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Take upon my head, when life seems worse and useless, and man is better dead. I take my greed to Jesus' stand, nor do I go with fame, for heavily hoping is that cheers like sunshine after rain. It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away. It's just like Jesus to keep me day by day. It's just like Jesus all along the way. It's just like His great love on the last. Oh, I could sing forever of Jesus, love divine, of all His care and tenderness for this, for life of mine. His love is in and over all, and wind and waves away. When Jesus whispers, peace be still, and rolls the clouds away. It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away. It's just like Jesus to keep me day by day. It's just like Jesus all along the way. It's just like His great love. Great singing, outstanding. As the ushers come forward for the offering, please turn your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4. 2 Thessalonians 4. 2 Thessalonians 4. Good evening, it's now in 1 Thessalonians 4, and the Bible reads, Furthermore, then, we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as he hath received us, how ye ought to walk and to please God, so you would abound more and more. And ye know that commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus, and this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God, that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter, because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we have also forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit. But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another, and indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia. But we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more, and that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your hands as we commanded you, that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall ride first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. Let's pray. Dear Lord God, just thank you for this time we have, Lord, to hear the preaching of your word, Lord. Just please bless the service, Lord, and please be with us, Lord, and please be with pastor and film with the Holy Spirit, Lord, as he preaches unto us your word, Lord. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Okay, we're in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, look at verse number 1. He says, Furthermore, then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, and as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor. The title of my sermon this evening is sanctification and honor. Sanctification and honor. You see that in verse number 4, he says that every believer should know, obviously he's addressing those who are in church, that they should know how to possess their vessel, meaning how to conduct themselves in bodily form in sanctification and honor. I want to talk about those particular subjects from this passage. Go with me if you went to 1 Corinthians chapter number 6, 1 Corinthians chapter 6, and we're going to come back to 1 Thessalonians 4 later on in the sermon. Sanctification and honor. Let me explain a couple things regarding the phrase or the word sanctification. What are we referring to or what does the Bible mean by sanctification? Like many other terms in the Bible, it really depends on what the context is about. There are instances that mostly we're familiar with where the term sanctification means to cleanse yourself from a particular sin, to separate yourself from people, from the things of this world, and that's absolutely true, but really one of the first definitions that we see in the Bible is to be set apart to God through faith in the gospel. It's God setting you apart by salvation through our faith in Jesus Christ. So the first thing we're going to look at is sanctification, which is being set apart through our faith. Now this does not require you to sanctify yourself to be saved, this requires for you to believe on Jesus Christ, thereby sanctifying you, setting you apart unto God through Jesus Christ. Let me give you an example of that, 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse number 9. He says, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. Now obviously verse 9 and 10 is not an exhaustive list of people who are not going to go to heaven, right? It's obviously giving us a synopsis in general of people who will not go to heaven, who are guilty of these particular things, and we can compare this to Revelation 21 and verse number 8, which is also another list that isn't necessarily exhaustive. The point that the Apostle Paul and the Apostle John are making is that the flesh that commits these things are not going to inherit the kingdom of God. Now he's addressing the church at Corinth here and he's saying that the unrighteous, the unsaved, the unregenerated will not inherit the kingdom of God and I want you to notice verse 11, and such were some of you. So he's essentially saying that the members of the church at Corinth, some of them were fornicators, some of them were idolaters as we saw this morning, some of them were adulterers, some of them, you know, were a little soft, because it says effeminate, right? Meaning that they're a little girly, it doesn't mean that they're a homo, by the way, okay? And some of them were abusers of themselves with mankind, which in what I believe this is referring to is just a woman who's going about committing fornication, sleeping around, that's what it's referring to. Verse number 10, some of them were thieves, some of them were covetous, and he goes through this very long list here, a particular sentence, and he says, you are some of these people, and then he goes on to say, but ye are washed, and I want you to notice this, but ye are sanctified, okay? But ye are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God. So I want you to notice that justified, sanctified, and washed are all used interchangeably to describe salvation, right? Because when we think of the term sanctification or to be sanctified, we can say that it means to be washed, right? To sanctify something means to cleanse it, to wash it. And what it's referring to in the context of salvation is that when we believe on Jesus Christ, the blood of Jesus is placed to our account and washes us from all of our sins. It washes us from the wages of idolatry, the wages of fornication, the wages of being effeminate, the wages of being a thief, the wages of being a covetous person or a drunkard. It cleanses us from all our sins. So we know that the wages of sin is death, meaning that if a person that is not saved dies in that condition, they will go to hell and pay for those sins in a place called hell for all of eternity. However, if they choose to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, they can be washed from that, they can be cleansed from that, they can be justified. Justified simply means made righteous, just as if I've never sinned, okay? Let me explain something is that just because you're justified, just because you're washed and just because you're sanctified, doesn't remove the penalty of your sin on this earth. It removes the penalty of sin for eternal damnation, meaning you're not going to go to hell, your spirit is completely cleansed, your spirit is justified, your spirit is sanctified by the Spirit of God. However, you can still suffer the consequences of your actions here on this earth. This is something that's really important for people to understand, because you've heard this before, I've heard this when we go out and preach the gospel, and we talk about eternal security, once saved, always saved. One of the major things that people struggle with when they hear that is, oh, are you saying, yes, I'm saying, before you even ask the question, I already know what you're going to ask. Are you saying that I can just believe and just live however I want? Well, it really depends on what you mean by that. Because yes, you can believe and live however you want, but here's the thing, it doesn't mean you're not going to be punished for living however you want. Because you are going to be punished, actions have consequences, living in sin has consequences. So yeah, God allows you the free will to live however you want after salvation, however, he does not remove the consequences of those actions, he simply removes the wages of sin, which is eternal damnation when we get saved. And you know, part of this is understanding that when we get saved, it's just our spirit that's saved. It's not our flesh, which is why he talks about the unrighteous not inheriting the kingdom of God. We can compare that to 1 Corinthians 15, where it says, flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And what is the aspect of our being that is sinful in the eyes of God? It's our flesh, right? The corruptible flesh, the desires to sin, it's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, the Bible calls it the carnal mind that is enmity against God. These are things that are not subject to God, therefore, the spirit that dwells within us needs to lead the flesh and not the other way around. And by the way, this is the reason why when people get saved, if they don't get in church, they don't start reading the Bible, if they don't start practicing sanctification, they're going to just live a carnal life. And here's another false doctrine that's out there. Well, yeah, but if they don't do the right things eventually, or if they don't do any good works eventually, that's just proof that they're not saved. Book, chapter and verse on that, it's not there. Yeah. Are we his workmanship created in Christ Jesus into good works, which God ordained that we should walk in them? Yes, we should walk in them, but hold on a second, if a person does not get themselves in the church, they don't know what the word of God says, they don't get some hard preaching, they're not going to know to cleanse their lives from these things. They're going to live a carnal life. And folks, if the Apostle Paul, who's an apostle, he's starting churches, he's winning people to Christ, he's serving God, if even he says in Romans chapter seven, I am carnal, how much more those who are saved and are not serving God, they're obviously extremely carnal. Okay, they're fleshly, they're carnal. And quite frankly, all of us to a certain degree are carnal. You know why? Because it's carne. The difference is, it's not carne asada because we're not going to go to hell, okay? It's just carne, it's just flesh that encapsulates the new man, and that's why there's a constant battle, okay? Now, this isn't a sermon on how to verify if someone's saved or not, obviously the way we verify that is based upon what they claim to believe, but I will say that obviously as Christians, one of the things that kind of, you know, one of the ways that the Spirit bears witness with our spirit, that we're the children of God, is that there's this constant struggle between the flesh and the spirit, right? The things that I would, I do not, the things I hate, that I do, there's always a war between the flesh and the spirit. Now, that's not always the case with every Christian because some Christians are so carnal, they're not feeding the flesh, or excuse me, they're not feeding the spirit, they're constantly feeding the flesh, and so they're always subject to the flesh. They're allowing sin to reign in their mortal bodies to obey it in the lust thereof, as Romans 6 puts it. And it is possible that Christians can become desensitized to sin, they become callous towards sin, it doesn't bother them like it used to, right? And of course, at that point, consequences will ensue, they will be chastised by God according to Hebrews chapter 12 and Hebrews chapter 10 as well. The point that I'm making here is that what the Bible's teaching us here is that the term sanctification initially can refer to justification, meaning when you believe on Jesus Christ, you are set apart from God, from everyone else, to God, from everyone else, as being a child of God, the people of God, a saint, okay? Now go to chapter 2, go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, I'm gonna continue reading in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 11, I'm gonna reread this, it says, In such were some of you, the difference being, of course, ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God, all things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. So it's specifically saying that the Apostle Paul is addressing the fact that he's not gonna allow himself to be driven by his inhibitions, to be controlled by what his desires are. He says, I'm not gonna be brought under the power of any. He goes on to say, Meats for the belly and belly for meats, but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. So if he's talking to people who are involved in fornication, but then he says you're washed, you're sanctified, you're justified, that doesn't mean they can't get involved in fornication again. Obviously, it's a possibility. If someone has opened the door to a particular sin, B.C. or A.D., at the end of the day, you still open that door, which is why the Apostle Paul has to address fornication to begin with. Why? Because of the fact that he needs to tell the Corinthian church, abstain from fornication. Don't commit fornication, flee fornication, even though they've already been washed from fornication. You understand what I'm saying? So they've been washed from the consequences of fornication, the eternal consequence, however, he still wants them to be sanctified from fornication as they live on this earth. See, obviously, we've moved on from, you know, getting saved, right? We're already saved. Many of us got saved years ago, maybe you just got saved recently. And we're not going to just live our lives trying to sanctify ourselves for the sake of just confirming that we're saved or something like that. So obviously, the process of sanctification is something separate from justification sanctification. The sanctification that has to do with being justified is just God setting you apart through our faith in Jesus Christ. Okay, look at 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. It goes on to say, But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Now, I want you to notice that it doesn't say through his selection, right? You're saved, you're not, you're saved, you're not, you're saved, you're not, you're saved, for sure not saved, for sure not, oh yeah, you're going to hell, you're, you know, that's how the Calvinist views election, right? But it specifically says here that they're chosen to salvation through the sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. So the way you're elected, the way you receive salvation, the way you become the chosen is through the sanctification of the Spirit by your belief in the truth, okay? But again, look at verse 14, where until he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Go to 1 Peter chapter 1, 1 Peter chapter 1. We're just looking at some verses here that uses sanctification in the context of being justified of being saved. You're being set apart through the Spirit of God by your faith in Jesus Christ. And to a certain degree, we're essentially washed from our sins. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus, right? Our sins are cleansed, we're washed. However, there requires a daily cleansing, a daily washing, not to maintain our salvation, not to confirm our salvation. Salvation has already been done with. This is so we can live a life pleasing unto the Lord while we're here on this earth. Look at 1 Peter 1 and verse number 1, it says Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the stranger scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Again, we see the sanctification of the Spirit. And this is essentially the ministry of the Holy Spirit when we get saved. What role does the Holy Spirit play when we get saved? Well, the Bible tells us in Titus chapter 3 and verse number 5, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing and regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Essentially saying that when you believe on Jesus Christ, the phenomenon that takes place is that the Holy Spirit comes and he regenerates you. What does it mean to regenerate? He brings you to life. You have to be quickened who are dead and trespasses in sin. To be quickened means to be brought back to life. So according to the Bible, before Christ, your spirit was dead, okay? And obviously, you know, it dies when it realizes that it's sin against God according to Romans chapter 7. The law slays you, right? This is what we would refer to as the age of accountability when you realize I've sinned against God. Your spirit is slain, but once you believe on Jesus Christ, the spirit comes and he quickens your dead spirit, brings it to life, and it says that he washes you. So it's this process that the spirit does once you believe on Jesus Christ where he washes you of your sins, he regenerates your dead spirit. This is what it means when it talks about through the sanctification of the spirits referring to that regeneration. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Now the word sanctification is where we get the word saint from, okay? Now you know, saints, what people think to be saints is the Catholic definition of saints, which is, oh, if a person has done enough good works, they dug enough wells in Africa or whatever, you know, they started orphanages, you know, they made the Catholic church a lot of money, whatever, you know, just anything that the Catholic church deems as being an honorable task, they're like, oh, yeah, we're going to canonize this person as being a saint. That's like a huge deal in the Catholic church. But it's not in the Bible, though. But suppose the Bible they gave us doesn't fit the same definition and requirements as what they're claiming, because a saint in the Bible is someone who's been sanctified through the spirit, someone who's believed on Jesus Christ. So I'm looking at a bunch of saints right now. And you didn't have to be canonized. Look at 1 Corinthians 1, 1, it says, Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, unto the church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. So obviously, a person gets saved by calling upon the name of the Lord. And the Bible tells us here that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord is called to be a saint, they are a sanctified one, they are a separated one, they're essentially a saint. And it doesn't require works. You don't have to wait till like 50 years after you've died, for the church or whatever, to assess your life to see if you're worthy to be canonized and become a saint. You become a saint automatically, once you believe in Jesus Christ, at the rebirth, right? And thank God for that. And look, we're saints, even though sometimes we miss the S. Alright, you got it, okay, good. Everyone's like, the S? But that, what does that spell? Ain't, okay, even when you ain't. Now you get it, okay? And so, that word saint derives from the term sanctification, we are sanctified through Jesus Christ. Now let me read to you from 1 John 3, verse 9, because this is a verse that people take out of context a lot, where it says, Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. And this is, you know, in the modern versions, it says, you know, whosoever is born of God does not practice sin, okay? But they're misinterpreting what the verse is referring to, period, because, you know, if we were to interpret this as meaning that you will never sin after you get saved, then you have to ignore chapter 1. That says that if you claim you have no sin, then you're basically lying against the truth. You're calling God a liar, because of the fact that we all have sin, because of the fact that we're in this corruptible flesh. When it says that whosoever is born of God, we have to really ask ourselves, what part of our being is born of God? Well, the part of our being, according to John chapter 3, is the spirit that is born again, it's not our flesh. And guess what? Our spirit is sinless. It's without sin, it's sinless, the seed remaineth in him, but hold on a second, the flesh, on the other hand, will continue to commit sin. Now go back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, the point that I'm making is that the subject of sanctification in regards to salvation is important because of the fact that we know that we're cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, we're cleansed through the gospel, we're cleansed through the Spirit of God, we are eternally set apart unto God through the sanctification of the Spirit, that regeneration of the Spirit. But here's the thing is that after salvation, there's also sanctification, okay? Now we would actually describe this as being justification, sanctification, glorification, right? Justification is when you get saved, sanctification is the life you live on this earth that is seeking to please God in all things, to earn a reward, to please God, things of that nature. Sanctification is proof that no matter what happens throughout the sanctification process, you're still saved. So here's the great thing, justification means you're saved, sanctification means you're supposed to be serving God, glorification means no matter what happens throughout the sanctification phase, you're still saved, right? Because he's not going to deny himself, he's not a liar, he's going to regenerate your physical body as well one day, so that's important. But you know, we never want to ignore or negate that middle part right there, which is sanctification, meaning you know the responsibility to live a holy life, a sanctified life, right? And you know, someone sent me some preaching regarding this pastor who's like saying stuff like you know, oh we shouldn't tell people that they need to get sanctified in that manner and we shouldn't use fear to try to get people to serve God and like tell people they need to come to a Wednesday night service. I'm like what the heck are you talking about? He's like we're already sanctified, we've already gotten saved. And you know to that I say yeah, yeah, we are sanctified, we are set apart, we are justified, but that does not negate the fact that the Bible also commands us to live a sanctified life while we're here though. You know, this weird teaching out there that says because I'm already saved, therefore we should not point out these sins in someone's life after salvation because we've already been forgiven of that. Okay, go ahead and commit murder and let's see how that works out for you. Right? Stupid nonsensical teaching. Okay, now that you're saved, go commit fornication then let's see how that works out for you. Now look folks, obviously if you commit fornication, you're not going to hell if you're saved. But you know, you will experience hell on earth though if you do. But this teaching, and I honestly don't know why this pastor would say this. I don't know if he's just delusional or you know, God is giving him strong delusions or something. But as he's saying this, I'm thinking to myself, 1 Thessalonians 4, look what 1 Thessalonians 4 says in verse number 3, For this is the will of God, even your sanctification. Brother, but we're already sanctified, oh hold on a second, that you should abstain from fornication. Paul, what are you doing? Why are you being judgmental like that? The Thessalonians have already been forgiven of fornication. He's saying no, God's will for your life is that you don't commit fornication. Even though you're already saved. And he goes on to say that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor. Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God, that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter, because that the Lord is the avenger of all such. Paul, you're going to scare people, you're not supposed to scare people into living a sanctified life. Well, then why did he say that the Lord is the avenger of all such? You know why? Because it strikes fear in the hearts of people when they realize that actions have consequences. Look folks, we don't come to the house of God to hear a TED talk and just try to justify your sin, excuse your sin. My job is to preach against your sin, my job is to preach against the sins of the Bible to keep you from doing them and remind you that actions have consequences. And you know what, the pastor who refuses to preach against sin does not love his congregation. He has a dissimulated love, he has a fake love, he has a feigned love, he has swelling words because he wants man's person's admiration, but you know the pastor who actually loves his congregation, you know the Bible tells us this, open rebuke is better than secret love. You know I just think that, you know, I just think we shouldn't be judging people like that. Then you need to sit down and shut up and don't become a pastor because you know what, we do have the uncomfortable responsibility of confronting people with their sin and preaching against sin and knowing that sometimes people are involved in sin and preach against it anyways and run the risk of running them out of the church, run the risk of offending them, like you know what, this is our job, and you know what, we're doing it not to please man but to please Christ. Live a sanctified life, this is the will of God, and you know sometimes people view the will of God as this mystical thing like I just want to know what God's will is, well for starters don't commit fornication, that's pretty good, I just want to know God's specific will, you can't get more specific than that, fornication, don't do it. You know and this is the way you discover God's specific will for your life, you do God's revealed will first, and you know what, if you're involved in adultery, fornication, if you're a drunkard, if you're involved in extortion, if you're a railer, you better get that right first before God can reveal his specific will for your life, because this is the will of God in Christ Jesus that he should abstain from fornication and he says that you need to learn how to possess your vessel, your body in sanctification and honor. You should know these things, that's what he's telling them, now you know the person who doesn't know these things is the Christian who's not in church, right? We got to be patient with people like that, some fornicator comes to our church, we can't just be like oh he's a fornicator, you know, this guy's unclean or something, give him some time, let him hear some preaching, let me yell at him a couple hours, you know throughout the month or whatever, he'll get it, and then hopefully he'll sanctify his life, clean up his life, it's not committing fornication, but you know the person who's been in our church, they know that it's wrong and they continue to commit those things, you know that person needs to be thrown out of church if they remain unrepentant. He says in verse 7, For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. So the synonym there for sanctification is holiness. You know God wants us to live a holy, sanctified, clean life. He says in verse 8, He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit. Look at chapter 5, chapter 5 if you would, and you know what, justification is the most important thing, right? It's the most important thing. We've literally centered our lives and our lives as a church around helping others to become justified in the eyes of God, right? And you know, glorification is really important. But probably I would say the most important aspect of this entire life is our sanctification. Because we're already saved, so we can't keep focusing on like, oh man, let's just keep focusing on salvation. We need to move on from that. Let us go on into perfection, the Bible says. And we need to focus our lives around being a sanctified people, a holy people. Look at chapter 5 and verse number 16, some good nuggets of instructions here. He says, rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. So in chapter 4, he says, the will of God is for you to abstain from fornication, and chapter 5 says, the will of God is for you to be thankful. Pretty extreme instructions there, but they're both the will of God. He says, quench not the Spirit, despise not prophesying, prove all things, hold fast that which is good. And notice verse 22, abstain from all appearance of evil. So you know, part of sanctification is not just sanctifying your body from the sins of this world, it's also not looking like you're committing those sins either. Meaning that your body should not be in certain environments that are deemed sinful, even if you're not committing those sins in that particular environment. In other words, nobody in here should be going to a stinking bar. Well, I don't drink alcohol. Don't go there. Yeah, but I'm having a Coke Zero. Have it somewhere else. Why? Because you should abstain from all appearance of evil. So the Bible not only commands us to stay away from evil, the Bible even commands us to abstain from the even looking like you're committing evil. This would include bars, raves, concerts, right? You know, and I don't really know much about concerts anyways. Like I don't know what popular concert there is right now. Who knows? Let's see who's not sanctified right now, I'm just kidding. A Taylor Swift concert. Now I don't know what that bra talks about in her songs, I don't really care, but let me just put the standard here, no dude should be attending a Taylor Swift concert. See 1 Corinthians 6, 9 for that effeminate command right there. Okay? Abstain, not just from fornication, abstain from the appearance of committing fornication. And look, this doesn't have a rule in the Bible that I'm about to say, but I think it's a good rule. That's why if you're not married, you shouldn't be alone in the car with the opposite sex. At 12 midnight. In a dark alley. In a parking lot. You say, well yeah, but we both love the Lord, we're not gonna do anything, abstain from the appearance of looking like you're gonna do something bad. We respect each other, we're not gonna do anything, I'm just kinda helping her out, I'm just trying to counsel her, it looks evil though. So stop it. You know, step into the light. We try to have as much light here as possible. You shouldn't be fellowshipping in the darkest corner, right? Don't look like you're doing evil. And that's why when my kids are playing around, I always tell my kids, I want you to be where I can see you. I want them going into different rooms where there's no adult supervision. Why? Because we wanna abstain from all appearance of evil, and not that our kids are gonna do anything evil, but we don't wanna tempt them to do something evil. We don't wanna place them in a position where they might do something dumb. But you know what, this applies more so for adults though, abstain from the appearance of evil. And you know what? No Christian should be attending some stupid rave where people are drunk, they're drug-induced, and they dress like whores. And no Christian should be there dressed like a whore either, because that's not just the appearance of evil, that's just evil. You're not just looking like a whore, you are a whore. When the Bible says to know how to possess your vessel in sanctification and honor, it means you should know what is acceptable in the sight of God. Not perfection. You know, look, can we all admit that we all do dumb things sometimes? We all say stupid things, we all do dumb things, but that shouldn't be our track record, right? That shouldn't be something that we're characterized by. And you know what, when someone slips up and does something dumb every once in a while, we cut them slack if they're not characterized by that, right? If someone slips up and maybe does something dumb, or you know, they post something stupid, you know, they put something on their stories that's kind of dumb, we just kind of run off and be like, that was dumb, but whatever, you know, they generally don't do those things. But when all your stories are stupid? When all your stories are wicked? You should know how to possess your vessel in sanctification and honor. And you know your vessel includes your social media too. He says abstain from all appearance of evil. Now why should we abstain from appearance of evil? Well because first of all, the Bible commands it, but secondly, you don't want to cause others to think or wonder that you're doing something evil. And you don't want to cause others to think or wonder that you're doing something evil, thereby justifying them if they want to do something evil. Because they're like, oh, if they're doing this, that means I can do this. Folks, it's not right. Look at verse 23, and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you who will also do it. So look, our spirit will be blameless until the coming of Jesus Christ because we're already saved. You know the goal for every Christian should be that our bodies would remain blameless too. That we would not be ashamed of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ because we live just a fleshly, carnal life that's not pleasing unto the Lord. He wants us to be sanctified wholly, not just in spirit, that's the most important thing. And let's just be honest, the vast majority of Christians are only going to be sanctified in spirit. Because the vast majority of Christians are not necessarily serving God. The goal should be that we're sanctified in spirit, soul, and body. And you know what? That takes a little work. What kind of work does it take? The sanctifying work, okay? Go with me if you would to, let's see. Go to 2 Timothy chapter 2, 2 Timothy chapter 2. You know, this is why the Bible tells us, let not sin, therefore reign in your mortal body that ye should obey it in the lust thereof, neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God. What is that talking about? You know, know how to possess your vessel in sanctification and honor. Know how to live a sanctified life, not a perfect life, doesn't mean you're not going to slip up, doesn't mean you're not going to sin, but you know what? You should strive and endeavor to live a life that's clean though. We're not preaching sinless, but you know what? The longer you're a Christian, the longer you're in church, the more you read the Bible, the more hard preaching you get, you should sin less though. And the unfortunate thing about living this side of eternity is that even though we sin less, we'll never become sinless. But should we just throw in the towel and be like, ah forget it, I'm just going to go ahead and just drink, smoke, run with those that do, because it's just a losing battle. It's not a losing battle, because our effort and our desire, us endeavoring to live a sanctified life pleases God. And when we please God, we fulfill the will of God. Folks, our goal as Christians, no matter how short we fall should be, that we want to please God. Oh, it's a losing battle, so I'm just going to throw my hands, please God! Not only that, but folks, just like we talked about last week, there are rewards for serving Christ. And you know what? The rewards that you receive does not require for you to be sinless, but it does require for you to repent of your sin so you can be a vessel and to honor me for the master's use. And so you know, at First Works Baptist Church, we need to make sure that we're endeavoring to not allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies. And that takes work! That means after the sermon, you kind of take some inventory of your life and you say, you know, I need to get right with God in this area, I need to make sure I repent of this area, I got to throw out whatever this, I got to get away from this particular person, I need to sanctify myself, set myself apart from the world, apart from these people, apart from these actions, and separate myself unto God. And you know what? You might not do it perfectly this week, but you should still do it though. You may not fulfill it completely this week, but at least try though. Why? Because God is worth it. We need to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called, Ephesians chapter 4. Now what's one way that God, or we can set ourselves apart, we can be sanctified? Well, the most obvious answer is through the Bible. So it's important for you to read the Word of God every single day. And let me read to you from John chapter 17, which is interesting because the same pastor read from John chapter 17 and just completely ripped it out of context. It says in verse 16, they are not of this world, even as I am not of the world. This is Jesus praying for his disciples. Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth. And he said, you know, that's how you get cleansed, and it's because we get saved, and we're cleansed through the word, which I agree with that, but this passage is not teaching that. And I'm going to explain to you why. I'm going to continue reading here, it says, as thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify myself. So if the sanctification here means to be sanctified by salvation, how would that make sense if Jesus Christ is saying that he's sanctifying himself? He doesn't need salvation, he is salvation. When he says for their sakes, I sanctify myself, he's referring to the fact that he set himself apart. And you know what? The Word of God sets us apart. You know what will keep you from going to that stupid bar? Is the Bible. You know what will keep you from going to that stupid rave? The Bible. You know what would keep you from going to a Taylor Swift concert? Being a man, and the Bible. Not being gay, and the Bible, okay? The Word of God sets us apart, it sanctifies us, and look folks, this is why we're called Bible-believing Christians, because we determine our lives, we set the course of our lives based upon what does the Bible say. Not what does the Church Father say, not what does tradition say, not what my inhibitions say, not what do I desire, what does the Bible say? And once you begin to live a life that makes decisions based off of the Word of God, at that point you are being sanctified through the truth, that word is truth. Because now you're like, well what does the Bible say about that? So the Bible sanctifies us, preaching sanctifies us as well. And you know what? It's important for pastors to get up and preach hard against sin, it's important. Why? Because of the fact that that's what people respond to. But even if people didn't respond to, God still commands us to do it. Oh, we shouldn't judge from the pulpit, we shouldn't judge people to live a sanctified life. Poppycock, the Bible says to judge. Lift up thy voice like a trumpet, cry aloud in the spirit of the night, and show my people their transgression. That's what the Bible says. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering indoctrination, that's what the Bible says. And this is what this man said, he said we shouldn't scare people into obeying God. By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. Hebrews chapter 10 says that a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fire and indignation shall devour the adversaries. It goes on to say, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Raise your hand if fearing God has caused you to depart from evil. Right here. Why wouldn't it? If fearing God doesn't make you depart from evil, then you weren't spanked as a child. You know what? By the way, it's the same thing with, you know what keeps us as being law abiding citizens? We fear the law. The breaking of the law, the consequences of breaking the law causes us to fear, it's like I don't want to go to jail, I don't want to go to prison, I don't want to get a ticket for that. So we become law abiding citizens because of that. You shouldn't cause people to serve God out of fear, that's not what the Bible says. It seems you're doing your church a disservice, it seems as though you are a weakling of a pastor that doesn't want to offend its congregants, and look, I don't have this innate desire to just want to offend people in my church. I love the people in my church. You know, I don't like when I offend people in my church, but at the end of the day, you know what, I don't want to offend God. And at the end of the day, I truly love you, and if I truly love you, I'm going to say you look like a whore, so stop dressing like that. And let me just say this, okay, ladies, modesty, can I just get on this for a little bit? Folks, if we're coming to the house of God, come to the house of God looking like a saint. You know, what you do behind closed doors is your business, and you should be dressed modestly behind closed doors as well, because God is still there. But if you're going to come to the house of God, can you not come as though you just painted your dress on or something? As though, you know, someone had to paint your dress on with latex or something like that? This is the house of God! We got kids in this church! Ladies, can you do us a favor, and I'm not saying this is something that's prevalent in our church, but lest it should become prevalent in our church, can you make sure that you look in the mirror and say, is the Lord Jesus Christ pleased with the way I'm dressed right now? Going to church. Or, you know, maybe you might be like, here's a better question, do I look like a whore in this church? In this dress, and in this church, of course. Do I look like a whore? Be honest with yourself! I think it's inappropriate that you're saying that. Well, you know what, you must not have five kids. I got boys in this church. There's men in this church. This is the house of God. You know what, we don't need to look at your rear end to see what shape it is. We don't need to see the parts of your body. Save that for your husband. I know this is a hard saying, but this is, learn how to possess your vessel in sanctification and honor. You know what, men are the only ones who are offended at this, women are offended at that too. Women who actually dress modestly, who actually esteem modesty, the esteem being sanctified, you know, women, they're offended at that. And you know what, we should be offended when people come into our church like that who know better because this is the house of God. And every once in a while, we gotta preach on this. Because I'm just telling you, you know, it's just weird to have someone come into our church and you kind of have to look the other way. Why in the house of God? Grocery store, yeah, restaurants, yeah, but in God's house? Look at 2 Timothy 2, I kind of, you know, that was my other point, but I just couldn't help myself. Oh, you shouldn't talk to women like that because then they're going to leave church. Well, maybe they do need to leave church. Maybe they do. And look, I'm not trying to scare people away. I want people to be in our church. I want to grow our church. I want us to continue to grow in numbers, absolutely. I want more labors for the harvest. I want more saints in the house of God, but you know what, I'm not going to compromise on this though. And I'm not going to turn a blind eye to it either, okay, and you know what, luckily the older I get, the more ornery I get, the more stubborn I become, the more bold I get because I become sick and tired of this stuff, okay. And so, please ladies, you know, with the freaking cherry on top, before you walk out the door, ask your husband, is this pleasing unto you and is it pleasing unto the Lord? And husbands, you know, have some, I got to be careful, have some gall, have some boldness just to actually tell your wife that she's not dressed appropriately if that's the case. All you don't know is it's going to cause a fight between me and my wife. Then you know what, you need to learn some leadership then. Amen? But you know what, if you're not married, then ask your father. And if you don't have a father, you're coming here without, you know, an authority, then just ask the Lord Jesus Christ. Look in the mirror and say, is this pleasing unto the Lord or is this the attire of a harlot? And be honest with yourself. And look, if you truly believe that that's pleasing unto the Lord, you need to say, Lord Jesus Christ, you're pleased with this attire. And you know that will not resonate with your soul. You know, it won't. I'm sick of it, men in our church are sick of it, and you know what, ladies in our church are sick of it as well. And you know what, I think we have a very diplomatic church. I think our church is very kind. The meanest guy here is me behind the pulpit. I think everyone in our church is kind, I think they're gracious. You know, I think Southern Californians are normal. I think we're just normal, you know, we're just down to earth people, we try to practice discretion and we try our best. And so, you know, but don't take our discretion as an excuse or as validation for how you dress and act. Look at 2 Timothy 2.19, you shouldn't scare people into serving God. Well, nevertheless, verse 19, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his, and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. If you name the name of Christ, depart from, what does that talk about, sanctification. He says, but in a great house, there's not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor, some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor sanctified meat for the master's use, prepared unto every good work, the Bible says. So according to the Bible, for you to even be used of God, you got to be living a sanctified life, or at least endeavoring to be sanctified. Very important. Go back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. So what's the title of the sermon? Sanctification and honor. Sanctification meaning, you know, you're set apart through the gospel. Sanctification also meaning that you're cleansing your life on a daily basis. But then, you know, the Bible also says that we should be living or possessing our vessel in honor. We always, we kind of forget that last part, because it says that you should know how to possess your vessel. Look at, let's read it, verse 3, or verse 4, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor. That's important. He's saying you should know how to live a sanctified life, but it also says honor. Now what is honor? Dignity. You know what God is saying? Have some dignity. Be a dignified person. Have some self-respect. Have some, you know, value yourself just a little bit. Treat yourself every once in a while. Value yourself every once in a while. Value yourself in the presence of other people. This isn't talking about pride. This isn't talking about arrogance. It's talking about dignity. Be a dignified person. This is what the Bible means by honor. So we should learn how to possess our vessels in sanctification, meaning in cleansing, sanctifying ourselves, but also carry ourselves with dignity. Have some dignity. Have some self-respect. Carry yourself like a child of God. Act like a Christian. Not with pride, not with arrogance, but with self-respect, because you have Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now go to Proverbs chapter 5. Proverbs chapter 26 verse 1 says, that snow and summer and rain and harvest, so honor or dignity is not seemly for a fool. Stupid people don't have dignity. They don't know how to behave themselves before others, right? A fool is stupid. That's what it's referring to. And it says foolish people, stupid people, don't have dignity, they don't have self-respect. That's why they make themselves a fool before everyone else. Now what's the opposite of dignity? Well, we can say it's someone without discretion. And what is discretion? It's the ability to discern what is appropriate at its given time, right? Look at Proverbs chapter 5 and verse number 1. My son, attend unto my words, and bow thine ear to my understanding, that thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of a strange woman drop as a honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil. But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death, her steps take hold on hell, lest thou shouldst ponder the path of life. Her ways are movable, that thou canst not know them. Hear me now therefore, you children, depart not from the words of my mouth, remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh to the door of her house, lest thou give thine honor unto others, and thy years unto the cruel. What is the Bible telling us here? It's telling us that young men, you should not be driven away with whores and women without discretion. Don't just give over your dignity to some floozy. Young Christian men in our church, have some dignity. And don't take this too far, and then create some unrealistic expectation of what you want in a wife or something. You want this Barbie or whatever that just doesn't exist. We need to be realistic about our goals here. I can't just expect to go into the gym tomorrow and squat 500, it's just not going to happen. And there's no such thing as a power positive thing that'll get me that. So you know what I have to do? I have to lower my expectation a little bit. I gotta say, you know what? I would like a 500, but quite frankly, I can't even get a 400. And during this cut, I can't even hit three something. I must be realistic and stick to my high 200s until I reach the number desirable. But quite frankly, it's possible that I may never hit 500. You know what it's called? It's called being realistic. And you know what? As an elder of the church, let me just encourage the young men in our church, be realistic with your goals as far as who you're trying to marry. Maybe you need to turn off social media because it's giving you such unrealistic expectations. I don't want to say settle because that just sounds horrible, but you know, be realistic. That's the nicest way I can say it. The point that I'm making here is that we need to make sure that even the young men stay away from the whorish woman who lacks discretion, who's seeking to rob you of your dignity. Have some self-respect. This is why, you know, we're against the sipping culture. Dudes who just fall over themselves from some chick on IG or something, or whatever. It's ridiculous. You have no self-respect. You have no self-worth. You have no dignity. You know what? I'm not for this culture either, that five guys are trying to go for this one girl and let's just see who wins. Forget that. I'm not for that. Hello? I got dignity. You know what my dignity says? Like, you know, I don't want to be plan B, C, or D. And I don't want to be the one who says, well, if this doesn't work out with this one, then I'm next in line. Forget that. You say, oh, you're just prideful. No, no, no, no. I got dignity. I have self-worth. I have self-respect. And you know what? My mother would not be pleased with knowing that her son is behaving in such a manner that I'm just simping over someone and I'm just the one next in line. My mama didn't raise no simp. You're like, yeah, but you're not that good looking. But you don't have to be good looking to have dignity, though. I'm not talking about pride. I'm talking about self-respect. And you know what? Some of us can't change the way we look, obviously. We can improve it a little bit. But maybe you might not be able to change how you look, but you know, you can change how you act and how you think, okay? And you know what? Sometimes there's people out there who look good, they're very handsome or beautiful, but they have no dignity. So they're ugly as hell anyways, because they lack discretion. What am I saying? I'm saying that, you know, we should learn how to possess our vessels in sanctification and honor, not in pride, but have some self-respect for yourself, okay? Have some dignity about yourself. People just constantly talk down on yourself, by the way. You know what? This is not a culture that we want in our church, where we just like despise ourselves or something. Folks, the Bible says, no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourished and cherished it. And let's be honest, some of us nourish and cherish it a little too much. You know, I went through a season where I just nourished this thing to no end. And just that was my life verse. I'm nourishing this body, you know? The point that I'm making is that naturally we should esteem ourselves to a certain degree and not despise ourselves, not hate ourselves, because you are removing from the God-given dignity that the Lord has given to you. Have some dignity. And look, I'm not saying that, again, you should be prideful or arrogant or puffed up or boastful, but hold on a second, you do have Christ in you, the hope of glory, though. Hold on a second, you are a child of God. Hold on a second, you are a vessel sanctified meat for the master's use. Hold on a second, the Lord Jesus Christ knows who you are. You're a servant of God. You attend First Works Baptist Church. You win souls to Christ. You read the Bible. You have God's hand upon you. This merits an attitude of dignity. And say, you know what, and then look, memorize Ecclesiastes all you want, I'm all for it. But walk away from Ecclesiastes just recognizing all is vain, so therefore I look forward to All is vanity, but I look forward to having it. But don't become so enthralled with Ecclesiastes that you become stoic and self-hating or something. And let me just address my fellow Mexicans in the church. Don't hate being Mexican. I'm not Mexican. You're as brown as the day is long. Get out of here. You're so Mexican, if I was racist, I'd call ice on you right now. Don't hate the fact that you're Mexican. Don't hate the fact that you're dark, that you're light, that you're medium shade, that you can tan, that you can't. You're fearfully and wonderfully made. Women fear you. No, I'm just kidding. Thank God for how he's made you. Have some dignity about yourself. Oh, man, I just can't stand that. I wish I was white. It's the stupidest thing ever. And look, we've had Mexicans come to our church who were as dark as Marcos back there about. Brother Maury? Brother Maury? Okay. All right. All right. You're in close proximity. Okay. You know, and you know what? They hated being Mexican. They're like, well, I'm actually white. I'm telling you the truth. They want to be white. They hate being Mexican. And they're like, no, my baby picture says that. If you look at my baby, I was super white. You look at the picture, it's like still brown. You know? And so, you know, have some dignity about who you are. It doesn't matter if you're ginger, if you've got freckles on your face. If you are, you know, big boned, if you're thin, whatever part of your body that you hate, you should not hate it because that's how God made you. You know, this is the way God selected for you to be. And you know what? Part of the self-hate comes from social media. It's really where it comes from. You know, it just comes from like watching too many Nazis on Instagram. It's really, at the end of the day, what it is. Oh man, I just wish I was like that, you know, Austrian painter, you know, and just... No, I'm thankful to be what I am. I'm thankful that God made me as I am. And you know what? I can't change anything but my attitude towards my dignity. And you know what? We as Christians don't live in that economy. We live in the biblical economy. We live according to biblical principles. Don't bring that crap and that nonsense into our church of being self-hating, self-deprecating. We need to make sure that we have dignity and honor, okay? And again, let me just get on this again, you know, part of...and that's the men. Now the women, and I'm gonna say it again, you know, retain your honor by dressing modestly when you come to church. Retain your honor. Don't dress like a whore. That's a good standard, right? Pretty simple. We like to keep things simple here. Just don't look like a whore. And we all know what a whore looks like. And you know what? I'm gonna say this till I'm blue in the face because I got kids in this church. My kids go to this church. My boys go to this church. My boys are gonna grow up in this church. And I don't need my boys just, you know, viewing harlots come to our church. Have some respect for the house of God. Have some respect for other families in our church. Bible says a gracious woman, Proverbs 11 verse 16, a gracious woman retaineth honor and strong men retain riches. Proverbs 11, 22 says, as a jewel of gold and a swine's snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion. So God views a beautiful woman who lacks no, who has no discretion, lacks dignity, like a swine, a pig, obviously a swine, you know, whatever, a swine pig, who has a gold jewel piercing in their snout. That's how God views that person. So in its context, referring to the fact that a woman who doesn't have discretion, meaning she just kind of dresses like whatever, she's a loudmouth, she just flies off the handle, that's a woman without discretion. Basically, it's a woman without dignity. You know, and let me just say another thing, you know, don't publicly shame your husband in church, online, in the comments section, with your family. It's never appropriate to shame your husband in public ever. Never appropriate to do that. You lack dignity. You have no discretion. You are like a swine with a gold ring in the snout. If you are openly shaming your husband, shame on you. It's not right to do. Yeah, but what I'm saying is true. Well, let's talk about all the true things about you. How about that? Respect your husband. Even if you feel like though he doesn't merit respect, hold on a second, then do it as unto the Lord then. No wife should ever cuss out their husband. No wife should ever, you know, disrespect her husband to, you know, family, friends, online, you know, treat them like Homer Simpson or something. Shouldn't be done. And you know what? We've all seen people online do this stuff too. And let's just be honest, we've seen people from the new IFB do stuff like this. And I am a new IFB pastor. This is a new IFB church and I'm just telling you right now, I've seen new IFB women do this. And shame on them. You know, I preached a sermon called Repulsive Women and I don't take anything back because it is repulsive in the eyes of God. You know, we don't need women in 2025 being keyboard warriors. We need you to be a kitchen warrior, how about that? Get in your kitchen and make a sandwich for your husband. If he doesn't like that sandwich, make him another one, different. We need kitchen warriors, not keyboard warriors. We don't need you to wax eloquent online. We need you to wax the floors and clean the house. Have some dignity. Be a dignified person. You see how important honor and dignity is in the Bible? It's basically meaning that you have discretion. Let me just say this because people online might be like, man, those ladies at first were horrible. Actually, they're not. I am very thankful and for lack of a better word, I take a lot of pride in the women in our church. I think we have wonderful women in our church. I think many of our women, if not all of them, have dignity. You know, I commend you ladies for not mouthing off online. That's very commendable. You know what? I think you please the Lord Jesus Christ. You are not a reproach unto your husband, and in fact, because of that, you're a crown unto your husband. We honor your husband for having such a wonderful wife, and I'm thankful that the ladies in our church are not drama. I mean, while they're here, I'm saying, you know, I don't know how you are at home, you know? Just don't bring your drama here. But as far as I know, you know, you're not drama. You know, I love that about the ladies in our church. I think that's awesome. And you know what? This is not to say that women in our church can't have an opinion, which is a stupid argument that people bring up. Because obviously, women in our church have opinions, but you know, they have opinions, but they also have dignity. They have opinions, but they have discretion. A woman with an opinion, with no discretion, is a repulsive woman. But the women in our church, even if they... Let's say some lady in our church right now just does not like me using the term whore waxing the floors, making a sandwich in the kitchen or whatever. We're probably not gonna hear about it. Because even if they disagree, they have discretion. And they know, what good would it be for me to vocalize that as the pastor's opinion, that's what he's saying behind the pulpit, he's leading the church, I can see where he's coming from. I may not agree 100%, but there's no reason to even combat that. And so let's not be like the online women out there. I'm gonna beat this pastor real quick. Let me just... Let me give him a piece of my mind real quick. Oh, please don't give me a piece of your mind because we don't wanna take the last piece. 1 Timothy 2, 9 says, in like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel which shame face in this in sobriety. What am I saying? You know, the Bible obviously exalts the importance of having honor. So when the Bible says, you know, that we should possess our vessels in sanctification and honor, God is saying, live a clean life, live a life pleasing unto the Lord, endeavor to please God in all things, serve God with your life, but also have honor, be an honorable person, be a person of dignity, be a person who's respectable, be a person whose presence in life demands respect not because you're vocalizing that you're demanding respect but because your life in general demands respect, right? And this is for men and women. And this also includes just having a good reputation as well, like a good name. You know, the Bible says a good name is rather to be chosen of your riches. You know, be a person who has a good reputation in and out of church. Now don't go to the haters of the Lord to find out what our reputation is. Not a good litmus test of what a reputation is because then they're gonna tell you all kinds. I'm talking about just in general, we should be law abiding citizens, amicable people with our neighbors, at your job, you know, just a lovely people, right, to have a good reputation. You know, you might have someone at your job that doesn't agree with your beliefs. But you know what, let's just be honest, they might say, yeah, he has some weird beliefs, but he's a good worker though. Yeah, he's got some weird beliefs, but you know what, I'll be honest with you, he's a really good guy. You know, she's a really good person or, you know, they know how to, they're just seem like normal people, they just have some weird beliefs or whatever. People take it. I got other verses, but I'm not gonna go over these. At the end of the day, you know, the point that I'm making here is that we have to reject this dumb doctrine that we should not motivate people to live a sanctified life. I'm gonna keep motivating you to live a sanctified life. I'm gonna keep motivating you to be better, be a better Christian, get sin out of your life. I'm gonna get into a group of people that, for sure, as far as I know, don't drink, don't smoke, don't run with those that do. So now I gotta hit on other sins, right? We gotta talk about bitterness, resentment, pride, you know, things of that nature, because here's the thing. Yeah, when compared to a drunkard, we may look good, but hold on a second, there's still things that we gotta work on though, right? There's still things that I gotta work on. Folks, that's what I was doing this morning, is just me trying to improve myself as a preacher and a student of the Bible. I'm not just gonna cap out and say, well, I already learned everything that I need to learn. No, I wanna keep growing as a pastor. I wanna keep living a sanctified life. And you know what? Part of that is preaching extremely hard on sins to cleanse you so you can succeed for the Lord, please God, win souls to Christ, and at the same time, live a dignified life. And the main reason I wanted to preach this sermon is to make sure people don't dress like whores in our church. I always do this when I have this idea, and then I just kind of build a sermon around that idea, because it kind of evolves from that particular thought. And you may think to yourself, well, that's a little too much. Yeah, but I guarantee you, the vast majority of our people will not dress like whores anymore. I mean, not that they do already. I'm just saying, you know, that's on our minds. And I just wanna publicly say this to let you know that I don't approve of that, right? I can't throw people out for dressing them honestly in our church. I just could rip face from the pulpit and hope to God that this person ends up getting right with God in that area. And also, you know, don't post sinful, stupid nonsense and crap on social media. Don't post witchcraft. Don't post, you know, faggoty stuff. Don't post worldly things that go against the Word of God. Look, memes, good. Memes on Jews, let's do it. Memes against homos, come on. What you got? Memes against pedos, sinful, wicked, abominable memes. You know that meme where the guy is just like, no, thank you. Have discretion. Have discretion. Blow my top off here. Have some discretion. And again, if you decide to go to a rave, I'm gonna assume that you're becoming a drunkard and a whore at that rave because that's what happens at those raves. Hordom, drink and whoredom, drug abuse, and you know what? That's what I'm assuming you're doing when you go there. That's what you're making me assume because you're not abstaining from all appearance of evil. Especially if you're dressing like a whore while you're there. I'm gonna assume you're probably involved in the most debauchery atmosphere ever. And it may not be true, but you know, that's what you're making us think. And you know what? Let me just remind you, be sure your sin will find you out. And I know Instagram, you can hide your story, you can do this, that, and the other. Somebody eventually will find it. It always happens. You know why? Because God wants people to know about it because he wants you to live a sanctified life. That's why. Women should not be dressed in fishnets. Dudes should definitely not be dressed in fishnets. You faggot, take that fishnet off. If you don't want to be called a faggot, then don't wear a fishnet. Disgusting. But for the sake of modesty, women should not be dressed in that either. Especially if you're a Christian, you name the name of Christ apart from iniquity. Have some discretion. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. Lord, help us as your people to live a sanctified life, Lord. I'm not perfect. No one is. We all struggle. But Lord, may we struggle. May we struggle against the flesh. May we not just give in to the inhibitions of the carnal mind. Lord, help us each day to get right with you, to confess our sins, to ask to be filled with the Spirit, to live a sanctified life. Lord, we're not of this world. We should not be participating in the activities of this world. We should not be participating in the recreations, the sinful, abominable recreations of this world. Lord, we're to come out from among them and be separate, say it to the Lord. Help us as your people to keep that in mind. No one's offended tonight, but if they are, Lord, I pray that you'd help them to get right with God. I pray that they would confess their sins immediately and step it up as a Christian, level up as a Christian, get right with the Lord. Have I become your enemy because I tell you the truth? Obviously, I'm not the enemy here, Lord. The enemy is the devil. The enemy is the world who's seeking to make lukewarm Christians, to try to excuse Christians and give them a reason to be worldly and to be carnal and to be sinful. Lord, help us as your people to be sanctified and to possess our vessels in sanctification and honor dignity. Lord, we love you. We thank you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Song number 125, The Solid Rock. Song number 125. On that first verse. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand. When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace. High and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand. His hope is covenanted, but the wailing flood went all around. My soul gives way, he that is all my hope can stay. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand. The last known, when trumpets sound, oh may I men in him be found, dressed in his righteousness alone, all this to stand before the throne. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.