Dale Partridge - Romans 13_13-14 Walking in the Light

00:00:00.000 Well, good morning, it's glad to just be back with you and we are finishing Romans 13 today,

00:00:11.500 which is wonderful. What a great chapter instead of a great book. As you know, Romans 13 has

00:00:19.980 covered a lot of ground. We saw the intersection of the family, the church and the state in

00:00:26.900 the early portion of this chapter, I preached on how Christ restored the authority that was lost

00:00:32.900 in Adam's fall. We looked at our duty to submit to rulers and when it is appropriate to rebel

00:00:43.380 against tyrants. We saw Paul emphasize specific obligations to these rulers or these civil

00:00:53.440 magistrates like taxes and honor and fear and reverence. But then we saw Paul shift from the

00:01:02.660 obligations to rulers to the obligation to one another. And he said, owe no one anything except

00:01:13.040 to love, which we understood as do not borrow if you cannot pay back, but also the only exception

00:01:21.500 is the debt of love which can never be fully paid back.

00:01:27.440 That is that unlike the debts of the government,

00:01:29.680 which can be fully settled through taxation and through honor,

00:01:33.860 the debt of love in the gospel cannot ever be fully repaid.

00:01:40.320 We are to operate in a way in which we never feel

00:01:43.300 like our obligation to love one another has been completely fulfilled.

00:01:47.600 then we saw that paul moved from obedience to rulers to

00:01:55.240 obedience to other sorry loving others through obedience to the law

00:01:59.380 in fact it was loving it was love that fulfilled the law

00:02:04.300 and through obedience we would fulfill that law in the sense that it is loving to obey

00:02:11.640 and then lastly we talked about this concept of knowing the time

00:02:17.360 Paul said, know the time, which we identified meant have a sobriety about reality.

00:02:28.180 Understand the moment.

00:02:31.840 Have a proper prioritization of the kingdom of God in your life and calendar and desires.

00:02:40.740 Do not sleep on Christian faithfulness or Christian duty.

00:02:43.920 I summed it up with this phrase, perspective informs pace.

00:02:52.620 I reminded us that if we grasped how near some of us might be to the finish line, we might run harder for Christ.

00:03:03.020 Psalm 90 verse 12 reminds us that, teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

00:03:13.920 And then we ended verse 12 last week, which said,

00:03:16.980 The night is far spent, and the day is at hand.

00:03:21.240 Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put up the armor of light.

00:03:28.460 This, I believe, was called, it was a demonstrated contrast.

00:03:33.120 Paul is trying to take off this and put on this.

00:03:37.720 It's a demonstrated contrast and intentional effectiveness with your life.

00:03:43.540 And though the dark world or the night has been passing away prior, which is the world that was prior to Christ,

00:03:52.380 and the kingdom of light is now here, this is kind of that already but not yet concept we talked about last week,

00:03:57.960 the already but not fully concept of the kind of crossover of two periods of time

00:04:02.980 where you have the day of the kingdom of God and you have the night of the previous world before Christ.

00:04:08.520 But Paul essentially says, walk as light walkers amidst night walkers.

00:04:16.560 Walk as light walkers amidst the night walkers.

00:04:22.200 Cast off that darkness that clings to you, that might hinder your faithfulness,

00:04:27.460 and walk in a way that would be like putting on Christ.

00:04:34.220 Now, today Paul continues with this metaphor of the day and the night.

00:04:38.520 And sometimes it's difficult because you don't know if he's talking about real light and real night or periods or of church history in terms of prior to Christ or after Christ or if it's a moral darkness and a moral light.

00:04:53.840 I'm going to try to navigate some of that with you as we get through these verses 13 and 14.

00:05:00.300 In verse 13, he says, let us behave properly as in the day, not in debauchery and drunkenness,

00:05:11.960 not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and in jealousy.

00:05:19.440 So first, I want you to just take note.

00:05:21.140 He says, behave properly.

00:05:24.340 I don't know how many times a parent has said that to a child, but behave properly.

00:05:29.440 Walk properly.

00:05:32.180 But he qualifies this properly with a phrase by saying, as in the day.

00:05:40.060 Walk properly as in the day.

00:05:45.500 Now the day, in this particular context, symbolizes both the kingdom but also the time.

00:05:51.920 When actions are visible to others.

00:05:55.500 actions are visible to others during the day now people tend to behave more virtuously in

00:06:03.800 daylight because they are aware that their wrongdoing would be seen this is just a normal

00:06:08.180 understanding when does most crime occur not during the day the day reveals the vileness

00:06:17.020 of wickedness.

00:06:21.520 Ultimately, sin loves the night.

00:06:23.820 Truly, sin loves the night.

00:06:25.920 It's as natural as smoke is to fire.

00:06:28.340 Think about a nightclub with me for a second.

00:06:31.480 Consider the acts of sin that occur

00:06:33.340 under the cover of darkness in a nightclub.

00:06:37.100 Then I want you to consider that it was 11 p.m.

00:06:39.600 and you walked into this nightclub

00:06:41.640 and you flipped on the lights. 0.95

00:06:43.480 people would scatter like cockroaches

00:06:47.320 scatter when you lift up the rock

00:06:48.800 they prefer the darkness

00:06:51.580 and what do they do when you lift up that

00:06:53.940 rock

00:06:55.300 they run

00:06:56.140 to the next dark

00:06:58.420 place

00:06:59.500 they don't want their shame

00:07:02.360 exposed

00:07:03.620 John chapter 3 Jesus says

00:07:06.620 people loved the darkness

00:07:08.960 rather than the light because

00:07:10.480 their works were

00:07:12.900 evil. Everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his

00:07:19.720 works should be exposed. So in this passage, Paul is saying, don't walk as those who prefer to

00:07:28.220 operate under the cover of darkness. Don't walk that way. Don't behave that way. Walk in a way

00:07:35.760 that prefers the light.

00:07:38.260 Walk in a way that lives in a manner

00:07:42.000 that has no fear of being seen

00:07:43.720 because your behavior reflects the light of Christ.

00:07:49.020 Christians love the light.

00:07:52.120 I prefer being in the light.

00:07:54.640 I know that I am safer in the light.

00:07:59.380 But then he lists six examples of sin.

00:08:05.760 And these are particular sins that I believe are more common at night.

00:08:11.720 He says, first, not to partake in debauchery.

00:08:17.100 Some translations say orgies.

00:08:18.880 Some translations say, you know, a variety of different translations for this word.

00:08:24.980 He also includes drunkenness and not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.

00:08:31.360 now it's easy to look at this verse and go oh you know this really doesn't apply to me I'm not

00:08:36.620 really attending drunken sex parties and being promiscuous this isn't something that applies to

00:08:40.320 me we're just going to kind of pass over that reality

00:08:43.060 but I want to remind you that God does not just measure sin by actions but also by affections

00:08:51.440 I say it often I'm going to say it again

00:08:56.840 Jesus is a law amplifier

00:09:00.200 He amplifies the law

00:09:03.540 What do I mean by that?

00:09:05.940 A low view of the law leads to legalism

00:09:07.940 When people think that the law is just in what you do

00:09:14.900 And not in what you think

00:09:16.720 You'll try to keep the law

00:09:19.040 But when you realize that it's not just what you do

00:09:22.980 But also what you think and what you feel

00:09:25.540 you quickly realize, oh Lord, I can't keep this law.

00:09:30.100 In fact, I've already broken it many times.

00:09:35.880 And it leaves you only one option to run to grace.

00:09:39.320 If you don't run to grace, you have no hope.

00:09:46.780 And so again, it's easy to say, oh, this doesn't apply to me.

00:09:49.180 No, you're not thinking clearly.

00:09:51.320 This does apply to you.

00:09:55.540 every single adult in this room has committed these sins or similar sins in their hearts and

00:10:03.080 minds. We're all guilty of lust, the lust of the flesh. And as I said earlier, self-love is

00:10:13.260 blinding. The blindness to our sin, in my opinion, is one of the worst sins out there

00:10:20.920 Because it's the idolatry of self.

00:10:24.040 We love ourselves.

00:10:26.380 We protect ourselves.

00:10:30.440 We are blind to our own faults in the same way that a mother is blind to the faults of their child.

00:10:37.360 Love is blinding.

00:10:42.700 But our self-love is dangerous.

00:10:45.140 You may have heard of the term narcissist.

00:10:47.680 it actually comes from a Greek legend

00:10:52.120 I'm going to give you a little story

00:10:53.200 I thought it was interesting when I was doing my study

00:10:54.760 it's about the demigod Narcissus 0.96

00:10:57.580 who was punished for his arrogance 0.96

00:11:01.160 and he was cast out

00:11:02.200 and he was cast out into this outer world

00:11:05.960 where he sat next to this pool of water

00:11:08.180 and he caught sight of his own reflection

00:11:12.220 and he became entranced by this beautiful face

00:11:16.660 staring back at him

00:11:17.520 and over time he fell in love with it and as he fell deeper and deeper in love with himself

00:11:26.040 he started leaning closer and closer to the water

00:11:30.560 until the point where his face is in the water and he drowned loving himself

00:11:38.500 the legend goes that after his death these greek gods transformed him into the narcissist flower

00:11:46.700 Now, if you don't know, narcissus is the scientific term for the daffodil.

00:11:55.900 And the daffodil is known to grow next to water that peels over and looks as if it's looking at itself in the pool of water.

00:12:09.940 Our flesh is narcissistic.

00:12:13.020 We love ourselves.

00:12:14.760 We love ourselves.

00:12:20.480 We don't see our faults.

00:12:23.200 Thomas Watson once said,

00:12:24.480 The heart is like a dark cellar full of rats, yet we do not see them unless the Spirit of God shines upon them.

00:12:33.960 My point is this, that this text is not for somebody else.

00:12:38.440 It's for you and for me.

00:12:39.980 so again he says avoid debauchery and drunkenness

00:12:45.560 these are shameful behaviors that I believe are typically performed at night

00:12:50.960 do not walk or think or

00:12:55.380 do not operate with the affections of these types of sins

00:13:04.760 Ephesians 5 8 says for at one time you were darkness but now you are light

00:13:09.800 in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Again, I want you to think about this behavior. Think

00:13:18.020 about how you behave when everyone's watching versus how you behave when nobody is watching.

00:13:24.500 Think about the things that you have done in dark that you would never do in light.

00:13:29.900 Think about the world right now that is trying to take the things that are done in the dark

00:13:33.480 and bring them into the light and try to eliminate the shame that comes with those things. 0.94

00:13:37.780 I want to be, you know, homosexual or divorced or adulterous or drunk right in the middle of everybody at noon. 0.91

00:13:50.840 And nobody can say there's anything wrong with it. 1.00

00:13:54.900 This is the world that we live in right now.

00:13:58.860 And we need to be careful.

00:14:01.540 And we need to be on guard.

00:14:07.780 Next, he says to avoid promiscuity and sensuality, 0.97

00:14:13.420 which in the Greek would include everything from fornication to lust to adultery to immodesty to pornography. 0.97

00:14:22.000 There's a lot packed up into this Greek word. 0.90

00:14:25.180 Now, we live in a hyper-sexualized culture that has been desensitized to the pornification of everything.

00:14:31.700 We're just not even aware anymore.

00:14:37.780 I mean, you guys remember a few months ago, I mentioned churches needing to have a dress code.

00:14:46.660 And that how restaurants and airlines and golf clubs have dress codes.

00:14:54.620 But for some reason, churches can't.

00:14:56.720 and I couldn't believe the backlash that I received for the idea that there would be a

00:15:07.300 standard of dress required for the church now the sad reality is is that I can't believe it

00:15:14.700 even needs to be said because somehow for a few thousand years nobody decided to show up

00:15:21.440 to church in something that would be called underwear for 2,000 years.

00:15:26.460 But the reality is, this is the time we are in.

00:15:31.860 As Christians, we have a responsibility to push back in love, to push back in kindness.

00:15:42.060 I'm not talking about being rude.

00:15:44.340 I'm talking about godly, righteous correction of the culture.

00:15:48.960 And I think we could do this in a few ways

00:15:52.740 One, set an example through holy living 1.00

00:15:56.080 Women, you have such an immense power of influence 1.00

00:16:01.860 In just the way you dress 1.00

00:16:03.080 The culture practices what the church allows

00:16:07.220 Okay, put that somewhere in your mind

00:16:10.220 The culture practices what the church allows

00:16:13.040 The church has to set the standard

00:16:17.980 Who else is going to set the standard?

00:16:20.820 Nobody else is going to set the standard.

00:16:22.880 You think the conservatives are going to set the standard?

00:16:24.840 You think the liberals, the scientists?

00:16:28.220 Who?

00:16:29.920 Nobody.

00:16:31.080 We are the only ones who know the standard.

00:16:34.080 And we are called to set it.

00:16:38.020 What is the Great Commission?

00:16:39.600 Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations,

00:16:42.220 baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

00:16:44.300 Teaching them to obey or to observe all that I have commanded.

00:16:50.780 Teach what Christ has commanded around biblical sexual ethics.

00:16:56.760 Which is number two.

00:16:59.660 Society should not be learning sexuality from secularists. 0.99

00:17:02.980 It should be learning sexuality from Christians. 0.98

00:17:06.160 And every possible opportunity we get, we should be taking that on. 0.96

00:17:10.780 It's a sensitive area.

00:17:14.300 But the vast majority of us learned it in public school at fourth grade.

00:17:18.800 No, no.

00:17:20.700 One, we should be learning it from our parents.

00:17:22.500 Two, we should be learning it from other believers.

00:17:26.340 Other fathers and mothers in the faith that are willing to have these conversations with one another.

00:17:32.720 Shepherding and discipling one another in this very important topic.

00:17:37.580 Number three is condemning sexual immorality whenever we see it.

00:17:41.820 I heard Corbin say earlier

00:17:45.000 quiet Christianity

00:17:46.720 it's never loving to allow people to sin 0.99

00:17:49.340 without calling it out

00:17:51.980 we need to speak the truth in love

00:17:54.320 those are very awkward conversations

00:17:57.020 that a lot of us are unwilling to have

00:17:58.700 this also includes speaking out to the culture

00:18:03.180 I've said this several times

00:18:04.440 if you go to the grocery store 1.00

00:18:07.180 and you see the guy wearing pronoun pins

00:18:10.520 or a man wearing a dress,

00:18:14.080 don't not say something.

00:18:17.940 Speak up.

00:18:19.460 Go to the manager.

00:18:21.260 Write an email.

00:18:22.800 Have a conversation.

00:18:25.020 It's amazing to me that the entire world 0.99

00:18:27.180 bowed the knee to 3% of the population 0.99

00:18:29.760 on the gay agenda. 0.62

00:18:31.980 Yet we have, what, 60% of America

00:18:34.300 is afraid to say anything,

00:18:35.880 but we could change this entire culture

00:18:37.540 if people would just inconvenience themselves

00:18:40.100 for a second and speak biblical truth lovingly

00:18:43.520 when it comes up, when you see it.

00:18:47.980 If you see wickedness, it's not loving

00:18:50.000 to just turn a blind eye to wickedness.

00:18:52.520 No, speak it out.

00:18:56.060 Hey, we saw one of the cashiers at the store 0.98

00:18:59.480 was wearing a dress.

00:19:01.920 One, this made us feel uncomfortable.

00:19:03.440 We believe this is sinful.

00:19:06.140 We call you to repentance.

00:19:08.040 We want to make sure that our money

00:19:09.120 is going to a store or a business

00:19:11.380 that upholds the righteousness of God.

00:19:13.080 I don't care what you say.

00:19:15.060 Speak the truth in a way

00:19:17.080 that at least makes them aware

00:19:19.660 that they're tolerating something

00:19:22.480 that God does not tolerate.

00:19:27.620 Now, when it comes to sensuality and promiscuity, 1.00

00:19:30.640 I do believe that women 0.99

00:19:31.860 hold a greater responsibility.

00:19:34.820 Okay, they're not any more guilty than men.

00:19:37.140 But I think there is a greater responsibility or burden that women get to carry in this particular area. 0.67

00:19:45.760 Yes, men must exercise self-control.

00:19:49.020 And I'm hitting that as often as I possibly can with them.

00:19:52.420 And I'm talking to the men on a regular basis, not just in our church, but abroad, in writing, in books, in podcasts, whatever I possibly can to deal with the self-control matter. 0.94

00:20:03.020 but when women in our culture today provoke temptation through immodesty or sensuality or 0.92

00:20:12.540 promiscuity you know when when again when they wear what was considered underwear for thousands 0.72

00:20:17.740 of years now worn in public and what was only attainable in a marriage is now attainable on

00:20:23.960 the first date we have a problem we live in a very difficult time we are raising children in

00:20:31.780 a very difficult time. We need to have harder conversations and earlier conversations as

00:20:36.400 a result of these threats. In many ways, women are both the thermostat for sexual morality 1.00

00:20:50.120 and the gatekeepers to sexual activity in society. A sociologist from 1903 said, 0.92

00:20:58.640 The woman is the arbiter of sexual union. 0.98

00:21:01.720 Her consent or denial shapes the moral and physical state of society. 1.00

00:21:08.520 This is true.

00:21:11.300 There has been in the sexual movement, sexual revolution, easier access to sexual content.

00:21:22.500 From the internet to terrible websites that exist.

00:21:28.640 These are threats to your boys.

00:21:31.000 These are threats to your girls. 1.00

00:21:39.700 Feminine sexual sin is driven by many things. 1.00

00:21:45.220 But in my experience, it always includes a father who never taught his daughter her worth

00:21:50.140 and how to communicate that worth to other people.

00:21:53.520 true beauty is protected

00:21:59.120 this is a no one can argue with this true beauty is protected that's why we put fences and walls

00:22:09.160 around things that are precious true beauty is protected to expose or give free access to that

00:22:17.200 which is beautiful and special is to take down the walls.

00:22:22.740 Just to take down the walls.

00:22:25.500 And what that does is it tells the world that it has little value and is not worth guarding.

00:22:31.340 When you have something that was special, but then you take down the wall,

00:22:36.040 it communicates that's not worth guarding.

00:22:39.180 It's not special, it's not precious, and it's not valuable. 0.99

00:22:42.940 when a woman removes the kind of visual or decisive barriers

00:22:49.400 between herself and men 1.00

00:22:51.500 she's like a diamond in a room full of thieves 0.57

00:22:55.680 she's either unaware through ignorance 0.99

00:23:01.920 the failure of her father

00:23:03.360 or she's willingly reckless

00:23:08.340 in either case she places herself at risk

00:23:15.720 first before God for her sin

00:23:18.460 second for her work of stumbling others

00:23:24.660 I don't know if you understand

00:23:29.500 that stumbling somebody else

00:23:32.240 is actually worse than the sin itself

00:23:35.560 intentionally trying to stumble someone

00:23:38.960 is worse than stumbling.

00:23:43.640 Jesus talks about

00:23:44.920 be careful that if anyone stumbles

00:23:48.520 one of these little ones

00:23:49.660 it's worse for them to do that. 0.59

00:23:51.800 I'd rather actually throw a millstone 0.98

00:23:53.700 around their neck 1.00

00:23:54.520 and drown them in the bottom of the sea. 1.00

00:24:00.660 Now we all do this. 0.72

00:24:01.860 Men do this too.

00:24:03.460 Men and women.

00:24:04.220 need to be careful that their actions are not stumbling others.

00:24:11.340 Our love for another should limit what we do.

00:24:17.080 It should also limit even our liberties.

00:24:28.340 In either case, again, she places herself at risk.

00:24:31.080 First, before God for her sin and second for her physical safety.

00:24:34.220 Now, in speaking of modesty, I love Doug Wilson's quote.

00:24:37.140 He says, quote, immodest and attractive is easy.

00:24:41.300 Think about it.

00:24:41.980 Immodest and attractive is easy. 1.00

00:24:44.560 You want eyes, ladies? 1.00

00:24:47.080 Go wear nothing and you're going to get the eyes. 1.00

00:24:49.320 That's easy.

00:24:51.400 Anyone can do it.

00:24:53.940 Then he says, modest and repulsive is easy too. 1.00

00:24:58.260 you get this group of women that are wearing these frumpy outfits and you can't even tell 0.99

00:25:07.400 that they're women i forgot the quote but it's like wear wear clothing that is tight enough

00:25:14.080 to show that you're a woman and loose enough to show that you're a lady

00:25:17.560 yeah then he says he closes it with but modest and attractive is an art form

00:25:28.040 Modest and attractive is difficult 0.84

00:25:31.400 That is where it is to be for ladies 1.00

00:25:34.940 Your clothing and your dress should 1.00

00:25:38.300 Point and direct men toward your face

00:25:41.320 To your character 0.99

00:25:51.080 Sensuality, however, is more than clothing

00:25:52.740 It's more than clothing

00:25:54.940 And I want to go a little bit deeper here

00:25:57.160 because I think it is very applicable to our generation.

00:26:00.440 It's also mannerisms.

00:26:03.960 And again, this does apply to both men and to women,

00:26:06.920 but I follow a few Christian women on social media,

00:26:10.040 and I believe with the rise of social media and photography,

00:26:15.520 the average woman has learned how to model.

00:26:20.040 The average woman has learned how to model.

00:26:21.980 and unfortunately most models use poses and facial expressions that i believe 1.00

00:26:33.140 should be reserved for the marriage bed

00:26:34.800 it's shocking actually when you start looking across social media or even the covers of

00:26:42.240 magazines, the looks and the positions, the body poses that are occurring, they are, in

00:26:54.740 a real sense, sensual, sensuality.

00:26:58.120 They are trying to elicit sexual responses from men, truly.

00:27:06.440 You can see it, again, on the cover of any magazine.

00:27:09.840 And again, we are so desensitized to sexual sin that I see many.

00:27:15.640 I have friends from high school that I still follow on social media.

00:27:18.500 And they're posting their cheer camp, you know, and dance camp and ballerina stuff with their kids. 0.96

00:27:27.400 And they're absolutely ridiculous. 0.52

00:27:29.120 I'm like, you're showing your 13 and 14-year-old girl dressed in nothing. 1.00

00:27:34.860 Posing in the most ridiculous poses with the most ridiculous faces. 0.99

00:27:38.940 we are so desensitized. 0.99

00:27:47.360 We, again, we need to promote self-control among men,

00:27:50.980 but we also need to promote prudence and elegance

00:27:59.140 and the art of beauty among women.

00:28:06.080 We need to restore modesty, not just in clothing, but in behavior.

00:28:12.460 I mean, if you watch or read something from before the 1900s,

00:28:16.520 you can see that maybe a man walked by and he brushed the side of a woman's arm,

00:28:22.400 and it was this big deal.

00:28:25.500 I can't believe it was the sign, maybe he loves me.

00:28:32.260 We need to reel this way back in.

00:28:35.520 and to get back to a place of biblical sexual ethics.

00:28:45.880 Sorry, I lost my spot here.

00:28:55.280 The last two mentions that he talks about here are strife and jealousy.

00:29:02.740 I think the word is better translated envy instead of jealousy.

00:29:07.420 So some translations do translate it that.

00:29:10.440 Which, again, I don't think are always associated with the night.

00:29:13.700 But the word strife, eros in the Greek, it speaks to kind of this bitter or violent conflict.

00:29:23.020 Bitter or violent conflict.

00:29:24.560 And again, before you think that this doesn't apply to you, I mean, it does.

00:29:27.640 It really does.

00:29:28.540 because the violence of the heart, it's there.

00:29:32.360 You might be civil and you're not yelling,

00:29:35.440 but the Lord knows the heart.

00:29:38.900 On social media, there seems to be this hunger

00:29:40.900 for fighting videos.

00:29:42.000 I don't know, maybe I just see it all the time,

00:29:44.180 but there's just all these fighting videos

00:29:45.740 that always are coming across my feed.

00:29:48.200 And I've noticed that the vast majority of these

00:29:49.840 are recorded at night in front of bars 1.00

00:29:52.580 surrounded by immodest women. 1.00

00:29:56.360 You know, I don't think that's a coincidence. 1.00

00:29:58.540 I believe that these sins are also kind of running in the same circles.

00:30:03.260 We know that the vast majority of domestic abuse cases occur when?

00:30:07.280 At night.

00:30:09.100 At night.

00:30:12.040 And so, yes, you can have strife in any environment, just like you can have drunkenness in the daytime.

00:30:16.400 But it's rare to see them because the shame brought upon them by the light deters people from behaving in such a way during that period of time.

00:30:25.920 now jealousy and the sinful sense again more like envy is to resent others for that which you do not

00:30:36.700 have to resent others for that which you do not have one theologian said of strife and envy he

00:30:43.220 says both sins indicate a determination to have one's own way and a self-willed readiness to

00:30:48.620 quarrel if they do not get it.

00:30:52.840 Now these sins, again

00:30:54.680 at varying degrees, live in us

00:30:56.220 and we can't, what we can't

00:30:58.740 forget is

00:31:00.280 that strife and jealousy 0.95

00:31:02.020 are sufficient to send you to hell.

00:31:06.660 They're sufficient. 0.84

00:31:09.380 We kind of get this place

00:31:10.700 where we go, you know,

00:31:11.440 degrees of sin, you know.

00:31:16.560 And I say that because I want to bring

00:31:18.320 a degree of gravity to them.

00:31:22.140 And I'm not talking

00:31:23.440 when you're in a fight,

00:31:28.100 you're always thinking,

00:31:29.740 oh, he's talking to someone else.

00:31:32.380 I want you to apply this to you,

00:31:36.180 not to whoever you're mad at,

00:31:38.780 whoever you're frustrated with.

00:31:41.060 This is you that this text is speaking to.

00:31:44.520 now children I want to talk to you for a minute

00:31:49.500 so children give me your eyes for a second okay

00:31:52.460 strife or fighting is pretty common

00:31:57.360 among children

00:31:58.640 I correct a lot of those fighting in my own house

00:32:02.580 on a daily basis I know a lot of you parents do as well

00:32:06.080 but your fighting

00:32:10.080 is appalling to God 0.93

00:32:12.080 God hates your fighting 0.97

00:32:14.220 he hates your fighting 0.99

00:32:17.080 Jesus had to die

00:32:19.880 for your fights

00:32:22.200 between your brothers and your sisters

00:32:24.940 do you understand that

00:32:29.060 Jesus died

00:32:30.760 not just for the murderers

00:32:32.700 and for the thieves

00:32:35.720 but for your fight

00:32:38.140 that you had with your sibling this morning

00:32:40.860 or yesterday

00:32:41.420 Nails were put into Christ's hands

00:32:46.460 And a crown of thorns crushed onto his head

00:32:49.640 Because of the anger you had toward one another

00:32:55.220 You need to understand that fighting is sinful

00:33:00.600 It's not good

00:33:02.560 You can't disconnect the fights between your siblings

00:33:07.560 From Jesus' death on the cross

00:33:10.740 You understand that? Amen? Amen.

00:33:20.280 The Apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1, 14 through 16, he says,

00:33:27.040 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.

00:33:36.040 children you know how you ought to obey

00:33:41.280 don't Peter says

00:33:46.260 be conformed to the passions of what you

00:33:50.220 used to live like before you knew

00:33:52.800 you know he says

00:33:57.140 but behave as he who called you

00:34:00.600 who is holy you also be

00:34:04.720 holy in all of your

00:34:06.700 conduct

00:34:07.200 since it is written

00:34:09.700 you shall be holy for I am holy

00:34:12.620 we are

00:34:14.820 a holy people

00:34:16.200 not just set apart

00:34:18.680 but righteous and pure

00:34:19.820 and we are to act like

00:34:24.700 Christ

00:34:25.360 Paul closes

00:34:27.240 in verse 14 he says

00:34:29.740 put on Christ

00:34:32.300 It says, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.

00:34:43.040 So verse 13 gave this negative command.

00:34:47.840 These are things to avoid in verse 13.

00:34:50.680 In verse 14, you start off with this word, but.

00:34:55.400 And this is signaling a contrast.

00:34:59.220 And we're smart Bible interpreters here.

00:35:00.580 We know grammar.

00:35:02.300 and it's signaling what should be done instead.

00:35:07.920 In other words, verse 13 tells us what not to do,

00:35:11.000 and verse 14 tells us what to do instead.

00:35:16.800 Now, what we should do also correlates

00:35:20.760 with the conduct that is appropriate for daytime.

00:35:25.280 Paul begins with, put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

00:35:34.120 Now, if you remember last week, Paul ended by saying, cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light.

00:35:43.320 So he said, let us put on the armor of light. Now he says, let us put on Jesus Christ. What does he mean?

00:35:49.720 I believe that the substance of the armor of light is Jesus Christ.

00:35:54.960 Put on Jesus Christ.

00:35:58.720 What does that mean?

00:36:00.420 What does that mean?

00:36:02.380 So Galatians 3.27 says,

00:36:04.460 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

00:36:09.900 So, yes, in some sense, all of you who have been baptized have been clothed in Christ.

00:36:14.300 I don't think that's particularly what he's focusing on in this passage of Scripture.

00:36:18.960 Isaiah 61.10 says,

00:36:20.360 As I delight greatly in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God, for he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in robes of his righteousness.

00:36:29.600 Again, that's talking about the imputed righteousness.

00:36:31.720 You're clothed with white robes, the righteousness of Christ.

00:36:38.240 Again, I don't think that's what Paul has in view particularly in this passage of Scripture.

00:36:43.860 I don't believe that Paul has adoption, but rather application.

00:36:47.620 here i think he is saying he's calling each and every one of us to put on the character of christ

00:36:57.140 put on the character of christ what does that mean to act like him to think like him to love

00:37:03.940 like him to forgive like him to hate what he hates to condemn what he condemns to be like christ

00:37:10.620 I think a lot of people in this generation have mocked

00:37:16.000 kind of the WWJD bracelets back in the 90s, right?

00:37:19.420 What would Jesus do?

00:37:23.400 No, the reality is that walk like Christ.

00:37:29.780 Think like he thinks and act like he acts

00:37:32.040 and love like he loves and forgive like he forgives

00:37:34.500 and hate that which he hates.

00:37:40.620 then if you look down at the text in verse 14,

00:37:45.060 he separates the call to put on Christ with a coordinating conjunction,

00:37:49.320 the word and, the word and,

00:37:52.900 which is an important little word, and here's why.

00:37:57.500 Coordinating conjunctions, they connect two equal objects in one sentence.

00:38:03.320 It's not chronology, it's not hierarchy, it's equality.

00:38:10.120 And this is important.

00:38:12.100 So we have two equal commands.

00:38:13.660 Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the lust of the flesh.

00:38:19.620 Both.

00:38:23.100 In other words, one is not greater than the other.

00:38:26.140 I think they're actually two sides of the same coin.

00:38:29.220 I think if you do one, you get the other.

00:38:33.060 The Greek word for provision.

00:38:38.440 Make no provision.

00:38:40.140 The Greek word for that is really maybe best defined as forethought.

00:38:45.400 It's talking to an intellectual understanding of sin.

00:38:49.020 It speaks to this premeditation of sin to gratify the flesh.

00:38:54.640 Premeditated sin.

00:38:55.720 In a court case, first degree murder or premeditated murder always receives a significantly more harsh consequence.

00:39:08.560 It's different than an impulsive murder.

00:39:11.620 It's planned murder.

00:39:13.940 You're considering it.

00:39:15.760 You're thinking about it.

00:39:17.060 It shows a greater degree of evil.

00:39:21.260 So Paul is not, or Paul is talking about not sinning with a blueprint.

00:39:29.380 Again, to think that you're free of this would be a failure of sight.

00:39:36.520 because I've done it.

00:39:38.380 I've sinned with a blueprint.

00:39:42.360 I've sat there and maliciously dwelt upon something,

00:39:48.100 planned out how I might hurt someone.

00:39:56.080 Paul is saying, do not sin with a blueprint.

00:39:59.620 Don't let life's difficulties lead to this bitterness

00:40:02.540 or jealousy or anger that which dwelled upon.

00:40:05.340 What does it do?

00:40:05.860 It creates provisions and forethoughts and opportunities for sin.

00:40:12.060 It's like the last part.

00:40:14.020 You're kind of cascading death.

00:40:19.580 Paul's message is don't go down that road.

00:40:22.800 Don't let bitterness take root.

00:40:25.560 Don't.

00:40:28.620 In fact, quickly forgive.

00:40:30.740 I have to remind people sometimes

00:40:36.000 the parable of the debtor

00:40:40.780 the parable of the debtor right is that you've been forgiven much therefore forgive

00:40:46.060 those who have sinned small against you

00:40:48.020 there is nothing that anyone can do to you

00:40:54.340 that is even remotely close to what you have done to God

00:40:57.820 therefore because God has forgiven you

00:41:00.960 you have to forgive others

00:41:02.780 to hold people to the fire

00:41:05.480 for some sin that they've committed against you

00:41:08.480 while receiving the forgiveness of God in Christ

00:41:11.580 is wicked

00:41:12.660 Jesus literally says

00:41:17.200 if you're not going to forgive others

00:41:20.380 my father in heaven won't forgive you

00:41:21.760 man that should just freak you out

00:41:25.260 It should make every one of us a forgiving people.

00:41:30.060 Quick to forgive.

00:41:31.820 Because you know what happens if you don't do that?

00:41:34.000 You get bitter.

00:41:36.200 And you know what happens when you get bitter?

00:41:39.640 You start planning and dwelling and getting malicious.

00:41:44.000 And you operate from fear and struggle and frustration.

00:41:51.840 It keeps pushing things away.

00:41:55.260 I have learned that if you just obey, you can turn a canyon of a problem into a crack like that.

00:42:07.880 Just quick.

00:42:10.320 This applies to strife in the church, which we will have.

00:42:15.180 This applies to husbands and wives and counseling.

00:42:19.420 This applies to siblings with one another

00:42:21.340 and parents with their children

00:42:23.540 and parents with their parents.

00:42:27.320 It applies to all of us.

00:42:33.000 Don't let life's difficulties lead you to bitterness

00:42:35.500 and jealousy and anger.

00:42:38.680 The Puritan Thomas Boston,

00:42:40.840 I'm getting ready to close here,

00:42:42.620 said, labor to starve your lusts. 0.93

00:42:45.960 make no provision for the flesh.

00:42:48.940 He says, labor to starve your lusts.

00:42:53.380 I don't think he's talking about sexual lusts.

00:42:55.560 I'm talking about anything.

00:42:57.360 Anything that you desire.

00:43:03.480 Thomas Watson writes,

00:43:07.820 if sin is a soul sickness, pay attention here,

00:43:11.000 if sin is a soul sickness,

00:43:13.020 then do not feed the disease.

00:43:15.960 He who is wise will avoid those things which will increase his disease.

00:43:23.000 Right?

00:43:25.480 If he is feverish, he will avoid the heat which will worsen his disease.

00:43:32.640 If sweetness makes him weak, he will forbear a dish he loves because it is bad for his disease.

00:43:40.720 Why should men not be as wise for their souls?

00:43:44.240 you who have a drunken lust do not feed it with wine you who have a malicious lust do not feed

00:43:53.440 it with revenge you who have an unclean lust make no provision for the flesh he who feeds a disease

00:44:01.900 feeds an enemy some diseases are starved starve your sins by fasting and humiliation

00:44:11.600 either kill your sin

00:44:13.700 or your sin will kill you, end quote. 0.67

00:44:18.400 That's why we read the Puritans, right?

00:44:22.760 Okay, I'm going to close with this. 0.96

00:44:26.020 Put on Christ.

00:44:30.000 I don't care what has happened to you.

00:44:33.000 I don't care what suffering or problem has occurred.

00:44:38.240 I don't care who has wronged you or hurt you.

00:44:41.600 God doesn't say, forgive, only if.

00:44:46.260 Don't be bitter unless.

00:44:49.900 No.

00:44:51.340 No.

00:44:52.980 All of us will stand before the Lord in judgment.

00:44:55.580 We will not be condemned because we have Christ.

00:44:58.440 But we will be judged.

00:45:00.540 And I promise you, you will regret every single sin that you thought was small.

00:45:06.420 It's not.

00:45:07.420 be holy as he is holy amen let's pray father we thank you lord

00:45:17.000 for your word that you have continued to provide us with

00:45:22.200 an ocean of clarity of your expectations for us lord we pray that you would help us to obey

00:45:28.720 lord that you would sanctify our souls and spirits that we would love one another

00:45:35.540 that we would return love for hate

00:45:39.580 and forgiveness for bitterness

00:45:43.640 Lord that you would come in

00:45:46.240 and help us do that great and mighty work

00:45:48.560 that it would be the evidence

00:45:49.580 of your faithfulness to us

00:45:51.820 we ask that you would do that

00:45:55.500 for this congregation

00:45:56.360 these people here

00:45:57.340 in Jesus name

00:45:59.180 Amen

Dale Partridge - March 12, 2025

Romans 13_13-14 Walking in the Light

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