The Heart Wants What It Wants

Ephesians 2:3
Broadcast Featured Image

Pastor Colin continues his sermon series, “The Inside Story,” exploring why the world is the way it is today. He begins by reflecting on Ecclesiastes 7:29, discussing how God made Adam upright, but humanity has deviated from this original state.

Colin delves into the biblical account of Adam and Eve’s fall from grace, explaining how sin entered the world and became part of human nature. He explains that everyone inherits this sinful nature from Adam, leading to the concept of the “enigma of the double image”—being made in the image of God but also inheriting Adam’s sinful nature.

Addressing recent riots in various parts of Great Britain, including Enfield, where he once lived, Colin reads an article about Natasha Reid, a woman who inexplicably stole a flat-screen television during the unrest. This leads him to reflect on the mystery of why people commit sinful acts.

Colin turns to Ephesians 2:1-3 to explain that sin permeates every aspect of human nature—thoughts, desires, and actions. He emphasises that sin is not just an external issue but something that comes from within. He discusses how sin affects everyone, even the most religious and disciplined individuals like the Apostle Paul.

He urges listeners to reflect on their own understanding of their sinful nature and challenges parents to teach their children about sin and the need for redemption. He contrasts this with the modern culture of self-esteem, using the example of Lady Gaga’s song “Born This Way” to illustrate the widespread belief in inherent goodness.

Colin concludes by encouraging the congregation to seek redemption through Jesus Christ, acknowledging their sinful nature and striving to follow the teachings of the Bible rather than the inclinations of their hearts. He leads the congregation in a prayer of confession, inviting them to draw near to God and embrace the transformative power of Christ.

1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:03,240 Well, we’re continuing our series that’s entitled 2 00:00:03,240 –> 00:00:06,140 The Inside Story, and we’re asking the question, 3 00:00:06,140 –> 00:00:10,400 Why is the world as it is today? 4 00:00:10,400 –> 00:00:12,240 If you’re just joining us in this series, 5 00:00:12,240 –> 00:00:16,080 we started in Ecclesiastes chapter seven and verse 29, 6 00:00:16,080 –> 00:00:17,920 where we read these words. 7 00:00:17,920 –> 00:00:20,320 That God made Adam upright, 8 00:00:20,320 –> 00:00:24,160 but men have gone in search of many schemes. 9 00:00:24,160 –> 00:00:27,000 So God made Adam upright, 10 00:00:27,000 –> 00:00:29,280 but men and women today are not upright. 11 00:00:29,320 –> 00:00:30,660 But something has changed. 12 00:00:30,660 –> 00:00:34,160 We are not as Adam was. 13 00:00:34,160 –> 00:00:36,200 We have followed the story in the Bible 14 00:00:36,200 –> 00:00:38,959 to see how it is that this happened. 15 00:00:38,959 –> 00:00:41,660 And we have looked in Genesis 16 00:00:41,660 –> 00:00:44,279 at how Adam and Eve were tempted. 17 00:00:44,279 –> 00:00:48,180 Sin was outside of Adam when he was in the garden, 18 00:00:48,180 –> 00:00:52,439 but after he committed that first sin, sin got into him. 19 00:00:52,439 –> 00:00:55,439 And when Adam and Eve’s children were born, 20 00:00:55,439 –> 00:00:57,820 they were born not only in the image of God 21 00:00:57,820 –> 00:01:00,099 as Adam was made, but they were also 22 00:01:00,099 –> 00:01:02,660 born in the likeness of their father, Adam. 23 00:01:02,660 –> 00:01:05,860 In other words, from Seth onwards, 24 00:01:05,860 –> 00:01:08,739 we find that the generations of human history 25 00:01:08,739 –> 00:01:11,699 are in fact marked with the impulse of sin 26 00:01:11,699 –> 00:01:14,980 already within the nature that we inherit 27 00:01:14,980 –> 00:01:16,820 from our father, Adam. 28 00:01:16,820 –> 00:01:19,519 And so we saw from this, that all of us today 29 00:01:19,519 –> 00:01:23,459 live with what we call the enigma of the double image. 30 00:01:23,459 –> 00:01:25,379 The enigma of the double image, 31 00:01:25,379 –> 00:01:27,820 that is you are made in the image of God, 32 00:01:27,820 –> 00:01:31,660 which is what gives your life meaning, value and worth. 33 00:01:31,660 –> 00:01:33,459 But at the same time, we are all born 34 00:01:33,459 –> 00:01:35,860 in the likeness of our father, Adam, 35 00:01:35,860 –> 00:01:38,900 which means that by nature we are messed up 36 00:01:38,900 –> 00:01:40,620 and we are vulnerable. 37 00:01:40,620 –> 00:01:42,320 That’s what we’ve learned so far. 38 00:01:43,480 –> 00:01:45,699 Now, over the last few weeks, a number of you 39 00:01:45,699 –> 00:01:49,540 have asked or commented about the riots 40 00:01:49,540 –> 00:01:54,540 that broke out in various parts of Great Britain last month. 41 00:01:54,660 –> 00:01:56,620 Some of you have picked up on the fact 42 00:01:56,620 –> 00:02:00,019 that one of the hotspots for these sad troubles 43 00:02:00,019 –> 00:02:04,779 was Enfield, which was the small suburb 44 00:02:04,779 –> 00:02:06,220 on the north side of London 45 00:02:06,220 –> 00:02:10,720 where Karen and I lived for 16 happy years. 46 00:02:10,720 –> 00:02:13,740 I gotta tell you, when you hear news 47 00:02:13,740 –> 00:02:15,419 of such violence breaking out 48 00:02:15,419 –> 00:02:17,259 literally around the corner from the home 49 00:02:17,259 –> 00:02:18,580 where you have lived, 50 00:02:18,580 –> 00:02:21,279 it is really hard to take this in. 51 00:02:21,279 –> 00:02:24,500 Watching the news and knowing that the rioting 52 00:02:25,320 –> 00:02:26,300 was on the very streets that I walked 53 00:02:26,300 –> 00:02:29,240 from our home to the church every day in life, 54 00:02:29,240 –> 00:02:32,740 I found myself asking, how can this happen, 55 00:02:32,740 –> 00:02:37,720 and who would be doing these things and why? 56 00:02:37,979 –> 00:02:41,020 Well, of course, in the aftermath of these events, 57 00:02:41,020 –> 00:02:42,679 all of the common explanations 58 00:02:42,679 –> 00:02:46,399 that are often repeated have been rolled out again, 59 00:02:46,399 –> 00:02:48,300 is it deficiencies in education, 60 00:02:48,300 –> 00:02:50,699 is it deficiencies in housing and employment, 61 00:02:50,699 –> 00:02:52,020 and so forth and so on. 62 00:02:53,020 –> 00:02:55,820 But then, just last month, I read a piece 63 00:02:55,820 –> 00:03:00,179 in the London Times that really got my attention, 64 00:03:00,179 –> 00:03:02,820 and I’d like to read from it to you. 65 00:03:02,820 –> 00:03:07,520 This is the front page of the London Times 66 00:03:07,520 –> 00:03:10,619 on August 12th of this year, 67 00:03:12,160 –> 00:03:14,979 and the national newspaper led 68 00:03:14,979 –> 00:03:17,860 with a five-word banner headline. 69 00:03:18,720 –> 00:03:23,720 Why did I do it, why did I do it? 70 00:03:25,059 –> 00:03:27,460 And I read to you from the article as follows. 71 00:03:28,539 –> 00:03:32,940 Last month, Natasha Reid’s parents watched with pride 72 00:03:32,940 –> 00:03:36,259 as she graduated from university 73 00:03:36,259 –> 00:03:40,059 and prepared for a career as a social worker. 74 00:03:40,059 –> 00:03:43,039 Yesterday, they were picking up the pieces 75 00:03:43,039 –> 00:03:47,020 of her shattered life as she sobbed inconsolably 76 00:03:47,020 –> 00:03:50,139 in her bedroom, ruining the wrong-turn 77 00:03:50,139 –> 00:03:53,740 that had added a criminal record to her degree 78 00:03:53,740 –> 00:03:57,240 and had jeopardized her dream of professional success. 79 00:03:58,339 –> 00:04:01,960 Reid, age 24, from a comfortable upbringing 80 00:04:01,960 –> 00:04:06,699 in Edmonton, North London, walked in brazenly 81 00:04:06,699 –> 00:04:09,539 and stole a flat-screen television 82 00:04:09,539 –> 00:04:13,039 when she noticed that the Enfield branch of Comet, 83 00:04:13,039 –> 00:04:15,020 Comet’s kind of like Best Buys, okay, 84 00:04:15,020 –> 00:04:17,559 so Best Buys was prized open, 85 00:04:17,559 –> 00:04:19,220 if you think of what that image is like 86 00:04:19,220 –> 00:04:22,320 in this main town. 87 00:04:22,320 –> 00:04:24,519 She walks in, she steals a flat-screen TV 88 00:04:24,519 –> 00:04:27,200 when she noticed that the Enfield branch of Comet 89 00:04:27,200 –> 00:04:30,600 had been broken into on Sunday night. 90 00:04:30,600 –> 00:04:34,839 Reid’s mother, Pamela, told the Times last night 91 00:04:34,839 –> 00:04:37,279 that her daughter was, quote, 92 00:04:37,279 –> 00:04:40,040 baffled by her criminal behavior. 93 00:04:40,920 –> 00:04:44,160 The mother says she didn’t want a TV. 94 00:04:44,179 –> 00:04:46,940 She doesn’t even know why she took it. 95 00:04:46,940 –> 00:04:48,739 She doesn’t need a telly, she said, 96 00:04:48,739 –> 00:04:50,720 adding that a 27-inch television 97 00:04:50,720 –> 00:04:53,220 already hangs in her bedroom in the family home. 98 00:04:54,779 –> 00:04:56,839 Speaking from her home in Rosemary Avenue, 99 00:04:56,839 –> 00:05:01,359 where a huge, legally-acquired TV dominates the living room 100 00:05:01,359 –> 00:05:05,459 and an Audi sits in the driveway, 101 00:05:05,459 –> 00:05:09,459 Reid’s relatives said that she bitterly regrets 102 00:05:09,619 –> 00:05:14,100 the quote, apparently-spontaneous theft 103 00:05:14,100 –> 00:05:18,119 that at a stroke has put her future career in jeopardy. 104 00:05:19,059 –> 00:05:21,540 Reid said that she had been on her way 105 00:05:21,540 –> 00:05:26,299 to McDonald’s in nearby Enfield on Sunday night 106 00:05:26,299 –> 00:05:28,140 when she noticed that the Commett’s store 107 00:05:28,140 –> 00:05:30,380 had been broken into. 108 00:05:30,380 –> 00:05:34,239 Caught up in the hysteria of the riots, 109 00:05:34,239 –> 00:05:38,019 she made a split-second decision 110 00:05:38,040 –> 00:05:40,940 to join the intruders. 111 00:05:40,940 –> 00:05:41,859 Well, you know what happens? 112 00:05:41,859 –> 00:05:44,839 Here’s this girl, and she’s just graduated from university, 113 00:05:44,839 –> 00:05:46,299 she’s gonna be a social worker. 114 00:05:46,299 –> 00:05:49,820 She comes from a very good family, prosperous family. 115 00:05:49,820 –> 00:05:52,059 And she has a tele already in her own bedroom 116 00:05:52,059 –> 00:05:53,859 as well as a huge one in the living room. 117 00:05:53,859 –> 00:05:56,179 And here’s this hysteria that’s going on, 118 00:05:56,179 –> 00:05:58,359 and she makes a split-second decision, 119 00:05:58,359 –> 00:06:01,100 and she goes, she walks out with a flat-screen T.V. 120 00:06:01,100 –> 00:06:04,019 It’s all of course recorded on the video cameras 121 00:06:04,019 –> 00:06:05,140 and a few days later, 122 00:06:05,140 –> 00:06:07,380 the police are knocking at Natasha’s door. 123 00:06:09,019 –> 00:06:10,700 And the code’s here. 124 00:06:10,700 –> 00:06:12,820 Natasha’s family told the reporter 125 00:06:12,820 –> 00:06:15,239 she hasn’t slept since Sunday night. 126 00:06:17,200 –> 00:06:19,079 She hasn’t eaten this morning. 127 00:06:20,880 –> 00:06:24,320 She’s bawling her eyes out. 128 00:06:24,320 –> 00:06:28,859 She says, I just don’t get it, 129 00:06:29,739 –> 00:06:32,619 why did I do it? 130 00:06:35,179 –> 00:06:36,880 Have you ever asked that question? 131 00:06:38,579 –> 00:06:39,779 Have you ever said something 132 00:06:39,779 –> 00:06:41,700 that just came out of your mouth 133 00:06:41,700 –> 00:06:44,179 and you knew immediately that it was a hurtful thing 134 00:06:44,179 –> 00:06:45,299 and you should never have said it, 135 00:06:45,299 –> 00:06:46,980 said why did I say that? 136 00:06:50,019 –> 00:06:51,540 Last week we looked at words 137 00:06:51,540 –> 00:06:54,040 from Jeremiah chapter 17 in verse nine. 138 00:06:54,040 –> 00:06:56,339 The heart is deceitful above all things 139 00:06:56,339 –> 00:06:57,739 and it is beyond cure. 140 00:06:57,739 –> 00:07:00,420 Who can understand it? 141 00:07:00,420 –> 00:07:01,980 Do you understand your own heart? 142 00:07:01,980 –> 00:07:03,839 Do you understand all that you do? 143 00:07:05,519 –> 00:07:07,459 And David says in Psalm 19 144 00:07:07,540 –> 00:07:08,820 he asks the same question. 145 00:07:08,820 –> 00:07:12,239 Who can discern his errors? 146 00:07:13,420 –> 00:07:16,160 So here’s David the king and here’s Jeremiah the prophet 147 00:07:16,160 –> 00:07:18,739 and they’re both making exactly the same point. 148 00:07:18,739 –> 00:07:21,059 They have discovered from their own experience 149 00:07:21,059 –> 00:07:22,200 as I’ve discovered from my 150 00:07:22,200 –> 00:07:23,980 and I’m sure you have from yours 151 00:07:23,980 –> 00:07:27,119 that there is something going on inside of me 152 00:07:27,119 –> 00:07:29,500 that makes me a mystery to myself. 153 00:07:29,500 –> 00:07:31,260 I cannot understand all that I say 154 00:07:31,260 –> 00:07:33,019 and even understand all that I do. 155 00:07:33,019 –> 00:07:35,119 Why did I do that? 156 00:07:35,899 –> 00:07:38,399 There isn’t a thoughtful human being alive 157 00:07:38,399 –> 00:07:41,299 who has not asked that question. 158 00:07:42,679 –> 00:07:44,359 Now, would you open your Bibles today 159 00:07:44,359 –> 00:07:46,720 at Ephesians in chapter two. 160 00:07:46,720 –> 00:07:49,260 Ephesians in chapter two, 161 00:07:49,260 –> 00:07:52,820 because God speaks directly to this question. 162 00:07:52,820 –> 00:07:55,579 Why did I do that in these verses 163 00:07:55,579 –> 00:07:57,260 that are before us today? 164 00:07:58,320 –> 00:07:59,480 Ephesians chapter two, 165 00:07:59,480 –> 00:08:01,359 I’m going to read just the first three verses 166 00:08:01,359 –> 00:08:04,019 and our focus will be on verse three. 167 00:08:05,700 –> 00:08:06,980 Ephesians chapter two, 168 00:08:06,980 –> 00:08:09,140 from the beginning we read these words. 169 00:08:09,140 –> 00:08:13,880 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins 170 00:08:13,880 –> 00:08:15,320 in which you used to live 171 00:08:15,320 –> 00:08:17,320 when you followed the ways of the world 172 00:08:17,320 –> 00:08:19,220 and of the ruler of the Kingdom of the air 173 00:08:19,220 –> 00:08:21,600 and the spirit who is now at work 174 00:08:21,600 –> 00:08:24,500 in those who are disobedient, 175 00:08:24,500 –> 00:08:25,839 and Paul says verse three, 176 00:08:25,839 –> 00:08:30,839 all of us also lived among them at one time 177 00:08:31,459 –> 00:08:36,460 gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature 178 00:08:36,539 –> 00:08:41,299 and following it’s desires and thoughts. 179 00:08:42,739 –> 00:08:45,580 I want to make just two observations from this verse today 180 00:08:45,580 –> 00:08:49,140 and then to apply them to all of our lives. 181 00:08:49,140 –> 00:08:51,020 The first very obvious observation 182 00:08:51,020 –> 00:08:53,659 is that sin goes everywhere. 183 00:08:53,659 –> 00:08:57,140 Do you notice in this verse, verse three, 184 00:08:57,140 –> 00:09:02,140 that sin clearly inhabits our thoughts, our desires, 185 00:09:02,859 –> 00:09:04,820 and when it refers to the cravings 186 00:09:04,820 –> 00:09:06,900 it is clearly referring there to the heart 187 00:09:06,900 –> 00:09:10,059 so you’ve got the mind and the will and the heart, 188 00:09:10,059 –> 00:09:12,260 you’ve got the thoughts, you’ve got the desires 189 00:09:12,260 –> 00:09:14,919 and you’ve got the affections. 190 00:09:14,919 –> 00:09:16,960 And what the Apostle Paul is saying here 191 00:09:16,960 –> 00:09:19,299 is that sin penetrates 192 00:09:19,299 –> 00:09:23,460 and corrupts all dimensions of the human personality. 193 00:09:23,460 –> 00:09:25,820 It is pervasive. 194 00:09:25,820 –> 00:09:30,780 It affects what we love, It affects what we want. 195 00:09:30,780 –> 00:09:33,260 It affects what we think. 196 00:09:33,260 –> 00:09:35,299 All of these things are shot through 197 00:09:35,299 –> 00:09:37,900 by the impulse of sin 198 00:09:37,900 –> 00:09:40,460 which is why our Lord Jesus says this is the verdict, 199 00:09:40,460 –> 00:09:42,520 the light has come into the world 200 00:09:42,520 –> 00:09:46,719 but men have loved darkness instead of light. 201 00:09:46,719 –> 00:09:49,299 It’s not just our failure to believe the right things, 202 00:09:49,299 –> 00:09:51,580 it’s our failure to love the right things 203 00:09:51,580 –> 00:09:53,460 because sin goes pervasively 204 00:09:53,460 –> 00:09:55,780 through the whole of the personality 205 00:09:55,780 –> 00:09:57,700 and so this issue of sin that we’re trying 206 00:09:57,700 –> 00:10:00,900 to get our minds around in this series, 207 00:10:00,900 –> 00:10:05,900 it runs deeper and it is wider than we may often think. 208 00:10:05,940 –> 00:10:09,659 Not only are we sinners because we sin 209 00:10:09,659 –> 00:10:10,960 but what we are learning here 210 00:10:10,960 –> 00:10:14,979 is that we sin because we are sinners 211 00:10:15,979 –> 00:10:18,039 and most people grasp the first statement. 212 00:10:18,039 –> 00:10:21,400 You know, we all do wrong things at least some of the time 213 00:10:21,400 –> 00:10:24,580 but Ephesians chapter two is going behind the fact 214 00:10:24,580 –> 00:10:26,780 that we all do wrong things some of the time 215 00:10:26,780 –> 00:10:28,200 and it’s asking the question, 216 00:10:28,200 –> 00:10:31,020 why, why do I sin, why did I do it? 217 00:10:31,020 –> 00:10:32,119 That’s the question. 218 00:10:33,919 –> 00:10:35,179 Where does this come from? 219 00:10:35,179 –> 00:10:37,119 And the answer that we are gaining here 220 00:10:37,119 –> 00:10:40,500 is that we sin because we are sinners. 221 00:10:40,500 –> 00:10:41,940 It comes out of us. 222 00:10:41,940 –> 00:10:46,280 There is a nature within us that produces sin. 223 00:10:46,280 –> 00:10:49,619 So if you think of that awful image of the oil well 224 00:10:49,619 –> 00:10:51,799 that seemed to take forever to be capped 225 00:10:51,799 –> 00:10:53,679 and every night earlier this year 226 00:10:53,679 –> 00:10:57,539 we were hearing of oil that was spewing itself 227 00:10:57,539 –> 00:10:59,780 out into the Gulf. 228 00:10:59,780 –> 00:11:01,700 See, that’s what the sinful nature is like. 229 00:11:01,700 –> 00:11:05,440 It’s always producing, always producing, 230 00:11:05,440 –> 00:11:09,140 always throwing up some new way 231 00:11:09,140 –> 00:11:13,900 of wrong thinking and wrong affections and wrong desires. 232 00:11:13,900 –> 00:11:15,179 And if you’re a Christian, 233 00:11:15,179 –> 00:11:20,179 you’re battling that all of your life. 234 00:11:20,280 –> 00:11:24,380 So to repeat the analogy that we used from last week, 235 00:11:24,380 –> 00:11:29,099 the problem of sin, it’s bigger than crayon on the wall. 236 00:11:29,099 –> 00:11:30,619 You know, a kid crayons on the wall. 237 00:11:30,619 –> 00:11:33,140 You can wipe that off or you can paint it over. 238 00:11:34,000 –> 00:11:37,380 But the problem of sin is bigger than crayon on the wall. 239 00:11:37,380 –> 00:11:41,059 It’s more like mold in the wall. 240 00:11:41,059 –> 00:11:42,559 You can’t just paint over that. 241 00:11:42,559 –> 00:11:44,320 It’s a living thing. 242 00:11:44,320 –> 00:11:45,179 It spreads. 243 00:11:45,179 –> 00:11:47,739 It grows and unchecked, 244 00:11:47,780 –> 00:11:51,320 it will take you to your destruction. 245 00:11:52,380 –> 00:11:55,460 In other words, the Bible’s teaching is that sin is in us, 246 00:11:55,460 –> 00:11:57,919 not just around us, not simply environmental. 247 00:11:57,919 –> 00:12:01,440 It’s not that we’re sort of born really good people 248 00:12:01,440 –> 00:12:03,820 at heart, but then we’re put into a bad world 249 00:12:03,820 –> 00:12:05,140 and that’s where the problem lies. 250 00:12:05,140 –> 00:12:07,780 No, the problem lies in us. 251 00:12:07,780 –> 00:12:09,619 Which is why we read the words of Jesus 252 00:12:09,619 –> 00:12:12,260 from Mark Chapter Seven, where he says, 253 00:12:12,260 –> 00:12:17,260 “‘Tis from within, out of men’s hearts.’” 254 00:12:17,840 –> 00:12:20,400 That’s where greed comes from. 255 00:12:20,400 –> 00:12:22,960 That’s where malice, or deceit, or envy, 256 00:12:22,960 –> 00:12:25,400 or arrogance, or folly comes from. 257 00:12:26,479 –> 00:12:28,900 In other words, Jesus is saying quite clearly, 258 00:12:28,900 –> 00:12:31,820 foolishness comes out of your heart. 259 00:12:32,900 –> 00:12:35,359 Putting other people down, that put-down line, 260 00:12:35,359 –> 00:12:37,320 it came out of your heart. 261 00:12:38,219 –> 00:12:41,020 The endless desire for more, where does that come from 262 00:12:41,179 –> 00:12:42,580 that drives so many men? 263 00:12:42,580 –> 00:12:44,780 It comes out of the sinful heart. 264 00:12:46,700 –> 00:12:48,539 These things are in us. 265 00:12:49,719 –> 00:12:51,460 That’s where sins comes from. 266 00:12:51,460 –> 00:12:53,539 That’s the Bible’s answer to the question, 267 00:12:53,539 –> 00:12:57,280 why did I do it? 268 00:12:58,580 –> 00:13:00,340 So sin goes everywhere. 269 00:13:00,340 –> 00:13:02,380 And here’s the second very simple observation 270 00:13:02,380 –> 00:13:05,619 this morning, sin is in everyone. 271 00:13:05,619 –> 00:13:07,500 Notice verse three again. 272 00:13:07,619 –> 00:13:11,239 All of us, all of us. 273 00:13:11,239 –> 00:13:12,559 Very important words. 274 00:13:12,559 –> 00:13:13,960 The apostle Paul’ writing. 275 00:13:13,960 –> 00:13:16,239 And he includes himself. 276 00:13:16,239 –> 00:13:18,460 All of us also lived among them at one time, 277 00:13:18,460 –> 00:13:20,640 that’s we were all in these sins, 278 00:13:20,640 –> 00:13:22,599 in this pattern of disobedience, 279 00:13:22,599 –> 00:13:24,760 gratifying the cravings of the sinful nature 280 00:13:24,760 –> 00:13:28,619 and following its desires and its thoughts. 281 00:13:28,619 –> 00:13:29,700 This is very significant. 282 00:13:29,700 –> 00:13:34,159 You notice how Paul moves from you in verse one 283 00:13:34,159 –> 00:13:37,179 to us in verse three. 284 00:13:38,500 –> 00:13:41,580 There were particular forms of darkness 285 00:13:41,580 –> 00:13:45,320 that no doubt were part of the Ephesian past 286 00:13:45,320 –> 00:13:48,299 with the gross immorality of the culture. 287 00:13:48,299 –> 00:13:52,599 And the apostle Paul as a Pharisee was not part of that. 288 00:13:52,599 –> 00:13:56,099 But notice by the time he gets to verse three, 289 00:13:56,099 –> 00:14:00,260 he very deliberately includes himself. 290 00:14:00,260 –> 00:14:03,900 So that this problem of sin, and of the sinful nature, 291 00:14:03,900 –> 00:14:07,000 we cannot simply say it is with the rebel out there, 292 00:14:07,020 –> 00:14:09,739 here’s the apostle Paul who was the most religious man 293 00:14:09,739 –> 00:14:10,659 you could imagine. 294 00:14:12,200 –> 00:14:14,320 Folks this was about the most conservative 295 00:14:14,320 –> 00:14:15,599 man you would ever meet. 296 00:14:16,500 –> 00:14:18,960 This was one of the most moral men you would ever meet, 297 00:14:18,960 –> 00:14:21,520 this was one of the most disciplined men 298 00:14:21,520 –> 00:14:22,820 you could ever meet. 299 00:14:24,159 –> 00:14:28,679 And he poured his life effort into being a good person. 300 00:14:30,780 –> 00:14:35,780 And for many years in his life he felt that he was righteous. 301 00:14:37,380 –> 00:14:40,359 And the strange thing is that his own religion 302 00:14:40,359 –> 00:14:44,299 actually reinforced that impression within his own soul. 303 00:14:45,239 –> 00:14:48,799 But then he had a living encounter with the risen 304 00:14:48,799 –> 00:14:52,960 Lord Jesus Christ and he discovered how far 305 00:14:52,960 –> 00:14:55,159 from righteous he really was. 306 00:14:56,200 –> 00:14:58,039 And everything changed. 307 00:14:58,960 –> 00:15:03,080 And Jesus opened his eyes, Paul’s eyes, 308 00:15:03,080 –> 00:15:08,080 to see how lost he really was. 309 00:15:09,119 –> 00:15:11,700 And so he writes, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit 310 00:15:11,700 –> 00:15:13,159 in this verse, it’s not just you. 311 00:15:13,159 –> 00:15:16,140 It’s not just people who are pursuing 312 00:15:16,140 –> 00:15:19,299 an openly immoral life out there, as it were, 313 00:15:19,299 –> 00:15:23,679 it’s all of us, it is all of us. 314 00:15:23,679 –> 00:15:27,719 The apostle includes himself. 315 00:15:27,719 –> 00:15:29,520 By the way, here’s a great question. 316 00:15:29,979 –> 00:15:34,979 When did you first realize that you were totally lost? 317 00:15:40,340 –> 00:15:42,280 I think I’m gonna suggest that question 318 00:15:42,280 –> 00:15:43,940 for membership interviews. 319 00:15:43,940 –> 00:15:47,000 We got a new membership class coming up, you know? 320 00:15:47,000 –> 00:15:49,320 We ask people, how did you become a Christian? 321 00:15:49,320 –> 00:15:50,419 And people say, well, yeah, 322 00:15:50,419 –> 00:15:53,099 I think I had a long time and I’m all very vague. 323 00:15:53,099 –> 00:15:55,260 Here’s a specific question. 324 00:15:56,099 –> 00:16:00,659 When did you first realize that you were totally lost? 325 00:16:01,820 –> 00:16:04,340 Do you realize that apart from Jesus Christ, 326 00:16:04,340 –> 00:16:05,960 that’s your reality now? 327 00:16:07,960 –> 00:16:11,900 When did you come to the place of seeing for the first time 328 00:16:13,219 –> 00:16:17,900 I am a sinner by nature and by practice? 329 00:16:20,099 –> 00:16:23,619 Is it clear to you today, as you sit in church this morning, 330 00:16:23,619 –> 00:16:27,619 apart from Jesus Christ, I am absolutely lost 331 00:16:27,619 –> 00:16:31,539 for all eternity, even if judged at my best? 332 00:16:33,099 –> 00:16:37,080 At my best, is that clear to you? 333 00:16:39,619 –> 00:16:41,419 Friends, this is what the Bible teaches, 334 00:16:41,419 –> 00:16:43,700 this is what a true Christian believes. 335 00:16:43,700 –> 00:16:45,059 Is it what you believe? 336 00:16:46,719 –> 00:16:47,559 All of us. 337 00:16:48,739 –> 00:16:49,580 All of us. 338 00:16:50,320 –> 00:16:54,380 Now, these are the two simple observations then. 339 00:16:54,380 –> 00:16:56,659 Sin goes everywhere in the human personality 340 00:16:56,659 –> 00:16:59,559 and it is in everyone, there are no exceptions. 341 00:16:59,559 –> 00:17:04,640 This is my reality and yours, 342 00:17:05,599 –> 00:17:06,439 by nature. 343 00:17:07,520 –> 00:17:09,160 Sinners by nature. 344 00:17:10,000 –> 00:17:11,219 And by practice. 345 00:17:12,339 –> 00:17:14,540 Now, let’s try and look a little more closely 346 00:17:14,540 –> 00:17:17,000 what this means in practical terms for us. 347 00:17:17,000 –> 00:17:19,260 Here’s what this looks like. 348 00:17:19,339 –> 00:17:21,739 And again, two observations, here’s the first. 349 00:17:22,880 –> 00:17:26,599 The sinful nature produces 350 00:17:26,599 –> 00:17:31,599 what the Apostle Paul here calls sinful cravings. 351 00:17:32,140 –> 00:17:33,579 Notice what he says in verse two 352 00:17:33,579 –> 00:17:35,479 as we focus in more closely. 353 00:17:35,479 –> 00:17:40,199 Gratifying the cravings, very strong word. 354 00:17:40,199 –> 00:17:45,199 The cravings of our sinful nature. 355 00:17:46,000 –> 00:17:51,000 Now a craving, of course, is a strong desire 356 00:17:51,420 –> 00:17:55,439 or an intense longing. 357 00:17:57,319 –> 00:18:02,319 A few years ago, I decided to try the Atkins diet. 358 00:18:04,520 –> 00:18:07,439 Now I’ll tell you why this appealed to me. 359 00:18:07,439 –> 00:18:11,160 This is the one where you can eat all the protein 360 00:18:11,160 –> 00:18:14,739 that you want, just so long as you eat no carbs. 361 00:18:15,959 –> 00:18:18,880 Now think about this, it appealed to me, 362 00:18:18,880 –> 00:18:23,880 a diet in which you can eat as much steak as you want 363 00:18:24,400 –> 00:18:27,359 and burgers and sausage. 364 00:18:27,359 –> 00:18:29,739 I mean this is a guy kind of a diet. 365 00:18:31,140 –> 00:18:32,540 I thought I’m gonna try this one. 366 00:18:33,400 –> 00:18:35,920 Well, I have to tell you it didn’t last long for me 367 00:18:35,920 –> 00:18:36,880 for two reasons. 368 00:18:36,880 –> 00:18:40,800 Number one, my wife was implacably opposed to it. 369 00:18:41,160 –> 00:18:45,739 Number two, if you’ve tried it you will know this, 370 00:18:45,739 –> 00:18:50,739 after a few days my whole body was crying out 371 00:18:51,060 –> 00:18:54,400 for just one slice of bread. 372 00:18:54,400 –> 00:18:59,400 Crying out, a craving, a craving, 373 00:19:00,400 –> 00:19:04,420 strong desire, intense longing. 374 00:19:05,760 –> 00:19:09,719 Now what are the cravings of the sinful nature? 375 00:19:11,040 –> 00:19:14,060 Well let me just give you 10 quickly, 376 00:19:14,060 –> 00:19:17,040 randomly chosen examples and you could double the list 377 00:19:17,040 –> 00:19:20,540 I think very, very quickly, but just to give you the idea. 378 00:19:21,939 –> 00:19:26,939 When you are blessed the sinful nature produces pride. 379 00:19:29,640 –> 00:19:31,140 Hey look what I did. 380 00:19:32,739 –> 00:19:36,640 When other people are blessed 381 00:19:36,640 –> 00:19:40,599 the sinful nature produces envy. 382 00:19:40,599 –> 00:19:42,099 Why them and not me? 383 00:19:44,079 –> 00:19:48,280 When you do good the sinful nature 384 00:19:48,280 –> 00:19:50,859 produces self-righteousness. 385 00:19:52,280 –> 00:19:57,040 When you do wrong the sinful nature goes into denial. 386 00:19:57,040 –> 00:19:59,939 Oh wasn’t my fault no no no no, gotta understand. 387 00:20:02,280 –> 00:20:06,180 When you suffer you will find that 388 00:20:06,180 –> 00:20:10,040 the sinful nature produces within you self-pity. 389 00:20:10,739 –> 00:20:12,280 And you have to deal with that. 390 00:20:14,079 –> 00:20:16,079 When you don’t get what you want 391 00:20:17,520 –> 00:20:20,079 the sinful nature will get irritable, 392 00:20:20,079 –> 00:20:22,599 it will get frustrated and get angry. 393 00:20:24,920 –> 00:20:27,239 When your work is not appreciated 394 00:20:28,079 –> 00:20:31,800 or what you do is not recognized by others 395 00:20:31,800 –> 00:20:34,119 the sinful nature will get resentful. 396 00:20:36,000 –> 00:20:39,319 When you’re in a conflict the sinful nature 397 00:20:39,319 –> 00:20:42,599 will tell you how absolutely right you are at every point 398 00:20:42,599 –> 00:20:45,000 and will fill you with self justification. 399 00:20:46,780 –> 00:20:49,040 When you hear about the love of God 400 00:20:49,040 –> 00:20:51,660 the sinful nature will produce unbelief. 401 00:20:51,660 –> 00:20:53,079 It will produce this sense of, 402 00:20:53,079 –> 00:20:54,939 no, that can’t be right, that can’t be true, 403 00:20:54,939 –> 00:20:56,880 yet yes but. 404 00:20:56,880 –> 00:20:58,939 That’s what the sinful nature does then. 405 00:21:00,000 –> 00:21:03,339 And when you hear what the Bible says about sin 406 00:21:04,319 –> 00:21:06,380 the sinful nature produces evasion. 407 00:21:07,640 –> 00:21:08,859 Dodges and weaves. 408 00:21:09,920 –> 00:21:12,199 So that for example I ask you just to think back 409 00:21:12,199 –> 00:21:14,119 for a few moments in this very sermon. 410 00:21:15,599 –> 00:21:20,000 When I told you the story about Natasha, age 24, 411 00:21:20,000 –> 00:21:22,959 in that crowd, and she, on the spur of the moment, 412 00:21:22,959 –> 00:21:26,140 goes in to the Comment store 413 00:21:26,140 –> 00:21:28,479 and she comes out with a flat screen TV 414 00:21:28,479 –> 00:21:30,479 and we engaged in that story, 415 00:21:30,479 –> 00:21:32,540 was there a little voice in your mind that said 416 00:21:32,540 –> 00:21:34,380 I don’t think I would have done that? 417 00:21:35,839 –> 00:21:37,439 Where did that voice come from? 418 00:21:38,300 –> 00:21:39,780 I’m better than that. 419 00:21:41,160 –> 00:21:42,760 I wouldn’t have fallen there. 420 00:21:44,760 –> 00:21:46,020 Where did that come from? 421 00:21:47,359 –> 00:21:51,579 I tell you, the sinful nature is at the height 422 00:21:51,579 –> 00:21:56,280 of its production during the preaching of the word of God. 423 00:21:57,780 –> 00:22:00,699 It will dodge, and it will weave, 424 00:22:00,699 –> 00:22:03,020 to make sure as far as is possible 425 00:22:03,020 –> 00:22:05,280 that nothing lands on you, 426 00:22:06,040 –> 00:22:09,500 and nothing comes into you, 427 00:22:10,500 –> 00:22:14,119 so that you would go out as you came in, 428 00:22:14,119 –> 00:22:16,719 never having truly encountered God. 429 00:22:18,920 –> 00:22:22,119 Now, to know what the sinful nature does, 430 00:22:22,119 –> 00:22:25,760 and to begin to read it, and to develop your own skill, 431 00:22:25,760 –> 00:22:28,599 even in predicting its moves, 432 00:22:29,959 –> 00:22:32,160 write down situations that you’re facing, 433 00:22:32,160 –> 00:22:33,680 and just stand back from it and say, 434 00:22:33,680 –> 00:22:35,239 if I just look at this theoretically, 435 00:22:35,619 –> 00:22:38,599 what would I expect the sinful nature to produce here? 436 00:22:38,599 –> 00:22:41,520 Predict it so that you can be armed against it. 437 00:22:44,000 –> 00:22:47,400 So for example, and I’ll just give you two examples here, 438 00:22:47,400 –> 00:22:50,180 and then you can multiply out all kinds of others, 439 00:22:50,180 –> 00:22:53,859 if the fires of your marriage are burning low, 440 00:22:55,599 –> 00:22:59,839 expect that at some point 441 00:22:59,839 –> 00:23:03,000 your sinful nature will produce a thought about divorce. 442 00:23:03,599 –> 00:23:05,479 Something within you will say, 443 00:23:05,479 –> 00:23:08,300 you deserve better than this. 444 00:23:08,300 –> 00:23:10,359 Why should you have to put up with this? 445 00:23:11,660 –> 00:23:13,479 There’s another person and a better person 446 00:23:13,479 –> 00:23:14,739 more worthy of you. 447 00:23:16,520 –> 00:23:17,680 Expect that. 448 00:23:19,680 –> 00:23:22,280 And when you’re discouraged in ministry, 449 00:23:22,280 –> 00:23:24,780 to take just a very different example, 450 00:23:24,780 –> 00:23:28,119 expect that the sinful nature 451 00:23:28,119 –> 00:23:30,420 will produce thoughts about quitting. 452 00:23:30,979 –> 00:23:33,359 The sinful nature will say to you, 453 00:23:33,359 –> 00:23:35,140 well, you’ve been doing this a long time 454 00:23:35,140 –> 00:23:37,239 and you deserve better than this 455 00:23:37,239 –> 00:23:39,439 and there’s something else for sure that you could do, 456 00:23:39,439 –> 00:23:41,180 expect that because that’s what you’re 457 00:23:41,180 –> 00:23:42,380 gonna have to counter. 458 00:23:44,619 –> 00:23:46,800 So I understand this, the sinful nature 459 00:23:46,800 –> 00:23:49,400 will always be producing these cravings, 460 00:23:49,400 –> 00:23:53,400 like that oil well, always pouring this stuff up 461 00:23:53,400 –> 00:23:55,339 into the environment of your life. 462 00:23:55,339 –> 00:23:57,839 That’s the stuff you have to deal with, 463 00:23:57,839 –> 00:23:59,479 as a Christian. 464 00:23:59,479 –> 00:24:01,520 The Christian life is a constant battle 465 00:24:01,520 –> 00:24:03,619 against these impulses of sin that, 466 00:24:03,619 –> 00:24:04,680 before you knew Christ, 467 00:24:04,680 –> 00:24:06,520 you didn’t even have much awareness of. 468 00:24:08,439 –> 00:24:11,920 If you are a Christian, your sin is forgiven, 469 00:24:11,920 –> 00:24:16,560 your heart is renewed but sin is not yet expelled 470 00:24:16,560 –> 00:24:17,719 that awaits the day when you will 471 00:24:17,719 –> 00:24:19,319 be in the presence of Christ. 472 00:24:21,060 –> 00:24:24,640 And so you are involved in a lifelong struggle, 473 00:24:24,640 –> 00:24:25,479 we all are, 474 00:24:26,160 –> 00:24:29,479 with this stuff that gets produced every day, 475 00:24:29,479 –> 00:24:31,880 learn to read it, learn to predict it, 476 00:24:31,880 –> 00:24:34,239 learn to expect it, learn to fight it. 477 00:24:36,560 –> 00:24:38,640 Here’s what it looks like in practice, 478 00:24:38,640 –> 00:24:41,520 the sinful nature is always producing 479 00:24:41,520 –> 00:24:44,420 these sinful cravings. 480 00:24:44,420 –> 00:24:49,079 And then here’s my second practical description, 481 00:24:49,079 –> 00:24:51,199 the cravings of your sinful nature 482 00:24:51,199 –> 00:24:54,880 will find expression in your thoughts 483 00:24:54,880 –> 00:24:56,219 and in your desires. 484 00:24:56,219 –> 00:24:59,560 Notice how that’s made very, very clear in this verse, 485 00:24:59,560 –> 00:25:02,599 gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature 486 00:25:02,599 –> 00:25:07,599 and following its desires and its thoughts. 487 00:25:10,540 –> 00:25:15,540 Now, I have a quotation that I want to give to you 488 00:25:15,739 –> 00:25:18,339 that speaks about sins in the thoughts 489 00:25:18,339 –> 00:25:21,199 and in the imagination and in the desires 490 00:25:22,199 –> 00:25:25,660 probably more powerfully than any other quotation 491 00:25:25,660 –> 00:25:27,420 that I have read on this subject. 492 00:25:28,420 –> 00:25:31,260 Here’s what’s fascinating to me about it. 493 00:25:32,520 –> 00:25:35,180 I’m going to quote to you from a Scottish pastor 494 00:25:35,180 –> 00:25:40,180 by the name of Thomas Boston who described so perceptively 495 00:25:41,760 –> 00:25:46,099 how the imagination enables the sinner 496 00:25:46,099 –> 00:25:49,040 to indulge the cravings of his heart. 497 00:25:50,000 –> 00:25:52,280 And all of us know what he’s talking about. 498 00:25:54,000 –> 00:25:55,560 Here’s the fascinating thing. 499 00:25:55,560 –> 00:25:57,880 The quotation that I’m going to read to you, 500 00:25:57,880 –> 00:26:02,880 he wrote in 1729, which is long before the Internet, 501 00:26:06,660 –> 00:26:10,439 long before the television and more than a century 502 00:26:10,439 –> 00:26:12,180 before the invention of the camera. 503 00:26:14,520 –> 00:26:17,719 So when we think about the battles that we experience 504 00:26:17,859 –> 00:26:19,439 in terms of sins of the imagination, 505 00:26:19,439 –> 00:26:21,239 or we say well, the problem of course is all out there. 506 00:26:21,239 –> 00:26:23,260 You know, we live in this media-saturated culture 507 00:26:23,260 –> 00:26:25,239 and all these images that we’re bombarded with 508 00:26:25,239 –> 00:26:27,180 and poor us and so forth. 509 00:26:27,180 –> 00:26:31,199 Boston writing in 1729 lived before any of that. 510 00:26:33,560 –> 00:26:37,319 And what’s so fascinating is that he describes 511 00:26:37,319 –> 00:26:39,180 as if he was writing last week 512 00:26:41,640 –> 00:26:42,880 what all of us experience 513 00:26:42,880 –> 00:26:44,760 which makes the point you see that the problem. 514 00:26:44,760 –> 00:26:47,099 Well, I know there’s all kinds of problems out there 515 00:26:47,339 –> 00:26:49,979 but the real place where the problem exists is in here 516 00:26:50,979 –> 00:26:53,099 which is what Paul is saying in Ephesians. 517 00:26:54,540 –> 00:26:55,680 So listen to Boston. 518 00:26:57,079 –> 00:27:02,079 The sinful mind supplies the lack of real objects 519 00:27:04,040 –> 00:27:05,459 to the corrupt heart 520 00:27:06,900 –> 00:27:10,300 so that it may make sinners happy 521 00:27:10,300 –> 00:27:15,300 at least in the imaginary enjoyment of their lusts. 522 00:27:16,199 –> 00:27:21,199 The corrupt heart feeds itself with imagination sins 523 00:27:24,099 –> 00:27:25,900 imagination sins. 524 00:27:27,040 –> 00:27:32,040 The unclean person is filled with speculative impurities. 525 00:27:33,660 –> 00:27:37,219 The covetous man fills his heart with the world 526 00:27:37,219 –> 00:27:40,040 even though he cannot get his hands on it. 527 00:27:40,619 –> 00:27:45,619 The malicious person fills his mind with acts of revenge 528 00:27:47,319 –> 00:27:50,300 and the envious man beholds with satisfaction 529 00:27:50,300 –> 00:27:51,819 his neighbor laid low. 530 00:27:53,540 –> 00:27:55,579 You’re saying all of this goes on in the human mind, 531 00:27:55,579 –> 00:27:57,160 the imagination. 532 00:27:57,160 –> 00:28:01,619 He says every lust finds the corrupt imagination 533 00:28:01,619 –> 00:28:04,380 to be a friend to it in time of need. 534 00:28:06,599 –> 00:28:09,260 And he adds finally, this the heart does 535 00:28:09,260 –> 00:28:12,000 not only when people are awake, 536 00:28:12,000 –> 00:28:15,719 but sometimes even when they are asleep, 537 00:28:15,719 –> 00:28:17,640 whereby it comes to pass 538 00:28:17,640 –> 00:28:21,439 that those sins are acted in dreams 539 00:28:21,439 –> 00:28:26,439 which their hearts pant after when they are awake. 540 00:28:28,599 –> 00:28:32,640 Everybody here knows exactly what he’s talking about 541 00:28:32,640 –> 00:28:36,000 and that’s the struggle of the human heart in 1729. 542 00:28:37,839 –> 00:28:38,880 What’s changed? 543 00:28:9,900 –> 00:28:44,520 The title for today’s message is 544 00:28:44,520 –> 00:28:45,959 A Quip from Woody Allen. 545 00:28:45,959 –> 00:28:50,959 The Heart Wants What It Wants. 546 00:28:52,119 –> 00:28:55,359 Woody Allen said this in 1992 547 00:28:55,359 –> 00:28:59,439 when he had been living with a woman for some years 548 00:28:59,439 –> 00:29:03,599 and then he left her to take up with her daughter. 549 00:29:03,599 –> 00:29:06,900 And even the secular world was at least surprised by that 550 00:29:06,900 –> 00:29:08,800 and asked the question why he would do that 551 00:29:08,800 –> 00:29:10,319 and when he was asked that question 552 00:29:10,319 –> 00:29:12,599 Woody Allen came up with this comment 553 00:29:12,599 –> 00:29:14,680 The heart wants what it wants. 554 00:29:16,560 –> 00:29:19,599 And friends that is exactly the teaching 555 00:29:19,599 –> 00:29:22,140 of Ephesians chapter two and verse three. 556 00:29:22,140 –> 00:29:24,420 That’s exactly what it says. 557 00:29:24,420 –> 00:29:26,959 The heart wants what it wants. 558 00:29:26,959 –> 00:29:30,959 So all of us are going to have to make 559 00:29:30,959 –> 00:29:31,939 and it will have to be made 560 00:29:31,939 –> 00:29:33,699 on a daily and a continuing basis 561 00:29:33,699 –> 00:29:36,599 a choice as to how we will live. 562 00:29:36,599 –> 00:29:38,079 And the choice you make 563 00:29:38,099 –> 00:29:41,579 about how you live will be a direct reflection 564 00:29:41,579 –> 00:29:44,500 about what you most deeply believe 565 00:29:44,500 –> 00:29:47,699 regarding the condition of your own heart. 566 00:29:47,699 –> 00:29:49,880 If you believe that your heart is good 567 00:29:49,880 –> 00:29:51,239 if that at the deepest level 568 00:29:51,239 –> 00:29:53,199 is what you continue to believe 569 00:29:53,199 –> 00:29:55,920 you will follow the inclination of your heart 570 00:29:55,920 –> 00:29:59,079 and you will live on impulse, just as Woody Allen did. 571 00:30:00,640 –> 00:30:02,619 But if you believe what we are learning 572 00:30:02,619 –> 00:30:04,920 from the Bible today 573 00:30:04,920 –> 00:30:08,280 you will learn to distrust your own heart. 574 00:30:09,459 –> 00:30:11,719 And so the next time someone says to you, 575 00:30:11,719 –> 00:30:13,300 oh, follow your hearts 576 00:30:13,300 –> 00:30:15,939 doesn’t that phrase sounds so wonderfully pious? 577 00:30:15,939 –> 00:30:18,060 Follow your heart, you’ll say, 578 00:30:18,060 –> 00:30:20,979 wait a minute, follow my heart? 579 00:30:22,819 –> 00:30:25,880 This heart was born in the likeness of Adam. 580 00:30:28,020 –> 00:30:29,339 If I follow my heart 581 00:30:29,339 –> 00:30:32,540 it may lead me into all kinds of sin and folly. 582 00:30:35,439 –> 00:30:37,599 I need to follow the Word 583 00:30:38,859 –> 00:30:42,099 and check what is in my heart against it 584 00:30:42,099 –> 00:30:44,859 and put what is in my heart under it 585 00:30:44,859 –> 00:30:47,760 and let it be the judge of my heart. 586 00:30:47,760 –> 00:30:51,560 Otherwise I will drive myself to a wreck. 587 00:30:54,079 –> 00:30:57,160 A few weeks ago I met with some of our pastors 588 00:30:57,160 –> 00:30:59,160 to talk about the series, 589 00:30:59,160 –> 00:31:01,160 it’s one of the great joys of my life 590 00:31:01,160 –> 00:31:04,060 to gather with the guys in different groups 591 00:31:04,119 –> 00:31:05,699 at different times and just for us 592 00:31:05,699 –> 00:31:07,099 to talk about the scriptures 593 00:31:07,099 –> 00:31:10,099 and for me to benefit from some of their insights. 594 00:31:10,099 –> 00:31:12,339 One of our pastors said, Colin, 595 00:31:14,420 –> 00:31:16,359 he said this series is gonna be important 596 00:31:16,359 –> 00:31:18,579 because many of our people are reading the Bible 597 00:31:18,579 –> 00:31:21,380 but they do not really believe what it says about sin. 598 00:31:22,800 –> 00:31:27,800 The default position in middle-class suburban evangelicalism 599 00:31:31,439 –> 00:31:32,959 is that we’re basically good. 600 00:31:35,000 –> 00:31:39,619 Then Josh Newton, who’s our youth pastor at Barrington 601 00:31:39,619 –> 00:31:43,599 said to me, Pastor Colin do you know the song 602 00:31:43,599 –> 00:31:47,140 by Lady Gaga called Born This Way? 603 00:31:47,140 –> 00:31:52,140 He said students at middle school and high school 604 00:31:55,459 –> 00:31:57,099 believe what that says. 605 00:31:57,660 –> 00:32:01,979 So I said well can you get the words and email them to me. 606 00:32:01,979 –> 00:32:02,819 He had his cellphone. 607 00:32:02,819 –> 00:32:03,979 He said, I just did. 608 00:32:04,780 –> 00:32:07,099 That’s another world isn’t it? 609 00:32:10,180 –> 00:32:11,660 Let me read the words to you. 610 00:32:13,660 –> 00:32:18,660 My mama told me when I was young we are all born superstars. 611 00:32:21,540 –> 00:32:24,819 There’s nothing wrong with loving who you are, she said 612 00:32:24,819 –> 00:32:28,599 because he made you perfect, babe. 613 00:32:29,780 –> 00:32:32,619 So hold your head up girl and you’ll go far. 614 00:32:32,640 –> 00:32:36,339 Listen to me when I say, I’m beautiful in my way. 615 00:32:38,020 –> 00:32:41,640 Cause God makes no mistakes, I’m on the right track, baby. 616 00:32:41,640 –> 00:32:43,020 I was born this way. 617 00:32:45,020 –> 00:32:48,380 Don’t hide yourself in regret, just love yourself 618 00:32:48,380 –> 00:32:50,540 and you’re set. 619 00:32:50,540 –> 00:32:54,959 I’m on the right track, baby, I was born this way. 620 00:32:57,020 –> 00:32:59,540 Let me say these words from a deep place 621 00:32:59,540 –> 00:33:01,819 in my own heart to all parents today. 622 00:33:03,579 –> 00:33:08,140 You may not allow your son or your daughter 623 00:33:08,140 –> 00:33:11,180 to watch or listen to Lady Gaga, 624 00:33:13,459 –> 00:33:17,880 but could it be that you are unwittingly teaching 625 00:33:17,880 –> 00:33:21,479 your children exactly what she is saying? 626 00:33:23,619 –> 00:33:27,979 We live in an affirming culture that gives us the idea 627 00:33:27,979 –> 00:33:30,699 that the best thing we can do for our children 628 00:33:30,699 –> 00:33:34,459 is to constantly tell them how good they are. 629 00:33:36,640 –> 00:33:41,119 Here’s the problem, and I choose my word very carefully. 630 00:33:41,119 –> 00:33:43,619 That is the most damning thing 631 00:33:45,599 –> 00:33:49,859 you could tell your children, and here’s why. 632 00:33:49,859 –> 00:33:52,000 If nothing in your child is broken 633 00:33:52,000 –> 00:33:55,160 what is there in your child to redeem? 634 00:33:56,119 –> 00:34:00,359 How will your child ever see his or her need of a redeemer 635 00:34:00,579 –> 00:34:03,540 if you keep telling him or her how good 636 00:34:03,540 –> 00:34:05,959 and how great they really are? 637 00:34:09,060 –> 00:34:11,139 You say are you suggesting 638 00:34:13,800 –> 00:34:16,139 that I start telling my child 639 00:34:17,540 –> 00:34:20,379 that he or she is a little sinner? 640 00:34:22,699 –> 00:34:25,620 And I say to you no, I’m suggesting 641 00:34:25,840 –> 00:34:28,260 I’m suggesting that you start 642 00:34:29,399 –> 00:34:31,979 by telling your son or your daughter 643 00:34:31,979 –> 00:34:34,080 that you are a big sinner? 644 00:34:36,800 –> 00:34:38,639 I’m serious. 645 00:34:38,639 –> 00:34:42,479 I say to every father in the congregation this morning 646 00:34:42,479 –> 00:34:46,659 does your son know that you see yourself as a sinner 647 00:34:48,300 –> 00:34:51,120 who hangs on the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ 648 00:34:51,120 –> 00:34:53,959 as his only hope, even at his best? 649 00:34:54,800 –> 00:34:57,320 Does your son see in you, 650 00:34:57,320 –> 00:35:00,899 have some knowledge of your intense longing 651 00:35:01,959 –> 00:35:05,699 to battle the cravings of your own heart 652 00:35:05,699 –> 00:35:07,580 in order to grow in the likeness of Christ? 653 00:35:07,580 –> 00:35:12,120 Does your son see that and know that about you? 654 00:35:12,120 –> 00:35:15,540 Does he see some growing, developing likeness of Christ 655 00:35:15,540 –> 00:35:18,399 or does he just see you as a church guy? 656 00:35:18,399 –> 00:35:20,699 Because if he just sees you as a church guy 657 00:35:20,780 –> 00:35:22,959 why is he gonna want to follow that? 658 00:35:25,439 –> 00:35:27,580 Mother, I speak to every mother in the congregation 659 00:35:27,580 –> 00:35:28,899 and every grandmother too, 660 00:35:28,899 –> 00:35:30,580 is your daughter, your granddaughter 661 00:35:30,580 –> 00:35:33,419 seeing a spirit of humility in you? 662 00:35:35,020 –> 00:35:36,080 Does she see repentance? 663 00:35:36,080 –> 00:35:38,919 Does she see brokenness over the pride of your own heart? 664 00:35:38,919 –> 00:35:41,020 Does she see a great longing within you 665 00:35:41,020 –> 00:35:43,219 to be more like Jesus Christ? 666 00:35:43,219 –> 00:35:46,760 Or does she see a self-satisfied contentment 667 00:35:46,760 –> 00:35:50,179 with the position you have gained in life? 668 00:35:51,500 –> 00:35:54,500 Let me tell you about my aha moment on this. 669 00:35:57,219 –> 00:35:59,100 When our boys were in middle school, 670 00:36:00,419 –> 00:36:02,300 we were driving together in the van, 671 00:36:02,300 –> 00:36:03,679 we were heading up to Door County, 672 00:36:03,679 –> 00:36:05,820 the end of the year, we had a couple of days break 673 00:36:05,820 –> 00:36:07,979 and we were bringing in the new year 674 00:36:07,979 –> 00:36:09,260 up there together. 675 00:36:10,179 –> 00:36:12,300 So we have a five-hour tor per whatever it is 676 00:36:12,300 –> 00:36:14,560 and as often happened in our family, 677 00:36:14,560 –> 00:36:16,379 we managed to get into a good 678 00:36:16,379 –> 00:36:18,000 and an interesting conversation. 679 00:36:18,939 –> 00:36:20,739 We got going on this thing, 680 00:36:20,739 –> 00:36:22,379 it’s going to be New Year in two days 681 00:36:22,379 –> 00:36:25,760 and so let’s all come up with ideas 682 00:36:25,760 –> 00:36:28,620 about one thing that each of us could change 683 00:36:28,620 –> 00:36:30,020 in the new year. 684 00:36:30,020 –> 00:36:31,560 What would you want that would be different 685 00:36:31,560 –> 00:36:35,100 from each of us and we all had a free opportunity 686 00:36:35,100 –> 00:36:36,399 to throw in our suggestions. 687 00:36:36,399 –> 00:36:37,659 Well, it went round the family 688 00:36:37,659 –> 00:36:39,780 and you know that the suggestions for dad 689 00:36:39,780 –> 00:36:41,459 are always gonna come last 690 00:36:41,459 –> 00:36:43,699 and finally, the moment comes. 691 00:36:43,699 –> 00:36:45,699 Okay, what do we want dad to change? 692 00:36:46,520 –> 00:36:50,399 And one of our boys said from the backseat of the van, 693 00:36:50,399 –> 00:36:55,060 I wish dad would mess up more. 694 00:36:55,060 –> 00:37:00,060 I wish dad would mess up more. 695 00:37:05,360 –> 00:37:09,100 I will tell you that was a wake up call to me 696 00:37:11,040 –> 00:37:15,459 because I thought this boy actually thinks 697 00:37:15,699 –> 00:37:20,239 that his dad has got his life all sorted out 698 00:37:20,239 –> 00:37:23,800 and that he really hardly messes up at all. 699 00:37:23,800 –> 00:37:28,560 I have got to change that perception 700 00:37:28,560 –> 00:37:32,199 otherwise he will never be drawn to Christ. 701 00:37:33,300 –> 00:37:34,860 How could he be? 702 00:37:37,659 –> 00:37:42,659 So I started a new habit called confessing the mess ups. 703 00:37:42,739 –> 00:37:47,739 The mess ups, and of course we had some fun with it, too. 704 00:37:48,239 –> 00:37:51,959 It was not at all unusual when our family was eating 705 00:37:51,959 –> 00:37:53,199 during the years that followed. 706 00:37:53,199 –> 00:37:54,820 Our kids were in middle school at that time 707 00:37:54,820 –> 00:37:57,040 for me to come in and say well, 708 00:37:57,040 –> 00:37:59,479 dad messed up again today, let me tell you about it 709 00:37:59,479 –> 00:38:01,340 and out would come something. 710 00:38:01,340 –> 00:38:03,600 And you know what happened within a very short period 711 00:38:03,600 –> 00:38:06,620 of time when it was, dad messed up again today, 712 00:38:06,620 –> 00:38:09,860 then it was, oh no dad, not again. 713 00:38:12,659 –> 00:38:16,719 So sometimes it was with great humor. 714 00:38:18,459 –> 00:38:20,540 But I will tell you as they grew in middle school 715 00:38:20,540 –> 00:38:22,860 and then began to develop and through their high school 716 00:38:22,860 –> 00:38:25,139 years more privately and one-on-one, 717 00:38:26,699 –> 00:38:29,840 there were repeated and very real moments 718 00:38:29,840 –> 00:38:34,840 with genuine sadness and on a couple of occasions 719 00:38:35,000 –> 00:38:40,000 with tears saying, son, you need to know 720 00:38:40,080 –> 00:38:45,000 how much your dad right now needs a savior. 721 00:38:48,320 –> 00:38:50,120 What are you teaching your children? 722 00:38:52,560 –> 00:38:55,939 Are you helping them realistically as they grow up 723 00:38:55,939 –> 00:38:59,560 to understand the mystery of sin in their life 724 00:38:59,560 –> 00:39:03,760 because they’re battling all the same things that you are? 725 00:39:03,760 –> 00:39:05,760 Why don’t you come clean with them? 726 00:39:07,439 –> 00:39:09,080 Why don’t you get real with them? 727 00:39:10,919 –> 00:39:13,399 Are you helping your children to understand 728 00:39:13,399 –> 00:39:15,719 the mystery of sin that is in them, 729 00:39:15,719 –> 00:39:20,719 or are you actively blinding their minds to the gospel 730 00:39:20,860 –> 00:39:25,120 by drip feeding them the false gospel of self-esteem? 731 00:39:27,959 –> 00:39:30,560 I have a great burden as you can tell on my heart today 732 00:39:30,560 –> 00:39:34,320 that in too many of our homes we may actually be 733 00:39:34,320 –> 00:39:37,419 undercutting the credibility of the gospel 734 00:39:38,360 –> 00:39:43,360 by drip feeding the false gospel of self-esteem. 735 00:39:47,139 –> 00:39:50,179 And early through, I just want to tell you this that 736 00:39:50,179 –> 00:39:53,820 my mama didn’t tell me when I was young 737 00:39:53,820 –> 00:39:55,860 that we are all born superstars, 738 00:39:58,000 –> 00:39:59,820 and I’m very thankful for it. 739 00:40:01,179 –> 00:40:04,739 My mama loved me greatly and still does, 740 00:40:04,760 –> 00:40:06,239 and I am so grateful for her 741 00:40:06,239 –> 00:40:09,239 and her godly influence in my life. 742 00:40:10,739 –> 00:40:13,620 But with apologies to lady Gaga, 743 00:40:14,520 –> 00:40:17,040 I have rewritten her song. 744 00:40:17,040 –> 00:40:19,939 And with this we end. 745 00:40:19,939 –> 00:40:21,419 Because this is my story, 746 00:40:22,479 –> 00:40:26,659 and it’s polar opposite of what the vast majority 747 00:40:26,659 –> 00:40:28,340 of students are believing today. 748 00:40:29,840 –> 00:40:33,239 My mama told me when I was young, 749 00:40:33,239 –> 00:40:35,020 we are all born sinners. 750 00:40:36,479 –> 00:40:41,120 There’s everything wrong with loving who you are, she said, 751 00:40:41,120 –> 00:40:44,139 because you’re are from perfect, babe! 752 00:40:47,199 –> 00:40:51,360 So bow your head down, boy, and you’ll go far. 753 00:40:51,360 –> 00:40:55,560 Listen to me when I say, become beautiful in God’s way, 754 00:40:56,639 –> 00:40:58,639 because God makes no mistakes. 755 00:40:58,639 –> 00:41:00,540 You’re on the wrong track, baby. 756 00:41:00,540 –> 00:41:01,780 You were born that way. 757 00:41:03,560 –> 00:41:05,919 Draw near to God in regret. 758 00:41:07,379 –> 00:41:10,479 Seek faith in Christ, then you’ll be set. 759 00:41:12,179 –> 00:41:13,959 You’re on the wrong track, baby. 760 00:41:15,280 –> 00:41:16,439 You were born this way. 761 00:41:18,399 –> 00:41:20,479 And I ask you, for the good of your own soul 762 00:41:20,479 –> 00:41:22,639 and for the good of your extended family, 763 00:41:22,639 –> 00:41:25,100 what do you most deeply believe today? 764 00:41:25,100 –> 00:41:27,280 Do you believe the word of God 765 00:41:27,280 –> 00:41:29,540 or do you believe the words of Gaga? 766 00:41:30,060 –> 00:41:33,500 Because if nothing in you is broken, 767 00:41:33,500 –> 00:41:36,040 there’s nothing in you to redeem. 768 00:41:36,040 –> 00:41:38,699 And if you can see nothing in you to redeem 769 00:41:38,699 –> 00:41:40,340 then as long as that is the case, 770 00:41:40,340 –> 00:41:41,739 you will never come to Christ 771 00:41:41,739 –> 00:41:43,659 and then you will die in your sins. 772 00:41:45,840 –> 00:41:47,739 But if you see today that you are a sinner 773 00:41:47,739 –> 00:41:49,260 by nature and by practice 774 00:41:49,260 –> 00:41:51,020 and you believe the word of God, 775 00:41:52,179 –> 00:41:54,620 then I say to you there is a redeemer today 776 00:41:54,620 –> 00:41:55,939 to whom you can come. 777 00:41:55,939 –> 00:41:57,780 Jesus Christ, the righteous one. 778 00:41:57,979 –> 00:41:59,659 Jesus Christ, the righteous one. 779 00:41:59,659 –> 00:42:01,120 And he is ready to receive you 780 00:42:01,120 –> 00:42:02,379 and to walk with you. 781 00:42:02,379 –> 00:42:03,739 And he will change you. 782 00:42:03,739 –> 00:42:06,280 And there is hope for every person 783 00:42:06,280 –> 00:42:09,899 in him today. 784 00:42:09,899 –> 00:42:11,399 Let’s pray together, shall we? 785 00:42:12,260 –> 00:42:13,620 What a great time this would be 786 00:42:13,620 –> 00:42:17,000 to come with a prayer of confession 787 00:42:17,000 –> 00:42:17,959 before God today. 788 00:42:24,020 –> 00:42:25,580 You may want to say something like this, 789 00:42:25,679 –> 00:42:29,820 Lord, I came here feeling pretty good 790 00:42:29,820 –> 00:42:32,379 about what I’m doing and who I am. 791 00:42:32,379 –> 00:42:34,959 And now I’m seeing my need of Christ 792 00:42:34,959 –> 00:42:36,379 in a whole new way. 793 00:42:39,219 –> 00:42:41,120 I see that I am a sinner by nature 794 00:42:41,120 –> 00:42:42,060 and practice. 795 00:42:42,060 –> 00:42:45,760 I see that this is all through me 796 00:42:45,760 –> 00:42:48,459 and within me. 797 00:42:48,459 –> 00:42:49,679 That it is in my flesh. 798 00:42:49,899 –> 00:42:52,500 And oh how much I need the righteous One 799 00:42:52,500 –> 00:42:53,520 Jesus Christ. 800 00:42:57,479 –> 00:43:00,820 And as this risen Savior who bled on that cross 801 00:43:00,820 –> 00:43:05,820 for our sins reaches out those nail-pierced hands 802 00:43:07,219 –> 00:43:09,659 to you by faith and in repentance you can draw 803 00:43:09,659 –> 00:43:11,060 near to Him today. 804 00:43:11,060 –> 00:43:13,100 Lord Jesus I need you, I see this. 805 00:43:13,100 –> 00:43:15,820 I come to you, I put my hope in you. 806 00:43:15,820 –> 00:43:17,739 I embrace you as you embrace me. 807 00:43:20,260 –> 00:43:23,479 And I ask that you will strengthen me in this battle, 808 00:43:23,479 –> 00:43:25,939 that you will change me from within, 809 00:43:25,939 –> 00:43:28,379 that in your mercy and in your grace 810 00:43:28,379 –> 00:43:31,840 you will help me to follow you all the days of my life 811 00:43:31,840 –> 00:43:34,219 until I enter your holy presence, 812 00:43:34,219 –> 00:43:37,860 not on the basis of who I am or what I have done, 813 00:43:37,860 –> 00:43:41,639 but on the basis of who you are and what you have done 814 00:43:41,639 –> 00:43:46,179 and that you are mine and I am yours. 815 00:43:46,399 –> 00:43:51,399 So today, I see as never before that all my good is in you. 816 00:43:54,659 –> 00:43:59,360 And lift my heart in thanksgiving, in Jesus’ name.

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Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.

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