Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the significance of understanding the profile of a true son of God, contrasting it with the characteristics of a Gentile. He highlights that true love is demonstrated through the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, and warns against the dangers of marketing the gospel to appeal to the natural man. The preacher calls for a commitment to seek God's glory and to live free from darkness, urging believers to reflect on their inner lives and the influence they allow in their hearts. Ultimately, he stresses that true transformation comes from a heart aligned with Christ, which leads to behaviors that please God.

We thank you for your presence here this morning. We thank you, Lord, for the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Lord and our master. We thank you, Father, for your goodness and your kindness, which you so abundantly poured out to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we do not know of any. Any. Other kind of true love than that, which you demonstrated on Calvary in. Satisfying. Your heart, satisfying your demand for justice by bearing our sins on Calvary's cross. Lord, we are so thankful and we pray that the Holy Spirit will ever, ever, ever, ever enable us to see the significance of Calvary as the hub of our Christian life. And Lord. Or be it that we would never stray from the truth of Calvary and glory in Christ and from making much of him alone and no one or nothing else. Lord, we know the Holy Spirit makes much of Christ, glorifies the creator, not the creature. And therefore, Father, we pray for the Holy Spirit's ministry this morning, that he would flood the eyes of our heart with the due glory that belongs only to the son of God. We pray, God, that you would reveal darkness in our life today through the word of God and the penetrating power of the Holy Spirit and that in revealing darkness in our life, Lord, you could heal us and make us more and more like you. We beg you, Father, we know, Lord, that the work that you're doing today cannot be gloried in by man, cannot be packaged and marketed by man. It cannot be seen by the natural eye, but it's the work you're doing in the hearts of men through the power of the Holy Spirit. We pray, God, you'll help us to seek that work alone. Oh, God, be glorified in our midst, we pray in Jesus name. Amen and amen. We need the Holy Spirit to anoint our eyes with ISAB this morning, which will enable us to see, which will give us sight, which will give us vision. One of the great griefs of the heart of God today. Listen, please, carefully, brothers and sisters, as we get into the word of God, I just want to deal with a few issues that are necessary to be spoken of this morning. But let me say this, that the work of God, the work of God is sacred in the eyes of God and cannot listen. It cannot be marketed by man. God's work cannot be marketed by man. You can't take the work of God and package it into something that appeals to the natural heart. You can't take the sacred work of God, which is Calvary. Which is Christ dying on the cross for the sins of the world, you can't take that and market it and make it seeker friendly. When you begin to market. And make seeker friendly the work of God, you are under the power of a spirit that doesn't come from God, because when you market the work of God and make it seeker friendly or make it appealing to the natural man, you are robbing the gospel from its offense, the offense of the cross. What is the offense of the cross? The offense of the cross is the overwhelming fact that. Christ died on the cross because we are unfit. We are rejected of God in our natural state, the offense of the cross is we look at Calvary and God saying, do you see my son who was crucified? I. Do you see my son who bled, my son who received a sword in his side? That is because I have totally rejected you in your natural state. Your wisdom is of no value to me, God says. Your righteousness is a filthy rags to me, God says. Your religion and your attempts to please me through your own efforts are of no value to me, the Lord says. You stand, you stand on the brink of being condemned to an eternal hell, that's what God says when we look at Calvary and when we take the work of God. Which is Christ dying on the cross, Christ crucified and Christ risen from the dead and now Christ exalted and now the Holy Spirit transforming the lives of hearts. When we take that work and we try and market it and make it appealing, we're prostituting the things of God. And this is what's going on. And so we must pray that God would preserve us from ever equating the work of God to something that we in our natural self would be attracted to or that we would think is appealing. It's ludicrous to try and attract people to Jesus Christ, it's absurd. Word. Jesus said, if I be lifted up, that doesn't mean in word, that doesn't mean if I be lifted up, meaning if you just sing about me, that doesn't mean if I be lifted up, so put together a beautiful choir and sing about Jesus. You can't attract people to Jesus Christ by making him palatable, by making him attractive. We can't attract people to Christ. Jesus said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself. He was talking about the cross. We want to attract people to Christ that we have to pray that God will give us the message of the cross and that it will be so raw in our life. You know what's going to attract people to Jesus Christ in this last day? It's not going to be a bunch of Christian cheerleaders jumping and shouting and making a big fuss about Jesus with their words. What's going to attract people to Jesus Christ in this great apostate hour are men and women who are living their lives free of greed and covetousness. What's going to attract people to Jesus Christ are men and women who are living their lives free of the love of money. What's going to attract people to Jesus Christ is a community of believers who care for one another, who genuinely want to lay their life down for their brothers and sisters in Christ. What's going to attract people to Jesus Christ is when you are in their midst and there's not a gossiping tongue in your mouth, not a lying tongue in your mouth, that you don't jump on the bandwagon and criticize politicians, that you don't jump on the bandwagon and wish the IRS was shot. Why do people hate the IRS? Why do people hate paying taxes? Because they are greedy and they want their money. What's going to attract people to Jesus Christ is make me more like you, Lord. Make me more like you. Well, we're going to look today and see right here. What does a son look like? We're going to look at what does a son look like? Make me more like you. What does what does it look like when the Lord Jesus truly responds to that heart cry and begins to work by the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives as believers and in our lives as a church? What does it look like? What does it look like? Does it does it just being more like Jesus mean harmonious singing as a congregation? No. Does it mean incorporating instruments into the music, drums and violins? Is that being more like Jesus? No, that's correct. Who said that? Right, that's correct. That's not that's not. Now, let me just point out here a scripture in Romans chapter 16, verse number 17. Now, I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned. Now, the doctrine that they learned is referring to the things that they were taught by the Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul and the other genuine apostles that that had. Been in their midst, that's that's what they're talking, this is what he's talking about here. And avoid them, listen, for they they those who are causing divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid, they are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, they're not serving the Lord. Now, they're mentioning the Lord. They talk about the Lord, but they're not serving the Lord. Notice what they're serving. But their own belly, that phrase own belly was a phrase that was used during that culture, and it signified a self-serving, self-seeking individual, one whose chief desire was to gratify their own appetites, their own appetites. Brothers and sisters, the great mark of divide, the great mark of divide between the house of God, the church of the living God and the world. Ought to be an ever increasing clarity, an ever increasing clarity. The distinct characteristic of a people who are serving their own appetites versus those who are serving the Lord Jesus Christ, that ought to be the great divide, that ought to be the number one distinguishing characteristic between the house of God in the earth today versus the nations of the world or the Gentiles, which includes false religion, which includes Babylon, which includes apostate Christianity. And because apostate Christianity today is not serving Jesus Christ, apostate Christianity is propagating a message, which I'm about to mention briefly in order that you might be alarmed and warned and not led astray by the error of the wicked. Apostate Christianity is not propagating the heart of God to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Deny yourself. Take up your cross by the power of the Holy Spirit. Be severed in heart from loving the things of this world. Be severed in heart from valuing the things in this world that Gentiles value. Be severed in your heart from aspiring to be some great one. And by the power of the New Covenant, by the power of the Spirit of God being transformed by the renewing of our minds and serving our Lord Jesus Christ, taking up his interests and properly relating to the things in this world that we must deal with. Because as Christians, we're not called to live in monasteries, are we? We're not called to go join a monastery and sit in a room all day and hum and chant mantras. That's not the call of God's Spirit. We are to be able to live in this world, but not be of this world and demonstrate to a world the way the Lord Jesus would live and move and have his being in this world. We're supposed to show people how Jesus relates to money. We're supposed to show people how Jesus relates to material possessions. We're supposed to show people how Jesus relates to ungodly entertainment. We're supposed to be showing the world what it means to have a heart that loves the Creator. That's the purpose of the church. Not to entertain with religious programs to try and attract people to join in order to increase the budget and the income. That's not the purpose of the church. So the Bible distinctly says that Paul made a statement here, mark those which cause division. Now, the word mark there is a word that's used to look and give attention to. To look and give attention to. It's also a word that was used to describe the branding of cattle. You know, you put a brand mark on cattle, which is a mark of what? Ownership. Well, this is the strong language of the Holy Spirit. Brand. Identify. Identify. Those who are not serving the Lord Jesus Christ, but their own bellies. One of the ways to determine whether or not a person, a book, a preacher, a group of people, whoever it may be, one of the ways to determine whether or not they are really serving the Lord Jesus or their own appetites is simple. What's the fruit? What is the fruit? What is the effect of their influence in your life? What's the effect? Is it pushing you more toward heavenward, heavenly things, a desire for heaven, a heart that wants more and more the things of God? And is it detaching you from earth and the sins that God hates? Or is it, in fact, having the exact opposite effect? Is it giving you an appetite for pride, for greed, for covetousness, for worldliness, for glorising in things, for grasping after things? But of course, it's all in the name of the Lord for His glory. That's the subtlety of it. Brothers and sisters, who or what is influencing your life today? Where are you getting your influence from? What are you surrounding yourself with? 1 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4. This is Paul's admonition to Timothy. Listen, please. 2 Timothy chapter 4. I charge a military term. A military term. As a superior officer would be speaking to an officer of lesser rank. I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom. Preach the word. Be instant, in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. Here it is, brothers and sisters. The time will come when they... Now, the word they there refers back to chapter 3. And it refers to those who are not serving the Lord Jesus Christ. They shall not endure sound doctrine. That means health-promoting doctrine. Teaching that promotes spiritual health. That promotes heavenliness. Heavenly desires. Heavenly interests. Heavenly passions. Heavenly perspective. That promotes the Lord Jesus Christ. That promotes our being changed into the Lord Jesus Christ. His image and likeness. They will not endure sound teaching. They won't endure healthy doctrine. Rather, after their own lusts, they shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. Now, do you see what's going on here? What's being contrasted here? You've got people who are more addicted, more interested in their own desires than the desires of God. And because they're more interested in their own desires than the desires of God, they surround themselves now. Heap to themselves teachers. They surround themselves. Now, this doesn't only mean, listen, this doesn't only mean a church setting where we go and find people to teach us. This has to do with a whole lifestyle. This application goes way beyond just simply being taught by a certain person or by a group of people. This has to do with a lifestyle. Listen to what this lifestyle is. After their own lusts, they heap to themselves teachers. They gather around themselves that which gives them what they want to hear. Having itching ears. Itching ears. Never satisfied. Always wanting that which will empower them and enable them to fulfill their own desires. Now, let me ask you a question before we go on, brothers and sisters. Please listen. Please. And we've mentioned this over and over again over the years, particularly over the past several months. Who or what is influencing you? What's influencing you? What are you surrounding yourself with? What is your lifestyle? Who or what is teaching you? And what are the effects? What are the effects? Do you find that your life is one that is surrounded by light? You are a lover of light. The light of God's Word. Do you find that your life is surrounded by embracing light? You seek light. You seek light from God's Word. You seek light from the Lord Jesus Christ. You seek light by praying to Father for Him to arrange meaningful spiritual fellowship in your life so that you are challenged on a daily basis with the light of Christ speaking through other people into your life. You long for light. You long for truth. You long to be made like the Lord Jesus Christ. You abhor the darkness in your life. You abhor. You just want more of the Lord. And so you're before the Lord praying, Oh Father, Oh Father, Oh Father, let my life be surrounded by light. Let my life be surrounded by that which influences me toward heavenly things. Toward spiritual things. If Norman and I ever aspired one day to run the New York Marathon, it would be very prudent for Norman and I, as much as we like to hang around with each other, it would be very prudent for us to find someone who can run a lot better than we can and start training with that person. See, because I'm not going to improve my capacity to run and prepare for a marathon unless I find myself training with, hanging out with, spending time with somebody who has done it or who is training for it. And what that will do, it will provoke me. It will enlarge me. It will enable me to see areas where I need to truly improve. I need to really get a grip on running one or two miles a day. Maybe three. If I'm going to run a marathon, I have to eventually get to where I'm probably able to run 12, 13, 14 miles in one shot. Not every day. But I have to be able to do that and feel okay physically if I expect to do a 26-mile run. Do you understand the analogy, brothers and sisters? Then why is there such a decline in the church? Regarding surrounding ourselves with that which promotes our spiritual maturity. Why have we settled for a life and a lifestyle that for the most part enables us to continue in our small little Christian life without real challenge? Why? Okay, brothers and sisters. Listen, recently, and this is an example of why we need so desperately to love the Lord and love His Word and be prudent and shrewd. Recently, I heard a national preacher teach a congregation of 30,000 plus people that the reason why they were plagued with poverty or plagued with not having enough money as well as being sick was because they failed to understand that they were gods. That's right. They failed to understand that they were gods. You see, if they understood that Christianity was God making little gods, then they would do what gods do. They would create wealth. They would create it by speaking it, speaking wealth, speaking healing. They would have no sickness, no poverty, no struggles because they would enter into the power of being gods. 30,000 plus congregation hearing this, going wild, raising their hands, shouting, yes, yes, yes. Now, brothers and sisters, another error that's creeping into the church and being taught is that no one, no one will go to hell. Everyone is going to be saved because Christ's death on the cross covered the sins of the world. I heard a minister on the national network teaching this. No one will go to hell. And this doctrine is becoming more and more prevalent among so-called Bible-believing Christians. And so, we see right before our eyes, in a very large scale, doctrines and teachings that are creeping in to the Christian world and seducing and destroying the faith and lives of many, many, many people. And we, as the Bible says here, we must guard against such things, brothers and sisters. And pray that God will preserve our hearts from this corruption. Okay, enough of this. I want to ask this question. What does a son look like? Now, that doesn't refer to what kind of clothes he wears or what kind of car he drives or whether or not he's tall or skinny or has brown skin or white skin or red skin or yellow skin. That's not what the question is referring to. But rather, what does a son look like on the inside? A son has no part darkness. No part darkness. You remember a number of weeks ago, we mentioned that we were going to look at the profile of the Son of God and learn what a true son looks like. And in learning what a true son looks like, we would then discover what God is looking for in our lives. And so this is what we're going to do. We're going to look at the profile of a son and we're going to ask ourselves these questions while looking at the profile of a son. I don't know of any other subject that would be of more interest to our hearts if we're truly lovers of Jesus Christ. And that is, what does He look like? That's what I want to look like on the inside. How does He act? That's how I want to act, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Here's the questions we want to ask while we're looking at the profile of a son. What is the only hope we have? What must we do to ever be made no part darkness, just like the blessed Son of God? Be asking ourselves those questions. Now, what we're about to look at is what's on the inside of the Lord Jesus Christ. What's on the inside of his heart? Number one, the profile of a son. This is what the ideal son looks like. This is what God is supremely pleased with. How many here want to please the Father? How many here want to please God? Well, brothers and sisters, this is what pleases God. This is what pleases God. When we come to the topic of pleasing God, we must not be incensed into thinking that to please God, I have to do something. When you ask Christians, how do you please God? Usually they think about something they can do. And that will please God. But brothers and sisters, that is not accurate. The ultimate pleasure that God has found and finds today is in his Son. It's what his Son is. That's the whole key to the church's ability to please God. It's to discover what's in the heart of the Son. And then to pray. Listen, to pray. Oh, Father, thank you for the Holy Spirit. Now put in my life by the power of your Holy Spirit. Give me the kind of heart that your Son has. That's how we please God. Number one, the first characteristic of a profile of a son as seen in our Lord Jesus Christ is an uncompromising commitment. An uncompromising commitment in three areas. Listen. Uncompromising commitment. Number one, to know the will of God. Number two, to do the will of God. And number three, to finish the will of God. Here's scripture references. John 4, verses 29-34. Hebrews 10, 5-7. Ephesians 5, 17. Matthew 4, 4. Number two. Number two, the ideal son possesses an absolute dependence upon the Father. Absolute dependence upon the Father. In relation to, number one, the ability to see correctly. Correct sight. The ability to judge correctly. And number two, absolute dependence upon the Father for guidance and direction. Guidance and direction. Number three. By the way, as you're writing this down, we are taping it. I encourage you to get these messages. I encourage you to find a quiet place and go through the scripture references that I'm giving you. We're not going to go through them all because time will escape us. I know that'll happen. Plus, the temptation to comment on all of these scriptures will be too great for me to resist. And that will result in not being able to complete the message. So, I'm not going to comment on the scriptures. But I just want to challenge you, brothers and sisters. To get these messages and go through the Word of God. See for yourself. Be a Berean. Why were the Bereans more notable than the others? Because they searched the scriptures to see whether the things that they were being taught were true or not. Don't take my word for it. Search the scriptures. Discover yourself the profile of a son. The profile of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't know about you, brothers and sisters. But I have found the more place the Holy Spirit has in my life, the more desire I have for one thing and one thing alone. And that's Him. Him alone. That's all I want. I want to know Him. I want to love Him. And I want my heart to be changed and transformed into a heart just like His. Nothing else interests me anymore. Alright, number three. This is the profile of a son. Isaiah. These are the scriptures for number two. Isaiah 11. One through four. That's one of my favorite passages. He shall not what? He shall not judge after the seeing of his eyes, nor hear after the hearing of his ears, but he shall judge in righteousness. And then what does Jesus say in John? I judge nothing, but whatever what? Whatever my Father does. Whatever my Father shows me. Whatever my Father reveals to me. That I speak. That is what the Lord Jesus is like on the inside. And that's what the church is supposed to be mirroring more and more and more to each other and to a lost and dying world. But the church has become institutionalized. The church has become a system of religion where men are running it. Like an organization. Isaiah 11. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. John 7, 24. And John 8, 15. Number three. The third outstanding characteristic that reveals the profile of a son is he is committed to please God, not man. To seek God's glory, not his own. And to seek the approval of God and not the approval of man. Now I am begging God to take this from the realm of doctrine and instruction to heartfelt, heart-piercing, heart-penetrating truth that convicts us to the depths of our being. I just want to ask a question here. How many of us can say that we are unequivocally committed to pleasing God and not man, and to seek God's approval and not man's approval? As we're going to see. Do you know what that means? There's darkness in our life. See, we're laying a foundation in order to show what no part darkness looks like. And so after this, I'm hoping that every one of us recognize our need to draw closer to the One Who alone is all I am, so that we can continue to be changed into His image and likeness. Then we're going to see, listen, then we're going to see how the darkness in us distorts our ability to properly relate to the things of this world. I know we're going to have to put our thinking caps on, but that's alright. We need to be challenged. Okay, committed to please God, not man, seek God's glory, not His own, and to seek the approval of God and not man's approval. John 5.34 John 8.50 John 8.29 1 John 3.22 through 23 1 John 5.14-15 By the way, these Scriptures not only confirm that that's the condition of the heart of the Lord Jesus, but they also refer to the church as supposed to be possessing in ever-increasing measure the same kind of heart. Because the body and the head are what? One. As the head is, so the body ought to be where? In heaven? No. In the world now. In the world now. As He is, so are we now. Okay. Number four. The fourth outstanding characteristic of a son as seen in the Son of God is He is motivated by selfless, divine love. How is that possible? Well, brothers and sisters, with God it's possible, but with man it's not. Motivated by selfless, divine love. 1 John 3.16 1 John 3.16 1 John Oh, I'm sorry. John 3.16 No, I think it's 1 John 3.16 as well. I think that says that He laid His life down and we ought to lay our lives down for the brethren. That's correct. Hereby perceive we the love of God because He laid down His life for us. We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. That's 1 John 3.16 as well as John 3.16. That's what threw me off. We've got two references here. You see there? God demonstrates the kind of love Christ has and then God says what? The church ought to have the same love. Every one of these qualities are to be found in the church. Okay, Philippians 2.5-8 Actually, Philippians 2.1-24 And our last profile of a son. The Son of God is free from darkness, unrighteousness, deceit, and trickery. The Son of God is free from darkness, unrighteousness, deceit, and trickery. 1 John 1-5 1 John 1.5 I mean. 1 John 1.5 John 7.17-18 1 John 2.1 1 Peter 4.1-4 1 Thessalonians 5 4-25 Okay, brothers and sisters. There you have it. The profile of the Son of God. Now let me tell you, brothers and sisters, there's nothing that will satisfy God. There's nothing that will please God other than what we just saw. Nothing. That's what pleases God. And so we need to stop looking everywhere and anywhere. And we need to fix our eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus, when He was raised up from the waters of baptism, the Father spoke from heaven, and what did He say? This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. We've just seen why the Father is so pleased with the Son. Look at His profile. Now, let me ask you a question, and here's your homework. If that's what the Son looks like, then what is the profile of a Gentile? A Gentile meaning one who is not living for the glory of God. One who is not living in the presence of God. One who is not living for the purpose of God. What's the profile of a Gentile? The exact opposite. Real simple. Real simple. The exact opposite. Now listen, here's some key transitional thoughts. This is going to help us go from where we just spent the profile to where we're heading next. I know it's hard to think. I know it is. This is one of the curses of today's generation, isn't it? You notice people's attention span is very little. People can't think anymore. You know why? Because we're used to being entertained. You don't have to think for two and a half hours when you watch Star Wars or you watch a game. You don't have to think, do you? You just sit there and give me another one. More butter on the popcorn. Right? You don't have to think. And listen, this is to our shame because the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation requires what? Thought. It requires thought. But nevertheless, we're going to continue. Here's two transitional thoughts. Listen. What we are on the inside will determine how we behave in life's many tests. What we are on the inside will determine how we behave in life's many tests. Do you know why you slander people? Do you know why you're impatient and critical? Do you know why you can curse someone? Huh? Because that's what you are on the inside. There's somewhere in your life where there's darkness that has not come to the light yet. See? And so if we see this behavior, if we see outward behavior that's not right, what's the only way to correct it? Change the heart. But what kind of heart do we need? The heart of the sun. We need the heart of the sun. Change must begin on the inside if we are to change our outward behavior as well as the way we view life. I'll say that again. Change must begin on the inside if we are to change our outward behavior as well as how we view life. Out of each heart profile, whether it's the profile of the Son of God or whether it's the profile of a Gentile, out of each heart profile springs behavior. Behavior is governed by the heart. And so whenever we want to deal with behavior in our life or the life of another person, how do we do it? We get to the heart of the matter. We get to the heart issues. You change the heart, you change the behavior. You don't change the heart and try and change the behavior, you've birthed religion. Outward religion. Outward form. Outward hypocrisy. Putting on. You've got the Pharisee religion. What is the Pharisee religion? The Pharisee religion is what? Clean the outside of the cup, but the inside is full of dead man's bones. That's what the Pharisee religion is. If you try and clean the outside of your life and you try and look good without realizing what God is after, a perfect heart, something you don't have, but Jesus does, and you try and make an outward change and look so good and religious, you are getting deeper and deeper into a religion called Phariseeism. One that Jesus hates. Now listen, parents. There's a few parents here. Listen. If you simply try and correct the behavior of your children by putting rules and restrictions on them, which must be. I'm not saying you don't put rules on them. Don't let them do what they want. The worst mistake that you can make as a parent is get discouraged with your children's rebellion, get tired of fighting with them, and say, I'll just go do what you want. That's the worst mistake you can make. But if you simply deal with outward issues with your children, and you never spend the time eye to eye looking at them, right in their eyes, and saying, my son, my daughter, this is why you are acting the way you're acting. Now I'm going to punish you for the way you're acting. And I'm going to put restrictions on you. But this is why you're acting the way you are. Your heart is full of sin. And the Lord Jesus alone has the perfect heart. And you must pray, and I'm going to pray with you, that God will change your heart. Because only if your heart changes will your behavior change. We must pray that God will change the heart of our children. And that's an intricate part of parenting. An intricate part. You don't just yell and scream at your kids and tell them they're doing wrong. You explain to them why. This is how you do it. This is how you do it. You do it by showing them the heart of Jesus and showing them that that's what salvation and conversion and sanctification is all about. It's all about us recognizing what we don't have in us ourselves, but what God will freely give to us if we will ask Him, if we will beg Him, if we will cry out to Him for mercy, if we will say, change my heart, O God, make it ever true. Change my heart, O God, make it like You do. But have you seen how horrible your heart is? Have you seen how horrible your children's heart? We haven't seen the terror of these things, and that's why we have a nonchalant attitude, like, well, this is fine, but I'm about ready for Sunday afternoon baseball or Sunday afternoon football, or I'm about ready for the next part in my life. This is just... Not so much the preaching, but this whole realm of trying to discover the things of God is just one of 20 things that we do. And we just go from one to another. That's why we're so blind and dark. It's because this has been reduced. Pursuing after God has just been one of many things we have to do. We must pray that we're awakened, brothers and sisters. So out of each heart profile springs behavior. Listen, out of the heart of a son springs behavior that is pleasing to God. And out of the heart of a Gentile springs behavior that is detestable and displeasing to God. Listen, out of the heart of a son springs proper perspective regarding life. Out of the heart of a Gentile springs improper perspective. And so, listen, your ability to act and see properly hangs upon what? Right here. No part darkness. Okay. This is No Part Darkness, Part 3. Next time, we're going to get together, God willing, and we're going to go into No Part Darkness, Part 4. And what we're going to do, we had to lay this foundation. What we're going to do in No Part Darkness, Part 4 is we're going to begin to look at life. We're going to look at the life that you and I are living. And we're going to look and see how we are behaving in life and how we're viewing life. And that will determine to what measure we are living in the light or whether we're being governed by darkness in our own life. Some of the issues that we're going to look at. How do sons behave and view work, a career, possessions, money, entertainment, stewardship, and how do Gentiles view the same scenario. Let's turn our Bibles to 1 Corinthians 7 as we close. I want to give you an example. Now remember the comment. Remember the comment. What we are on the inside will determine how we behave. What we are on the inside will determine how we view things. Listen, listen. Your marriages, your children, your husband, your wife, your home, your money, your bank account, your cars, God has graciously blessed you with. Amen? Amen. Well, that's a given. But let me ask a question. What are these things revealing about you? You see. What are these things revealing about you? What are they revealing about your heart? What are they revealing about the darkness that may be controlling your life? I'll give you an example of what we're saying. 1 Corinthians 7, verse 29. This is the Holy Spirit's summary on all that Paul talked about regarding marriage and the married life. That pertains to children. That pertains to the whole realm of a family. I submit to you by the Word of God and by what I believe to be the witness of the Holy Spirit that there are few and far in between Christian families who are living in the good of what we're about to read. And it's because... Uh oh. It's because, listen. It's because the no-part darkness that is inherently within the Lord Jesus Christ is not being sought after by the family. And therefore, we are left to what? Our own device. Our own mindset on families. Watch what Paul says here. Get the spirit of it. Get the spirit of what he's saying. But this I say, brethren, the time is short. Stop right there. The time is short. How many families are living with the unquestionable realization that the time is short? So therefore, let us be careful that we do not engage ourselves in that which is of no value. That which is useless. That which is profitless. You know that this kind of an alarm doesn't exist in ancestral selves. We tend to what? Fall asleep. We tend to live life what? The way the Gentiles do. Let us eat and drink and be merry. You see? Now watch. It remaineth that both they that have wives be as though they had none. Uh oh. Uh oh. They that have wives as though they had none. What could that possibly mean? What could that possibly mean? They that weep as though they wept none. They that rejoice as though they rejoiced none. They that buy. Or they that are buying. Listen, that word there, they that buy, buying, that is an inclusive statement. That includes all of our life. All of the necessary things in our life that has to do with buying and selling and living. Watch what he says. They that buy as though they what? Possessed not. Oh my. Here we go. And they that use this world not abusing it. For the fashion of this world passes away. Now here it is. Verse 32, Part A. This is the ultimate. But I would have you without carefulness. He's talking to the married now. I would have you without carefulness. Now what we're going to do next time we get together is we're going to go through each one of these points. And we're going to show, demonstrate from the Word of God how only the heart of a son can look at these things and have the power to fulfill them. And I'm praying that what it'll do is it'll result in a deep groaning within our lives to pray, Oh God, Oh God, give me the heart of a son. Change my heart. Because if you don't have the heart of a son, marriage will become a snare to you. Family life will become a snare to you. Your possessions will become a snare to you. Your money will become a snare to you. Everything will become a snare to you. But if God gives us the heart of a son in every creasing measure, then we will properly relate to these things and demonstrate to the world the model son in all of these things and we'll bring glory to God. Now who's here willing to let the Lord get a little deeper into your life? Who wants to play church? Who wants to play Christianity? Or who wants God to apprehend you by His Son? That's what we're after. Let's bow our hearts and let's pray now. Father, we thank You for Your grace and Your mercy. We thank You for Your Word today, Lord. And we thank You, Lord, that through Your Word and Your wonderful Holy Spirit, You are more and more helping us to see that our light is Christ and that any area in our life that does not submit to the rule and reign and light and authority of the living Christ and His Word is under darkness. And that darkness will distort our vision, will prevent us from seeing clearly our own sin, will prevent us from seeing clearly others, and will result in phariseeism. Father, have mercy upon us today. Go deep into our heart and change it so that as we continue to look into Your Word, we can experience the joy of right behavior and proper perspective and relatedness to the things in this life, because You have given us a new heart. Something for which we can't boast in or glory in because it's by grace, not of ourself. We pray, Lord, You'll do this for Your honor and Your glory. Amen.