079 This is a reality of saying, God, I want you in my life. 00:39:12.320 --> 00:39:15.679 I have been drifting, I am spiritually dull. 00:39:15.840 --> 00:39:20.000 Awaken me, enliven me to the reality of who you are. 00:39:22.320 --> 00:39:24.559 And so I want us to pray. 00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:32.159 And I want us to cry out to God to do what only He can do in our lives, to do what only He can do in this church. 00:39:33.199 --> 00:39:36.800 To awaken us to the reality of the gospel. 00:39:36.960 --> 00:39:38.239 And so let's pray. 00:39:38.559 --> 00:39:45.760 Father God, as we are gathered here, your word has pricked our hearts. 00:39:46.559 --> 00:39:51.760 As we look at our lives, we realize, Lord, that we are drifting. 00:39:52.960 --> 00:39:55.920 We don't have the passion that we once had. 00:39:56.239 --> 00:40:02.960 We remember the height from which we've from which we've fallen, and we want to repent and do those things we did at first. 00:40:03.280 --> 00:40:11.840 We realize, Lord, that we have become weighed down with self-medication and weighed down with the cares of this world. 00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:18.719 We're so distracted by stuff, even by good stuff. 00:40:18.960 --> 00:40:24.639 Things that aren't in themselves wrong, but but we run to them instead of running to you. 00:40:24.800 --> 00:40:43.280 And Lord, we ask you to do your work in our lives of softening our hearts, of changing us and transforming us, of putting within us a desire for the things of you, that we will hunger and thirst for righteousness, that we will long for you, that we will seek after you. 00:40:43.440 --> 00:41:01.199 Father, and this isn't just a momentary decision, but Lord, we want this to be the direction of our lives every day when we leave here and tonight and when we wake up in the morning and when we have lunch tomorrow at work or school, that we want to say that we want to follow you, Lord. 00:41:01.679 --> 00:41:04.639 And Lord, we do so faultingly. 00:41:07.760 --> 00:41:14.320 We do so struggling, Father, but we cry out and ask for your grace and your strength. 00:41:14.639 --> 00:41:17.760 We are weak, Lord, but you are strong. 00:41:17.920 --> 00:41:19.440 Give us strength. 00:41:19.679 --> 00:41:30.079 May the power of your Holy Spirit fill us and empower us, Lord, and incline our wills to follow and believe. 00:41:30.239 --> 00:41:33.119 Give us a greater vision of the gospel. 00:41:35.280 --> 00:41:37.679 Lord, we never move beyond it. 00:41:38.239 --> 00:41:43.199 But Lord, we pray in this new year that we will move deeper in it. 00:41:44.079 --> 00:41:46.480 And so we cry out to you, Lord. 00:41:47.519 --> 00:41:48.480 Change us. 00:41:49.679 --> 00:41:51.280 Change our hearts. 00:41:52.400 --> 00:41:54.480 Break up the fallow ground. 00:41:55.119 --> 00:41:58.480 Bring revival in our hearts. 00:41:59.599 --> 00:42:01.039 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:42:01.760 --> 00:42:02.400 Amen.