 be looking at verses 15 through 21 here in the book of Ephesians chapter 5 allow me to read to you at verse 15 I'll read to verse 21 we'll get into our study Ephesians chapter 5 verses 15 through 21 Paul writes see then that you walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise redeeming the time because the days are evil therefore do not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is and do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation but be filled with the Spirit speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ submitting to one another in the fear of God and so we're going to be looking at these verses today and so let me do a brief review for a few just a few moments actually because we've got a lot to look at today in this passage we know that Paul up to this point has been exhorting his readers to live a life that is called godly he had begun in chapter 4 verse 1 by exhorting believers to have a walk he says that is worthy of the calling so in the following verses he began to describe to us what kind of walk that would be like the Christian life would be characterized by various attributes if you will he said in chapter 5 verse 2 that believers would walk in love which would be selfless in sacrificing in chapter 5 verse 8 he said that they would walk as children of light in verse 11 of chapter 5 he said they would have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness and all of these things are tied in together because Christians are intended to bring glory to God in first Peter chapter 2 verse 9 Peter had said it this way he had said you are a chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light and so we walk in the light because we've been called out of darkness we walk in the light because Jesus is the true light we walk in the light because those who follow God do not walk in darkness but walk in the in the light of life and so he's speaking to us concerning that in verses 13 and 14 i pointed out that those verses contained in invitation he had said awaken you who sleep and arise from the dead awake center from your slumber of sin is what he's saying you are unaware of your lost condition and then he said arise he said arise that means repent turn away from your dead waste of sin and God will give you through christ spiritual light and so he's speaking concerning the walk of the believer and here he continues encouraging us as believers to live a christ-centered life so he begins in verse 15 and he says see then that you walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise redeeming the time because the days are evil therefore do not be unwise but understand what the will of the lord is so i don't know how often you use the word circumspectly i probably would guess right by saying we didn't use it today this is probably the first time we've used the word circumspectly and so i'll share with you what that means notice he says walk circumspectly not as fools but as wise the word circumspectly is really a picture of being on your hands and your knees looking out for danger it means to be watchful and cautious it means to be on the alert aware of any danger that might be there it speaks of discernment of discerning enemies so walking circumspectly as he says speaks of walking consistently correctly and cautiously the world is filled with spiritual land mines the world is filled with traps walk being aware of these things be aware you have a fiendish enemy seeking to destroy you like first peter five eight says be sober minded and alert your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour so we're to be careful we're to be careful in how we live we're to walk straight in the center of god's word like it says in deuteronomy five thirty two it says therefore you shall be careful to do as the lord your god has commanded you you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left stay in the direct center of his commands why because after your right and after your left there's danger when i was 16 or 17 years old i was visiting a friend of mine and he lived in wittier and behind him was a small kind of like an aqueduct it was a little channel it was a concrete channel probably about 14 feet 15 feet deep or so and there was a pipe that went from one side to the other that actually crossed over the channel that channel and as i said it was about 15 feet from the top of the pipe it would have been more like 20 feet and i decided i was going to walk across this pipe over this dry channel made of concrete and i did okay for the first half but then i started looking around and i started seeing how high that really was especially as i was looking down from my vantage point and before you know it i was i was petrified i was so afraid because if i fell i knew i would well i'd break up my body up maybe even die and so i sat down on this pipe in the middle of the pipe and my friend's mom came out and saw me there and asked me what are you doing and and i said i'm praying for the first time in many years and she had to talk me into scooting across the rest of the the the distance it was probably about 40 to 50 feet from one point to the other and i was about halfway through and i knew that in order for me to make it through i was going to have to stay in the center of that pipe well i've never forgotten that so when i was reading and preparing the study i began to think concerning what he's saying here walk circumspectly be aware of what's taking place around you be aware that there are spiritual landmines waiting to take you out be aware that you have an enemy the enemy the devil who is roaring like a lion and seeking whom he may devour so in order to remain safe from him beyond the alert and stay in the center of the will of god and what he's saying to us is is if you're walking circumspectly you're going to be able to avoid the pitfalls that you can actually be destroyed by we're to guard our walk and if you guard your walk it puts you in a place where god brings blessings into your life jeremiah 17 verse 8 says it like this but blessed is the one who trusts in the lord whose confidence is in him he's like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream and does not fear when the heat comes for its leaves remain green and is not anxious in the year of drought for it does not cease to bear fruit so we'll be in the place where god can bless us so walking circumspectly safeguards the gospel and actually will earn the gospel a more respectful hearing because the way that we live reveals how god is working in us and when people see the way you live it gives you an opportunity to share about what the lord has done so tidus two seven and eight says and everything set them an example by doing what is good in your teaching show integrity seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us and so as you walk in a circumspect way you're actually putting yourself in the blessing in the place of blessing um pastor chuck used to say i want to be under the spout where the blessing comes out you'll be in the place of blessing but also you're giving the gospel people an opportunity to hear this glorious gospel that changes lives and gives you opportunities to share it also encourages other believers to live for Jesus Christ because the way that we live is an example how of how christians live in Philippians three seventeen paul said it like this he said join together and following my example brothers and sisters and just as you have us as a model keep your eyes on those who live as we do so if you're looking for somebody to be an example a model of christian faith it's wise to choose one who's been walking with the lord for some time because he can give you or she can give you a lot of a lot of illustrations a lot of insight into how to walk for the lord jesus christ and so we're to walk circumspectly aware of what is around us and the dangers he says again in verse 15 we're to walk circumspectly but not as fools but as wise now the word full speaks of the one without wisdom when somebody is acting foolishly they're acting unintelligently they're acting irresponsibly they're acting as if god doesn't exist that's why the psalmist said the fool sayeth in his heart there is no god he lives as if there is no god and so without faith in the lord the the fool establishes himself as his own god he establishes his own moral rules in accordance with his own fallen nature proverbs 12 15 says it like this the way of a fool is writing his own eyes so the product is a life that's earmarked by sin because god's ways are taken lightly they reject god they reject his word they may attack the idea of believing in moral absolutes like it says in proverbs 14 9 fools mock at sin well the end result is they stand before god in judgment the god that they said does not exist is the god they give an account of themselves to so don't live as a fool in first peter 4 3 and 5 3 through 5 it says you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do living in debauchery lust drunkenness orgies carousing detestable idolatry they're surprised that you do not join them in their reckless wild living they heap abuse on you but they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead so he says instead of walking as a fool verse 15 you're to be wise notice redeeming the time because the days verse 16 the days are evil the word redeeming speaks of buying something it was used at that time speaking of buying something out of a marketplace the word redeeming could also be used of buying a slave in order to set him free so you're buying something but the time is a measured allocated or fixed season it's a fixed period of time so the point is we use every moment that we have that we have been set free to serve god we we use every one of those moments because we're purchased and redeemed by jesus we haven't a lot of time to serve so we're to use that time in order that we might be able to recognize that it's a gift and glorify god why do we do that well notice he says the time is to be redeemed because he says the days are evil when he says the days are evil he's not simply speaking of the quality of evil but the fact that it is an evil opposition to you there's a pressure against you to live for god it is in this this time that we're living in is an active opposition to jesus his message as well as those who love him i read something uh an entertainment publicist by the name of michael levine uh this is what he said he said it's easier to declare yourself a gay drug-addicted kleptomaniac than a born-again christian saying you are born again a born-again christian at an elite hollywood party is like wearing a swastika to a bani barith fundraiser there is visceral palpable contempt and that's absolutely true you can go to a place where people are having a great time and like he says amongst the hollywood elites and you say oh yeah i'm born again well in john 1714 jesus said it like this i i have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world just as i am not of the world so the world is an active opposition against us and so we're to buy back the moments because the days are evil therefore verse 17 do not be unwise but understand what the will of the lord is therefore do not be foolish be unwise understand what the will of the lord is always remember when you stand with jesus christ you will be treated cruelly in matthew 1025 jesus said it's enough for a disciple that he'd be like his teacher and a servant like his master if they've called the master of the house beelzebub how much more will they call those of his household and so what we do is we don't act unwisely but we understand notice what the will of the lord is so somebody says well that's my problem i don't know what the will of the lord is well it was as we've been going through Ephesians he's saying well this is the will of lord the lord that we as followers of god walk in sacrificial love live a sexually pure life have good reputations no god's word to be protected from deception live in the light exposed sin by a holy life and being careful in the way that we live and so this all now leads to an exhortation that we are to walk in the spirit verse 18 do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation but be filled with the spirit here we go i want to develop this with you okay how are we going to how are we going to keep all these commands i mean we've been going from chapter one to chapter five and we've seen so much about who we are in christ and what christ expects of us how we're supposed to live and all and how am i going to do that how am i going to be able to live this way and he gives to me that the the added ingredient the thing that is most important which is being filled with the holy spirit christianity isn't a philosophy of life alone it's not a strategy for successful living to be a christian requires the power of the spirit of god jesus said you shall receive power after that the holy spirit has come upon you you shall be witnesses to me in jerusalem judia samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth prior to pentecost we didn't have the holy spirit dwelling within us the holy spirit in the old testament would would descend on somebody but also would would would leave them that's why david would say take not thy holy spirit from me that's why samson knew not that the spirit had departed from him because the holy spirit would come upon empower but would also leave in the new testament the holy spirit is coming upon us and is within us and is with us and so it's a different kind of of working of the spirit so for me to live for christ requires not simply the desire to obey that's naturally that is important very key but it requires the power of the spirit to be able to obey that which i desire to do paul said i am unable to do i'm a wretched man who will save me from this body of death what what what the answer is is the holy spirit who indwells us and so we're to be filled with the spirit of god again it's our christian faith is not simply reading a book and it's not just having a christian philosophy it's not a strategy to live well or to have success it it requires the power of the spirit of god and and what he's doing here and we're going to look at this to illustrate being filled with the holy spirit paul contrasts this with drunkenness in saying this he's contrasting a spirit led life with a carnal flesh centered life let me develop this with you the ancient greeks worshiped a variety of nature gods one of their gods was called back us he was the god of fruitfulness and vegetation he was also the god of wine and ecstasy when his followers worshiped they would drink and then get drunk and after drinking the priest would prophesy under the influence of their god so while under the influence of alcohol they gave what were called their words or their oracles the worshipers of back us would engage in excesses of every kind including sexual orgies they believe that drunkenness was a proper way to worship the god who invented wine because they were changed after drinking they were under the influence they believed back us was influencing them so whatever they did while drunk was blamed on his influence in their lives hey baby i didn't mean to say that man i was drunk i didn't mean to do that i was drunk that still goes on to this day that really isn't me you know i'm not that way the only reason i did that or said that or whatever is i've been drinking that's no different than all the way back two thousand years ago when the worshipers of back has said whatever they said or did under his influence was his fault and that's what paul is contrasting and we're going to look at that a little bit further as a matter of fact a lot further so that brings us to what paul says when he says this kind of thing and i want you to notice how he says it he says do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation that's another word we don't use every day it means to be without self-control when somebody is acting in in that fashion when they're under the influence they are without self-control and so that's what he's saying you're lacking control when you're under the influence of this carnal and fleshly substance called wine so that brings us to one of the questions many christians have today and it's one of the topics that provokes heated arguments amongst believers and here's your question is it okay for me as a christian to drink okay we'll close now no okay so it's instructive to note that paul just wrote instructions on how to live he had just said walk carefully he had said redeem the time he had said do not be unwise and he said understand the will of god then he writes do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation so the practice of drinking when argued for by those who believe it permissible is usually presented under the liberties that believers enjoy within the sphere of the grace of god the argument usually centers on the premise that it's intoxication that is forbidden but drinking is not so if someone enjoys wine or beer it's permitted if one does not get drunk now those who believe it wrong are usually labeled legalists who are imposing their strict moral values on others and who do not understand the grace that has given us liberties which would include social drinking there's your argument those who do not believe in recreational drinking will often look at those who drink as carnal because they appear to have the values of the world they're uncaring about alcohol's dangers and oblivious to how others view them and the detriment to their witness such behavior is no all of this is hinged on their understanding the times that they're living in paul was saying you are living in days when the entire culture is in hostile opposition to you and because the days are evil and because the enemy is prowling around to upset destroy or to do everything he can to undermine the gospel in your life you need to be aware of that the whole culture is against you and the enemy is against you and so in spite of all of this paul is saying we are to live christ honoring lives now in chapter 4 verse 24 paul had told them to put on the new man which was created according to god in true righteousness and holiness and this is the kind of life that we have been designed for you see our lifestyles reveal the sincerity and maturity of our faith in jesus christ it also reveals the depth of our love for him and our devotion to him and this love for jesus is evidenced by the consistency of our works and our words this new way of life is not something we create for ourselves it's supernaturally empowered it's made possible by the spirit of god and so we're to live in a way that gives god the glory so again what about alcohol and the christian there are christians who have no problem drinking they argue in its favor i call them alcohol evangelists they attempt sometimes to even argue people into their position many who argue in favor of grace are very often more concerned with their desires perhaps they're unaware of what paul wrote to the carinthians in first carinthians 612 when paul said all things are lawful for me but all things are not helpful all things are lawful for me but i will not be brought under the power of any i like to refer to and i do so in a in a way that's not condemnatory i just used the phrase i heard it somewhere i repeat it forgive me if it offends you i call them sipping saints that's an old phrase so if you're a sipping saint i want to i want to ask you a series of questions concerning alcohol let this permeate for a moment if you're an alcohol evangelist if you believe that your liberties are greater than the effect you have when you stumble somebody who has a weak conscience here are some questions is alcohol costly did they give it away free most of the time is it something that i should spend my money on is it habit for me and if i become addicted how will it affect my life how will it affect the life of my family how will it affect my friends can i make poor decisions while under its influence can my life and those i love be affected by it will it offend other christians do i have to defend my drinking to others will it harm my christian testimony can i share the gospel effectively while drinking is it right has it improved my testimony and has it made me more like jesus you might find this interesting these are fairly recent statistics 76 million americans who do not drink have an immediate family member who is an alcoholic alcohol addiction is the number one drug problem in the united states in the last 50 years more americans have died due to alcohol than the deaths of world war one and world war two combined 25 to 40 percent of all hospital beds in america have people in them with an alcohol problem 50 percent of all traffic fatalities are related to alcohol 20 percent of all freezing deaths are related to alcohol 25 percent of all choking deaths are related to alcohol 50 percent of all falling deaths are due to alcohol 52 of those who die in a fire it's related to alcohol 60 of all suicides are related to alcohol 64 of all murders are related to alcohol 69 of drownings are related to alcohol as our 72 percent of robberies and assaults 60 of all rapes are related to alcohol 80 of all criminal court cases in the united states are related to alcohol in one way or another after 50 percent of teen driving deaths are related to alcohol 77 of all high school students in america claim to have used alcohol or are presently using it 44 of all eighth graders have used or are presently using alcohol in the united states there are 500 000 children between nine and 12 that are alcohol dependent 11 000 underage young people try alcohol for the first time every day in the united states interestingly in the united states alcoholism is classified a disease if it's a disease then why are there breweries and distilleries why are there liquor stores and bars that have to be licensed to sell this disease why do you have to be a certain age to get it and why do you pay taxes on it one website said that americans spend approximately 57 billion dollars a year on alcohol now if there were labs making and selling hepatitis or meningitis covid they would be closed down someone said no one starts out to be an alcoholic everyone begins with a defensive attitude saying i'm just a social drinker there's nothing wrong with it no one says it is my ambition that someday i want to lose my job my health my self-respect my marriage and my family someday i want to be dependent on alcohol to get through my day yet this is the destination at which several millions of people have arrived now why do you suppose that is it's because alcohol is promoted and elevated as a normal or sophisticated activity in life it is also expensive addictive and enslaving christians are not to yield to this kind of control over them just because it's legal does not make it morally right and it doesn't make it spiritually right to drink what about your children who are introduced to the use of alcohol by your example the simple fact is the church needs god's power to be effective and the pressure to conform to the world is constant so we need his power constantly the argument seems to be how much alcohol can we consume and still be solid believers the answer is how can i overcome the temptation to compromise my walk with jesus and that is to be filled with the holy spirit see the way and i don't want to go into testimony time and i'm gonna do my best not to i was during worship praying i don't need to give my testimony so i won't i'll say this when i was a little boy no i'll say this there are a lot of people who say i can drink i'm not going to argue with you i'm not i'm giving you statistics i'm trying to bring you to understand something i guarantee you here in the united states you will not be an effective witness of jesus christ if you drink guaranteed guaranteed why because before i was saved i was an alcoholic and before i was saved i would watch you and if you were drinking with me you didn't have anything i needed i needed freedom from alcohol but you're drinking that's not going to help me at all i want something that'll set me free from the bondage i knew i was under i needed that i didn't need you being cool with me we're drinking a beer and talking about jesus because i looked at you as a hypocrite that's what i looked at you as i thought yeah right if he if he's so cool why are you doing this you know i i would figure that you know hurt somewhere that he satisfies you how come you're not satisfied why do you need that for that was my way of thinking that's how i thought and to a degree i was right because if you were still dependent on alcohol and that was the world i was living in what do you have that i don't already have what do you have you have jesus and and and wine you have jesus and you're bourbon you have jesus oh you're so cool because or what you drink the girly drinks or whatever you know i i didn't get it i didn't get i still i still don't i i haven't i was talking to john just yesterday we did a little i was a yesterday yesterday we did a little um after what do we call it john john's john's life is that we were coming it's called unfiltered and john will ask me questions and i just i just share off the cuff with him i just share what's on my heart now and we're talking about it just yesterday and it seems to me that quite a number of people that i'm encountering and i have encountered over the years are are caught up with alcohol they want you to be cool sophisticated free whatever but what i've discovered is is see when i got saved and and i when i got saved i was i was brought into a movement for jesus christ that that was filled with the spirit and so i after getting saved i've never had a holy spirit hangover right i mean i've i've never done something crazy or weird and had to explain it i'm sorry it was the holy spirit i've i've never done that you know i i was in i was out of my mind and i was brought into my right mind because of the power of the holy spirit so when somebody wants to argue with me and say i can drink i say you know all things are lawful but not all things build up you you may have the right to drink it i'm not going to say don't you're over 21 make your own decision but if you want to be used by the Lord Jesus Christ you need to get away from the flesh and walk in the spirit that's how it works and part of the reason i see the church is in such a lousy condition is we've gotten away from the word away from the spirit and we've gotten into the world and when you have that you're not going to have success in reaching the loss so you need to make up your mind that you're going to be used by Jesus Christ no matter what many years ago when i was in my 20s i was sitting in a a pizza parlor in in Huntington beach and as i was seated there at a pizza parlor one of my friends says you know i hear that beer and pizza good i'd never even had beer and pizza and i was already a christian for a couple years so i said i i don't know i never had that and he says well let's so he orders a pitcher of beer and i'm sitting there looking at saying i can't do that that isn't something i have the freedom to do i was saved from that i don't want to return to that i was arguing in my at the same time i'm looking at him i'm a young christian he was raised in the church i'm thinking surely he knows more than me maybe i'm just a legalist i don't know so i've gone through that maybe i'm a legalist maybe maybe i maybe i have freedom in christ maybe i can now drink without having to get hammered i i don't know so i he poured the beer for me put in front of me and as i had this beer in front of me and they brought the pizza i was sitting there and i'm looking at my friend and there's an old man who comes walking in off the street he sits in the table right in front of me he's he's he's six to eight feet away he's right in front of me and he's looking right at me and i picked up the beer and i took a drink and i put it down and god is my witness believe it or not this actually happens the spirit of the lord spoke to me in a way that was almost audible and actually in eternal voice i heard it go share my love with that man go share my love with that man and i was sitting there uncomfortable and and i said to the voice i can't voice said why not i said because i just drank some beer and that man was looking at me and now i can't and as god is my witness as god is my witness two young men came into the pizza parlor one sat on one side of the man there were benches sat on one side of the man the other sat on the other he is as close to me as my wife is that's even closer and i see this young man pull a bible out of his pocket open it up and start sharing with this older man about the love of jesus christ and the voice of the lord spoke to my heart and said if i cannot use you i will find somebody else i've never forgotten that i've never forgotten that if i can't use you i will find somebody else i'm supposed to be ready at any moment to give an answer concerning the hope that lies within me i can't put myself in a position with my perceived freedoms if it disqualifies me from a legitimate capability of sharing a gospel that sets centers free i can't put myself in that position even if i had a desire for alcohol which thank you jesus i don't but even if i did i still would take my liberties and put them under the authority of christ so i might be used by god because to love somebody more than you love yourself is the essence of christianity and to care about somebody else's salvation more than i care about my perceived freedoms to drink some wine or some beer and be cool or whatever no a long time ago i made a decision in christ i want to be used by you and i don't want to do something that will keep me from being used and believe it or not there are still people who will look at you drinking beer and think of you as just being emotionally immature or worldly and when you try and share with them about jesus they're not listening to you because your life isn't set apart you're part of the world as far as they're concerned i don't want to be that so what we need is the power of god to be effective if we're going to reject fellowship with the worst of darkness we need god's power that's why verse 18 says be filled that word filled is in a greek tense it means keep being filled be totally under the control of the holy spirit be permeated by and filled completely by god's holy spirit that is the fruit of being filled with the spirit and he begins to share that in verse 19 this is what it is if i'm under the influence of the spirit of god if i'm filled with him verse 19 this is what i do speaking to one another in psalms and hym's spiritual songs singing making melody in your heart to the lord giving thanks always for all things to god the father in the name of our lord jesus christ submitting to one another in the fear of god so being filled with the holy spirit is and has what is called an outward and an upward expression and we openly worship with others and we express our praise upwardly to god why would paul speak about believers singing together it's because christians are not like the world you see when the world gets together they party when christians get together we worship we have the desire to edify one another that's why paul speaks of of speaking to one another in psalms and hym's spiritual songs we gathered together as we did tonight and we'll close in this way we gather together to remember who we are to remember who he is and in the spirit of praise and worship we give to him the honor that his is due the word worship is an old english word worthy ship it speaks of god's worthiness of our praise in in in the greek proskoneu it speaks about actually an intimacy it can be used in terms of drawing close and it could be a way to describe even kissing the face of god that's worship and so we are to worship with one another it's not simply by myself but it's corporate it's all of us and as i do so i i demonstrate that i that i i not only love god but i love my brother and i love my sister you see speaking to one another in psalms and hym's and spiritual songs reveals our hearts you make melody in your heart and your mouth proclaims what is inside and those who have learned to sing with the psalms are the ones who are easily filled with the spirit it reveals the quality of relationship that we have with other christians and and it's it's one of mutual edification he says in verse 20 giving thanks always for all things to god the father in the name of our lord jesus this is our upward expression when we're walking in the spirit we have a thankful attitude towards god in colossians two six and seven paul said it like this he says as you have as you have therefore received christ jesus the lord walk in him rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as you have been taught a bounding in it with thanksgiving of all human beings on the face of planet earth Christians are to be the most thankful why because we're just passing through earth is not our home jesus has prepared a place for us and he's going to take us up to be with him and because we are heavenly minded we're not attached to the things on planet earth god loves us and god has blessed us in psalms 68 verse 19 blessed be the lord who daily loads us with benefits the god of our salvation psalm 103 verse 2 bless the lord oh my soul forget not all his benefits and so we are blessed and we sing praises and we worship and we have fellowship we have what is called the body life and then in verse 21 we actually do something we submit to one another in the fear of god paul knew that a church could split if pride and self seeking invaded it to be effective the church must live in love and humility and the members of the body avoid selfish ambition in romans 12 10 it says be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love and honor giving preference to one another in philippines 2 verse 3 let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in loneliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself or that's hard isn't it that really is that really is we're living in a world and i'll say a couple things and then close but we're living in a world we're getting what i think i deserve is more important than treating you in the way i should people people people have lost the a sense of of common courtesy they've in many ways many not all but many have have lost the sense of common decency sometimes you'll see somebody walk by with a message on the t-shirt that's filthy sometimes they're just spewing out profanity as if it's just common language and today it really is sometimes they don't care if it's a lady there or not they'll speak in the way that they want to or act in the way that they want to we're living in a very self-serving society so of all people we ought to be the most humble and we ought to be the most sacrificial we ought to learn to be that way and one of the ways we learn to be that way is amongst each other with one another we do nothing out of selfish ambition we don't push ahead we don't try and get our own way we want to honor the Lord and love each other you see when i first got saved there was a huge move of the holy spirit there were so many amazing things taking place and so many people were getting saved because we came out of darkness we came out of the filth we came out of that that vomit of the world we came out of that alcoholism and the drugs and and the promiscuity we came out of that we didn't want to go back to it and we knew people we knew people who were still trapped and so what we wanted to do is like we ran out of a burning building we were able to compose ourselves and we ran back in that's what we did we ran back in the building when other people were standing and looking somebody's dying in that building the christian was running back in we were grabbing our dad we were grabbing our mom we were grabbing our brother we're grabbing our sister we're grabbing our friends we wanted them to know jesus christ we wanted them to know jesus more than we wanted to drink wine and more than we wanted to smoke dope and more than we wanted to sleep we wanted them to go to heaven and that's what the church needs to awake to today we need to come back to that we really do we really do there's so many silly arguments that people want to get into with me and other pastors oh are you i mean go on face but go on on the social media somebody says something about loving jesus for you know it you got 15 different people correcting him about the scripture they just used they they strain it at gnats and they swallow camels they really do they argue it's one of the it's that's not the fruit of the spirit but it's like it's a new one the gift of argument and somebody was arguing the other day he said listen you know kane killed his brother abel you can and and and he said you can use a rock to kill somebody before you know it you got people arguing about what weapons you can use and it's like how did we get over here he's simply saying it's a matter of the heart it's a matter of the heart why don't we begin to concern ourselves with the hearts of people why are we so quick to try and pass laws that will not bind people's behavior why are we so quick to do that say all the answer is we pass a law oh really we've got thousands upon thousands of laws and they're broken every day so it's not a matter of simply having a law in the book it's a matter of a heart that's corrupt that's why we preach the gospel because what is going to keep me from going into the flesh and doing something foolish if i love a person jesus said this is how all men will know you're my disciples if you have love one for another and he spoke that to this odd group of men that had every reason to argue all the time and they did you see it in scripture finally becomes who's the greatest but they argued all the time and jesus had to teach them on that final night by this shall all men know you are my disciples if you have love one for another stop trying to push yourself ahead and be the greatest in the kingdom learn to be a servant learn to humble yourself let god exalt you let god put you in that position stop striving to be something famous just be careful to love one another that's important so paul is saying don't be intoxicated don't fall into the influence of this world you have great potential so cultivate it be continually filled with the presence of the one who is all wise who is all knowing and who will guide you in everything because that's what you have been constructed for and that's what the church is supposed to do may we love god love one another may we be filled with the spirit and avoid anything that disqualifies us from preach of the gospel to a lost person amen amen and father we ask that you would