Let It Not Once Be Named Among You

Good morning. Are you all having a good time so far? Alright, cool. Why don't you open your Bibles to the book of Ephesians, chapter 5?

Joey called me some months ago and asked if I would be interested in teaching at this camp. I told him I am always interested in teaching at a camp. I love going to camp, and I just love coming up to this place. It's a blessing to be here.

Then, maybe a month or two after he called me, Isabel, one of his assistants, reached out to me. She said, "Hey, the text that you're going to be teaching on is from Ephesians 5. The camp's theme is imitating Jesus." I thought that was cool. She informed me that my passage would be Ephesians 5, verses 3 through 5. I said, "Okay, that's great." However, I didn't look at my Bible or check it out until a little later.

The passage states, "But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not once be named among you, as becomes the saints." As I read that verse, I thought, "I've been had." They must have had a meeting without me and decided that I wasn't there, so they gave me this interesting passage of Scripture.

But be that as it may, I am blessed to be here this morning. I think it's an absolutely incredible opportunity that God has given each one of you to come up here for a week. You get to spend time away from all the stuff going on back home, to separate yourselves and hear from the Lord.

How many of you are from the actual Phoenix area? Not only that, you get to escape the heat for a little while, right? My parents moved out to Phoenix about four months ago. Last week, I went out to visit them with my little brother and my older sister and her family. I left my house, and it was in the 50s when I left in the morning. When I got out to the Mojave Desert, I thought, "I don't know about this." Then I arrived in Phoenix, where they live in Glendale. Are any of you from Glendale? Right on. It was 104 degrees. That's nothing!

I hear someone say, "That's nothing." She called me yesterday. It was 110 degrees. Wow, it sounds like the price is right. Go higher, go higher. It was like $7. I had $7.71 at my house yesterday, all cool and breezy. I got off the phone with her, and it's 110 out in Arizona. I think you guys are, well, I give you guys props. You're pretty tough. I don't know about that heat. My dad told me like five or six times while I was out there, "No, but it's a dry heat." I'm still trying to figure out what the difference is between a dry heat and a wet heat. All I know is it was wicked hot.

I tried to escape the heat. I like to run, so I thought, "I'll get up real early in the morning and try to escape the heat and go run." I got up at like 6:30 in the morning, and it was 85 degrees. I thought, "No, that's not going to work." So I thought, "I'll go late at night." It's worse. It is worse. I don't know how you guys handle it. Do you ever go outside, or do you just stay in the air conditioning when you have to?

My parents are trying to get my little brother to move out to Arizona with them, but he isn't going for it. But what a blessing it is to come away from our homes for a while, to come and seek the Lord and hear from Him. As I was considering the heat and some of the temperatures that you guys may face out in Arizona, I have a friend who lives in Blythe, and he was telling me it's like 120 in the shade at times. I was just thinking, I don't think I've ever been in that kind of heat. The only kind of heat I know that's 120 is like my oven, and that is a dry heat.

As I was considering the heat, I was thinking, you know, as a believer in Christ, that's the hottest we'll ever have to experience. We're never going to have to experience the dreadful heat of hell because of what our Lord did for us 2,000 years ago and because of our faith in that work He did on Calvary. What a blessing it is to know that the Lord has saved us by His grace.

As Ephesians chapter 2 talks about, there in Ephesians 2, verse 8, you probably know the verse. Paul says that we are saved by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. It goes on to say in verse 9 of Ephesians chapter 2 that it's not of works, lest anyone should boast. It's not of anything that I have done or anything that you will do to receive this free gift that Jesus has given to us.

That he's made available to us. What a blessing it is to know that as we come to Him broken, realizing ourselves, realizing our sin, and realizing how far we are from Him, He reaches down to us and picks us up. He desires us to walk with Him and continues to pour out His grace upon us. He continues to give us so much.

It is awesome that He has saved us from hell and that we are not going to have to experience the heat and the fires of hell. He has saved us to heaven, and we are going to be with Him eternally. There are a lot of churches in our day and many churches in America that have really, in a lot of ways, focused on the idea that you are saved from hell and going to heaven. That is awesome. I look forward to heaven and being with the Lord. I'm sure it's not going to be 110 or 120 in the shade in heaven. It will be a blessing to be there with our brothers and sisters in the Lord and to be there with our Father.

But if that's all that Jesus saved us for, what about now? What about this life here and now today? If all we are looking forward to is just heaven, then what about today? Nothing against heaven, but life can be difficult. Did not Jesus save us for something else here and now? He did.

If you would turn in your Bibles real quickly back to John, the Gospel of John, chapter 10. We read there as Jesus is speaking with His disciples and addressing the multitudes. In John, chapter 10, verse 10, Jesus says in the last part of the verse, "I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly," or that they may have it to its fullest. Jesus said, "I am come that you may have life and that more abundantly." He didn't say, "I am come just so that you can not go to hell and go to heaven." That's part of it, but He said, "I am come that you may have life and that more abundantly."

Sadly, as I look around at the condition of the church where I live and throughout the nation, as well as in different parts of the world, there are a lot of believers—people who say they believe in Jesus—who are not living an abundant life.

There's a lot of people who are walking into churches and bringing their Bibles with them who don't seem to have joy or victory. In fact, you would look at them and think, "Gosh, if that's what a Christian looks like, I don't know if I want to do that," because they don't look too happy. They don't seem very fulfilled, and they don't seem to have joy.

I think part of the reason for that is found in the beginning of verse 10 of John, chapter 10, where it says, "The thief has come but to steal, to kill, and to destroy." Who is that thief? Satan, our enemy, the adversary, the devil. He has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy. But Jesus said, "I have come that you may have life and that more abundantly, to its fullest." Yet, there are many believers and people I know, whom I counsel and teach at the church I come from, who desire to have this abundant life, but it seems to them that it's not happening. It seems somehow that something has been stolen away from them.

How has that happened? What has taken place for that to occur? I suggest that there's an answer to that question back in Mark. Jesus is speaking in Mark chapter 3, and in verse 27, He says, "No man can enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his house."

He explains that no one can break into a strong man's house. When I think of a strong man, I think of California's governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger. You can't just break into his house and steal his stuff until you first bind him up. If you don't, he's going to take you out, even though I've heard he's pretty short. I'm kind of tall, so I figure I'm like 6'5" with my hair sometimes.

But first, you've got to tie him up. You've got to bind that strong man before you can go in and spoil his goods. Jesus, contextually in Mark 3, is speaking about something different, but I think the principle is the same. There are some Christians who may have started out strong in their walk with the Lord. They look really good on the outside, and you and I might look at them and say, "Gosh, check that guy out. Man, he takes his Bible everywhere he goes. He's got a fish sticker on his car."

He's got it going on, and we think he's really strong. Yet, as you get to know that person, you may start to see that they have no joy. They don't seem to have the abundant life. There's no victory in their life because somehow the enemy has come in and spoiled their goods.

Before he could spoil their life, before he could spoil their goods, he bound that person up. He tied them up and ensnared them with his traps. After that person is snared and trapped, the enemy has free reign to come in, rob their joy, and plunder that abundant life that God desires to give you and me. That abundant life is the best witness in this world for the Lord.

We have all kinds of classes at my church. We offer apologetics classes, defending the faith classes, and classes on how to share your faith and evangelize. For instance, when a Mormon comes to your door, what are you going to do? You might ask, "Is it true that you believe Jesus and Satan are brothers?" They might respond affirmatively, and then you could show them what you believe.

We go to school and take classes to build up knowledge so we can defend the faith. However, I've had many arguments with those individuals, and never once have I seen them say, "Man, you're right. I need Jesus." Most of the time, every time I've argued with them, they just get angry, and I get upset. They leave, trying to give me their Book of Mormon, and I invite them to church, but they say no.

I've found in my life that the greatest witness tool the Lord has used is when people look at my life and ask, "How is it that you have joy? Because I don't have that." They wonder, "How is it that you have peace? I certainly don't see that in my heart." They question, "What is this love that you have? I've never experienced that."

These are the things that describe the abundant life that God desires to give you and me, and they are an incredible tool for witnessing to the world. This is far more effective than defending the faith by having answers to all the questions, because you'll never have the answer to all the questions. Yet, many believers today have a poor witness in this area because the enemy has come in and plundered that abundant life.

The thief has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but I have come that you may have life and that more abundantly. Yet, so many believers, a lot of Christians, are not experiencing that abundant life because it has been stolen away in some way. Before it could be stolen, they had to be bound by something. What were they bound by?

In Hebrews chapter 12, the writer of Hebrews says, "Let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ties us up, ensnares us, and traps us. Let us run with patience and endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

You see, there are a lot of people in the church today, maybe even in this room, who are bound up by sin. They have been trapped by the enemy's little traps that he has set up. As a result, he has been allowed to come in and rob your joy, plundering the abundant life that God has won for you and me on the cross.

There are many strong believers who were once strong but are now bound up by the enemy in sin. They have lost their joy and many of the blessings that come with the abundant life. I suggest to you that this would have never happened if they had heeded what we see here in Ephesians.

Let's open back up to Ephesians chapter 4. We will look at chapter 4 and move on to get a little bit of context before we delve into the passage I want to focus on this morning. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 22 states, "Put off concerning your former conversation or conduct the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

Therefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. If we, as believers in Christ, heed this message, listen to it, and follow what is being said in this book, then very likely we will not find ourselves pillaged and plundered by the enemy. He will not be able to get in and bind us up or steal away our joy and the abundant life.

Be angry and sad, but sin not. Let not the sun go down on your wrath, neither give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may give to him who has need. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good for the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Let all bitterness and wrath, anger and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. Be therefore followers or imitators of God as dear children.

I think if we pay attention to this, if we listen to what Paul is saying here and seek to follow the Lord in this way, we put off the old manner that is corrupt. We put off the old man that is falling apart and put on this new man, this new life that God has won for us. We lay aside these different things that he talks about: stealing, lying, bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking. All these different things he mentions. We begin to follow the Lord as dear children, imitating Him. Then you won't find yourself trapped by the enemy.

As I was out in Arizona last week, we were staying at my parents' little apartment. I was with my little brother, and I drove out there. We met my sister and her family. My sister has two little boys, Micah and Luke. Micah just turned two, I think, and Luke is almost one. I'm not married and I don't have kids, so I don't usually get the opportunity of being woken up at four in the morning.

While we were out there, we went to Sedona, that place that's really new agey. It was quite a trip. As we walked around Sedona, I was just watching my nephews and how close they stay to their parents. When their parents walk around, if they get like ten feet away, they start crying. They cry out, "Come here, pick me up." They don't want to be away from their parents. If anything gets in between them, you can see it on their faces.

The face starts to change a little bit, and they look around, wondering what's going on. They want to be right there next to their parents and imitate them. Even at a young age, Micah is only two, but you can see the way that he follows his parents, especially his father. These two little guys just love their dad and follow him around constantly.

That's the way we are to be with our Father in heaven. We are to follow Him in such a way that we are right at His feet, constantly. Psalm 63, verse 8 says, "My soul followeth hard after thee." Lord, I'm following right there at Your heels so that I can grab hold of You constantly. This is how we are to imitate the Lord as we follow after Him—right at His heels, close behind, never allowing any sort of distance to come between us and Him.

When distance does come between us and God, it's not His fault. It's not like He's walking too fast or saying, "Hey, just stick around here for a second. I've got to go up ahead." No, what happens is we start to drift back and look around. I remember when I was five years old. We had this big fair out in San Diego County called the Del Mar Fair. I went with my mom and my older brother, and we were walking around, exploring all the little attractions.

Of course, at five years old, I was looking around at everything the fair had to offer, thinking, "Oh, wow, look at this stuff." It wasn't long before I realized that Mom was gone—way gone. I didn't find her for a while, and I was a little scared. I think that experience kind of affected me for the rest of my life. I've always been a mama's boy ever since.

It's because we start to get distracted by other things and linger back that distance develops between us and the Lord. That's when we find ourselves in big trouble. How many of you have ever watched the Discovery Channel? Come on, be honest. Yeah, rock on, Discovery Channel!

Several months ago, I was at the gym, and in America, we can't work out without TVs in front of us. They have these huge TVs, and you can't hear the sound. I was just kind of watching one of the TVs while running on a treadmill. They had a whole segment on the Discovery Channel featuring tigers and lions. There was this lion and a little gazelle.

In fact, there are about fifty of them over in the dining hall. All these little dik-dik creatures, those small animals with the horns on top, are bouncing around. You can see one that is lagging at the back of the pack, and it’s like, man, there’s lunch. He’s there in the back.

The Bible tells us that our adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He is looking for that person who is kind of lingering at the back. No offense to those sitting in the back this morning, but those in the church who are hanging back are often the ones the enemy targets. When you’re not following closely behind the Lord, he can snare you and grab you. Then you find yourself down and out, your joy is gone, and you are bound by sin in some way. You are being robbed of the things that God desires for your life, and that we truly desire in our hearts as well.

Ephesians chapter 5 encourages us to walk in love, as Christ has also loved us and given Himself for us. Walk in love. The Bible also tells us in 1 John that God is love, and anyone who dwells in love dwells in God. We need to be those who are in Christ, in God, dwelling in His love, following closely behind so we don’t get snared or trapped. We should be imitators of Him, staying close.

In verse 3, there is a lovely verse that states, "But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not once be named among you as becomes the saints." Let it not once be named among you. I don’t know if your Bibles say "once," but mine does, and I think it’s important that this word is there, especially for me.

When I was in high school not too long ago, there was a mindset in my mind and in my flesh, and I know it exists in every single one of us as well. I’ve observed it over the last several years. We have this tendency to walk the line. You know what I’m talking about: "Yeah, I’m a Christian and I go to church, but gosh, I really like hanging out with this group of people at school who are, I don’t know, just kind of cool."

And yeah, I realize they're doing some stuff that maybe isn't exactly what the Bible talks about. But I ain't doing that stuff; I'm just hanging around with them. I don't smoke, and I'm not drinking. Yeah, they do, but I'm not. They're fun, and they joke, and they're funny. So, I like hanging around with them.

But I also like going to church. Church is cool, and I like my youth pastor. Ethan's a pretty right-on guy. I don't want to do what they do, but when I'm at school, these guys are fun too. I remember when I was in high school, especially my freshman and sophomore years; that's kind of where I was at. I was at church as well, and I was a leader in the youth group. I thought of myself as pretty good. I thought I had everything pretty much going on. In fact, I was pretty spiritually proud.

I grew up in a church and in a Christian home. I was a leader in the youth group and a part of the Christian club at my school. I had everything. I didn't smoke, I didn't drink, I didn't smoke dope, and I didn't party. I got pretty good grades, and I didn't really cuss. Spiritually, my head was a lot bigger than it is physically right now. It was like an orange on a toothpick; it was huge. Look at the size of that boy's head, right? It's a virtual planetoid. But it was big, and I was pretty spiritually puffed up and proud. I thought I had it going on, and I thought I knew what was up.

In Galatians chapter 6, verse 3, Paul says, "For if any man thinks himself to be something, when he's nothing, he deceives himself." I was kind of self-deceived; I thought I had it all going on. It goes on to say in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 12, "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." I thought I was standing pretty good as a Christian. I had things all set up in my life. I figured I was going to go through high school and be a leader here. Maybe I'll go to that Calvary Chapel Bible College; it looks pretty cool.

Everybody thought, "Yeah, Miles has it going on. He's a good Christian." I really thought I did too. And then I came to this camp, and I was sitting right there where that guy in the red shirt is.

Yeah, you. You're looking around like, is he pointing at me? Yeah, you. Wave your hand. I was sitting right there. Is that orange? No, it looks like red from here. I don't know. The red shirt. Yeah, you.

Anyways, I was sitting right there, kind of staring out that window. There was this girl at this camp. She was kind of fly, and she just happened to sit down right behind me. I was looking out that window, thinking, yeah, there's that girl. She looked at me and said, "You have nice ears." I went, "What? That's like the funniest compliment I've ever heard. Did you say I have nice ears?" She replied, "Yeah." I thought, all right, cool. I always kind of thought they were a little big, but okay.

That kind of started this little conversation. By the end of that camp, which was a winter camp, I thought, oh, that's the girl I'm going to marry for sure. We went back home, you know, the camp love thing, and we became the new couple in church. So we were dating, and I thought, yeah, right on.

However, it wasn't long before she and I started falling into sin. About two months after we began dating, things started to go downhill. But I was a leader in the youth group, and so was she, so I couldn't let anybody know that. I would say, "Oh, things are great. Yeah, I'm good. Sure, I'll teach that Bible study. Yeah, I'll lead that prayer meeting. Oh, yeah, cool, great." But in my heart, it felt like something was missing. Something had started to go away—my joy, my peace, all these things that were such a blessing to me.

You see, the enemy had finally found something that could trip me up. He had tried to trip me up with drugs. My friends had offered me drugs, but I wasn't interested. I believe that the enemy kind of dangles things in front of our faces, saying, "Yeah, let's see if this works." Nope, not interested in drugs. Hmm, okay. Nope, doesn't like that bait. Then he thought, ooh, he likes this one. Oh, yeah, she's kind of pretty, isn't she? Gotcha. And the enemy got me.

And he started to reel me in. Then I became bound, and I found that those things that were such a blessing—the abundant life that I did have in Christ—started to be pillaged. I didn't know what to do or how to get that back. Things just started to get worse and worse, going more and more downhill. Honestly, that was the worst point in my life and my walk with the Lord. My walk with the Lord was just a mess because I had allowed the enemy to come in and lure me away from imitating the Lord as a dear little child and following Him closely behind.

I had gotten caught up in what verse 3 talks about: "But fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness, let it not once be named among you, as becomes the saints." He says to stay away from these things. It's interesting that the first three things he mentions are all related: fornication, sexual immorality, which might be translated in some of your Bibles as sexual immorality; uncleanness, which is basically the same thing; and covetousness, which is also similar. Lust, evil desire, and sexual immorality are all interconnected.

From my experience in high school, I believe this is one of the number one things that the enemy uses to lure away strong, young believers in the Lord. He grabs them and robs their peace, joy, and the abundant life they have in Christ. This can lead to a point where they feel condemned, walking around saying, "Lord, I don't know what to do."

During that time, verses like verse 5 scared me half to death. "For you know this, that no whoremonger nor unclean person nor covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." I would read that verse and think, "Oh no. What am I going to do?" Then I would look over at 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 9, which says, "Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind."

Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. I would read that and think, what? What's this all about? What am I going to do? I was scared by those verses. If today you're going through the very same thing and you find yourself in the place I was about seven years ago, I hope those verses scare you too. I hope when you read those verses, it causes you to question, am I really saved?

We read in the Word that we're to test ourselves to see if we are in the faith. We need to check it out and see, are we really walking right? Are we following after the Lord or not? Jesus said, either you're for me or you're against me. Are we following after Him, or are we going in another direction, contrary to Him? During that point in my life, I was going in another direction, and those verses scared me half to death. I would read them and think, I don't know what's going on, and I don't know how to get back on the right path. I was bound up; my joy was gone.

But you know what? It was in the midst of that that I got to verse 11 of 1 Corinthians chapter 6, where it says, "And such were some of you." That word "were" started to give me a little bit of hope. And such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. You were washed, you were justified, you were sanctified by God, by His Spirit.

At that point in time, I started to cry out to the Lord and say, "Lord, I am not who I thought I was." I was self-deceived. I thought I had everything going on, Lord. I was spiritually proud and puffed up. I had to come to the Lord humbly and say, "Lord, I need you to clean me out and clean me up, because I can't do this on my own. I can't seem to get anything right anymore. I have no joy, and I have no peace. All that stuff that I so loved is gone."

In Psalm 107, you may want to turn there. It says in Psalm 107...

As you're turning there, I'm just going to read this to you. Verse 10 says, "They that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and in iron, because they rebelled against the words of God and contemned the counsel of the Most High."

He is talking about those people who are bound up. They are sitting in darkness, in chains, and in irons. They can't seem to get out of this place; they are bound up. But why are they there? Because, in verse 11, it states that they rebelled against the words of God. They didn't heed what God was saying in Ephesians chapters 4 and 5. Now, they find themselves bound up in this place, in darkness. Because they contemned the counsel of the Most High, they didn't listen to the counsel of God and what He was saying. Like a loving parent, God warns, "Don't go that route."

Because I didn't listen to those things and didn't heed the word of God, I found myself in this place of bondage. Therefore, He brought down their heart with labor. I found myself in a situation where everything I was doing felt like a burden. Trying to go to church was even hard. I didn't want to be there because I felt like everyone knew that I was in sin. Even though it's easy to fake that you're doing pretty well, you can deceive a lot of people. I was in a place where it felt like I was working so hard just to go to church.

They fell down, and there was no one to help. It's like being in a place where you wonder, "Is there anybody that can help me?" Then they cried unto the Lord, as stated in verse 13 of Psalm 107, "in their trouble," and He saved them out of their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their bonds asunder. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He hath broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron asunder.

I came to that place where I was flat on my face, crying out to the Lord, "Lord, I need help. I can't do this on my own." Before, I thought I could manage this Christian life. I was pretty good at it—carrying my Bible, wearing a Christian t-shirt, going to camp. But then I reached a point where I realized I couldn't do this on my own. I couldn't even go to church anymore because I felt like a loser. I cried out to the Lord, and then He met me right there. What a blessing it is!

That God will meet us at that place. When we find ourselves bound in affliction because we didn't listen to what God had to say at this camp, or we didn't listen to what our youth pastor had to say about the Word of God six or eight months ago, we come to this camp and find ourselves in a difficult situation. Statistically speaking, there are a great deal of people in this room this morning who are dealing with what verse three talks about: fornication and sexual immorality.

When I mention that, you might shift in your seat, thinking, "Oh my gosh, he mentioned that word." But I know there are people in this room who are struggling with it. There are individuals here who are bound right now, lacking joy and living in a state of condemnation. Yet we read verses like Romans chapter eight, verse one, which states that there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We praise the Lord for that, but in some way, today, you've stepped back and are not following closely behind. Because of that, you've found yourself bound in sin.

The abundant life that Christ came to give you and me here on earth—not just in heaven when we die, but right here, right now—is described in John 17, verse three: "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." Eternal life began the very day you said, "Lord, I want to know you." As soon as you entered into that relationship with Him, eternal life began right there. However, we can lose the joy and abundance of life that God desires to give us because we allow ourselves to be bound up by the enemy.

Even those who consider themselves to be the strongest of believers, like I did when I was early on in high school, can find themselves bound. I know I'm probably not supposed to do this, but I want to go into verse six of Ephesians chapter five: "Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things comes the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience." Let no one deceive you.

There's a teaching going around the church right now, and I don't know if you hear it very much out in Arizona. I know that I'm hearing it in the general area where I live in Southern California. There are a few churches in my area, not too far from me, that are teaching something they basically call Christian liberty.

The Bible does talk about liberty in Christ, and we do have liberty in Christ. He has set us free. However, there are some people I know who say they're believers, they say they're Christians, and they go to some of these churches in my area. They have told me that they are living with their girlfriend and that it's okay because they have liberty in Christ. They believe they are going to heaven. They might even say, "Occasionally, I smoke dope, but I think it's all right because I have liberty in Christ."

Let no one deceive you because of these things. In chapter 5, it states that the wrath of God is coming upon the children of disobedience, so do not be partakers with them. I love to partake with the Lord in the blessings He provides. How awesome it is to partake with the brothers and sisters of the Lord and receive His blessings. But how many of you today would like to partake in the wrath of God with the sons of disobedience? That sounds happy, doesn't it? Go read the book of Revelation. Read the end there and see about the cup of wrath and indignation. Those are big words, and they don't sound like a really fun thing.

Want an idea of what the wrath of God is all about? Ask Lot when he was in Sodom and Gomorrah. The city was consumed. Does that look like fun? I want to be a partaker of that? No, I don't think so. Fornication, uncleanness, and covetousness should not once be named among you as becomes the saints. Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient. These things are not helpful.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 6, when I was reading verse 11, it says, "And such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified by the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God." All things are lawful. Yes, we have liberty in Christ. All things are lawful unto me, but not all things are expedient or convenient or helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. I will not be bound up by the power of these fleshly desires and the things that the enemy seeks to give me, which will bind me up.

The enemy can come in as the thief that he is and steal away the abundance of life that Christ died to give us. How sad it is that many in the church, and maybe even many in this room this morning, have lost the abundance of life that Christ came to give you.

Because of sin, you've been bound up. In Acts chapter 2, on the day when Peter preached to the people, he said, "Hey, you crucified Christ." They responded, "What should we do?" Peter looked at them and said, "Repent and be baptized. Follow the Lord." Then they cried unto the Lord, and He heard them, as we looked at in Psalm 107. We need to come to that place today of crying out to Him.

Whether you feel this morning that this doesn't apply to you, like I did when I was sitting over there one day at camp, hearing people talk about similar messages and thinking, "This doesn't apply to me. I'm pretty right on," or if you're in a place today where you find yourself bound and tied up by the things of this world—the lust of the flesh—not knowing quite what to do, there is hope.

In the book of Judges, there is a character who I find quite interesting: Samson. I'm trying to grow my hair like Samson; that's why it looks like this. I'm thinking that maybe it will make me strong. In the book of Judges, we see this guy, Samson, who had incredible potential. From his birth, he was set aside to be a Nazirite, consecrated wholly to God.

The Nazirite vow meant he wasn't to go anywhere near the fruit of the vine. He wasn't to drink wine, have grapes, or eat raisins. He was not to go near anything unclean or dead. He was to be completely given over to the Lord, and a sign of his covenant was that his hair was to grow throughout his whole life. No razor was to come to his head. He was set apart to the Lord from his birth.

Before he was even conceived, the Lord told his parents, "You are going to have a kid. You're going to name him Samson. He will be a Nazirite from his youth, and he will judge my people and begin to deliver them from the Philistines." Great potential. Every single one of you in this room this morning has potential.

Samson had incredible potential. Yet, along with his great potential, he had great passions. Because of his great passions, he faced great problems. As you see his life unfold in Judges chapter 13, when his parents learn about him, and then in Judges chapter 14, we see that he starts to travel where he shouldn't be. He goes down to a Philistine city, and while he is there, he notices a Philistine woman and thinks, "She's pretty hot." He goes back to his dad and says, "Hey, Dad, I want you to go get her for my wife."

Ladies, how would you like that? A guy goes to his dad and says, "Get her for my wife. I want her." His dad responds, "She's a Philistine. You can't have her. What are you doing?" But Samson insists, "No, I want her. You get her." He was traveling where he shouldn't have been.

Then he goes back down to this area, Timnah, a Philistine city. While he is there, we find him in Judges chapter 14, verse 5, in the vineyards of Timnah. Wait a minute. This was a pretty simple vow and covenant he had: no vineyards, don't cut your hair, and nothing dead. But here he is, walking around in the vineyards. While he is there, a lion comes upon him.

You see, he was traveling in a place that he shouldn't have been. Some of you today may be drifting away from the Lord in some way, and now that roaring lion pounces on you. But you know, Samson was pretty strong. He grabbed the lion and killed it with his bare hands. I mean, that guy was a man.

Honestly, I was out running a few weeks ago down by my house, and I went on this trail. As I was running, I saw a sign that said, "Beware, mountain lions have been sighted in this area recently." I thought, "Whoa, trippy." Then I saw another sign: "Beware, mountain lions." I started to think, "Whoa, two signs. Maybe they're serious." As I continued jogging, I began to wonder what I would do if a mountain lion pounced on me. I'd die. They weigh like 400 pounds.

And so I decided to turn around and start running back to my car. But not Samson. There he is, wandering around. A mountain lion—oh, I'm sorry, a regular lion—comes and kills the thing. I mean, when you're over in the dining hall today and sitting there, look at that lion on the wall. That's a pretty big animal, and he just took it and killed it.

Samson was in a place where he shouldn't have been, traveling about in that area, and then he kills this lion. Later on, he goes back home for a period of time, and then he comes back into this area down in Timna. He's there in the vineyard again, thinking, "I'm going to go look at this lion carcass." Oh, wait a minute. Let's start again. No vineyards, nothing dead. Don't catch your hair. All right, cool.

But now he's in the vineyard again, and he goes over to find this dead lion carcass. When he finds it, he says, "Oh, check it out. Some bees had made a hive inside the carcass." He thinks, "Man, I'm kind of hungry. I think I'll have some honey." So he reaches inside this dead lion, touching something that's unclean, and takes the honey.

He was traveling where he shouldn't have been, touching what he shouldn't have touched, and now he's tasting that which is unclean. You know what it says in Judges chapter 14? He takes some honey back to his parents. They ask, "Hey, where'd you get this?" and he replies, "Oh, don't worry about it." He doesn't tell them. No accountability.

Samson's life just kind of continues to go downhill from that point. As you follow Samson's life, you do not see him at rest at any time. He has no rest; he's constantly in battles against the Philistines, who are always chasing him down. I kind of imagine that Samson was probably not a really big fellow. I believe he had strength from the Lord, a supernatural strength from God because of his covenant with Him.

So he probably wasn't super big, but these Philistines were chasing him around throughout his whole life, trying to kill him. Every time they do, he comes and just takes them out. I mean, one time he kills a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey. That's like MacGyver right there. But then we see him in Judges chapter 16.

In Judges chapter 16, verse 4, Samson meets Delilah. He thinks to himself, "Wow, what was I thinking about that girl from Timnah? This Delilah, she's pretty sweet." So, he starts hanging out with Delilah. Now, Delilah was a Philistine, and the Philistines decide to approach her. They say, "We'll pay you a whole bunch of money. All of us Philistines will pay you a ton of money if you find out where Samson's strength comes from." Delilah responds, "All right, sounds good. I like it."

In verse 6 of chapter 16, as she spends time with him, she asks, "Oh, honey, where does your strength come from?" He replies, "Hey, yeah, if you bind me up with seven new bowstrings, my strength will be gone." So, he falls asleep, and she binds him up with seven new bowstrings. When she shouts, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" he jumps up, breaks the bowstrings, and defeats the Philistines.

In verse 10, Delilah confronts him, saying, "You weren't very honest with me. Come on, where does your strength come from?" He responds, "All right, if you bind me securely with new ropes that have never been used before, my strength will go away." Again, he falls asleep, and she binds him up with new ropes. When she calls out, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" he jumps up, breaks the new ropes, and defeats the Philistines once more.

By this time, one would hope that Samson would start to realize that Delilah is not exactly trustworthy. Nevertheless, she comes to him again in verse 13 of chapter 16 and says, "Come on, Samson. You've mocked me these two times. How come you haven't told me where your strength comes from?" It's as if he should be thinking, "Dang, girl, you already tried to get me killed twice. What's going on here?"

Finally, he says, "All right, if you weave my hair into a loom..." Now he's getting a little closer to revealing his secret. He continues, "If you weave my long, beautiful, flowing hair into the loom, my strength will go away." You guys ever seen a weaver's beam? They're pretty big. So, he falls asleep, and she weaves his hair. Once again, she calls out, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!"

He jumps up. Now, I like to picture things. Here, this guy jumps up, and he's got a weaver's beam attached to his head. He beats the Philistines up. Well, she comes to him one more time in verse 15, and she says to him there in Judges chapter 16, verse 15, "Come on, I thought you loved me."

Now, girls, if a guy ever says to you, "You'll do it if you love me," smack him in the face, run, and tell your dad while he's cleaning his shotgun. Then call your youth pastor, and he'll get all the other youth pastors together, and we'll have a lynch mob. But she comes and says, "Come on, you say that you love me, but you haven't told me. These three times you've mocked me. You haven't told me where your strength comes from."

She presses him, and it says in verse 16, "It came to pass when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him so that his soul was vexed unto death." Every single day, she's like, "Come on, Samson, tell me, please." And he's like, "No, you already called the Philistines."

Finally, he told her all that was in his heart in verse 17. He said unto her, "There has not come a razor upon my head, for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb, and I have not been shaven. If I am shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak like any other man."

When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she went and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up this once, for he has showed me all his heart." Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and they brought money in their hands. So they come, and they're going to pay her off now.

She made him sleep upon her knees. Here, he's laying his head in her lap, and she says, "Oh, go to sleep, Samson." He falls asleep, and then she caused his head to be shaved. All the seven locks of his head were cut off, and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.

Now, here's this guy who kills a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey. He's killed all these Philistines for all this time, and now it says there that she began to afflict him. So now she's like, "What are you going to do now, huh? Come on, come on, let's go." And he's like, "Oh, ow, what are you doing?"

What are you doing? She begins to afflict him, and his strength went from him. She said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson." He awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out at this time as I have before." He shook himself, but he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. He jumped up, thinking the Philistines were upon him, and said, "Oh, I'm gonna do this. It's just like all the times before. I can do this." But then he realized, "What are you gonna do now? What's going on here? I have no strength."

The Philistines took him, put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with fetters of brass, and he ground in the prison house. They attached him to a mill, and there he was, grinding away in the grinding house, walking around daily.

Maybe you've heard it before, but as we look at that portion of Scripture, sin will blind you, bind you up, and then grind you to pieces. There Samson was, grinding away in the prison house. Why? Because this was a guy who, although he had great potential, allowed his passions to lead to great problems. He was traveling where he shouldn't have been, touching what he should not have been, and tasting the things of this world that were unclean. As he did, he continued to drift away from the Lord, thinking, "Yeah, I'm strong. I can continue doing this. I've got strength." But then one day, the strength was gone. He found himself without his eyes, grinding away in the mill house.

However, verse 22 of chapter 16 of Judges says, "Howbeit his hair on his head began to grow again after it was shaven." That is the grace of God. The grace of God still extends the hand of mercy and says, "Samson, come back."

As the story finishes up, the Philistines one day were having a big drunken party. I imagine it almost like the Super Bowl. They were in this huge stadium. In fact, my dad is building your new football stadium out there in Phoenix, or the Cardinals football stadium in Glendale.

That's why he's out there. I imagine they are in the big, huge new Glendale stadium when it opens up, and you guys get the Super Bowl in 2008. Rock on! I can assure you, the Chargers won't be there. Neither will the Cardinals. But there he is. The Philistines are all in the big old stadium, having this big old drunken party, and they say, "Hey, whatever happened to that Samson guy that used to afflict us all the time?"

"Oh, we got him into prison, guys. Hey, bring him in here. Let's make sport of him. Let's laugh at him." So they bring him into the middle of this place, and they're laughing at him. There he is, all blind and feeble, with long hair again. They're just pointing and laughing. He leans over to the kid that was leading him and says, "Can you take me to the pillars of this great house?"

The kid takes him over there, and he prays, "Lord, just this once, this one last time, will you give me strength?" He pushes the pillars, and the whole thing comes down. At his death, the Scriptures say at the end of Judges chapter 16 that he killed more Philistines at his death than all the time in his life.

But the only time that great potential he had was truly used for the glory of God was when he died. A wasted life. Will we see Samson in heaven? I believe we will. But the abundant life that God desired him to have here on earth, he never, ever experienced it. How sad it will be if that's the testimony of my life or your life.

It doesn't have to be so if we take heed to the Word of God. In Joshua chapter 1, we'll finish with this. As Joshua was taking over the leadership of the nation of Israel and getting ready to bring the children of Israel into the promised land, God speaks to him there in Joshua chapter 1, verse 6. He says, "Be strong and of good courage. For unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I swear unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left that you may prosper whithersoever thou goest.

This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate therein day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written there. For then shall you make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.

There are a lot of people in this world looking for how to have a successful and prosperous life. How can I have prosperity and success? Well, the Lord gives us the answer to a successful and prosperous life in His kingdom, which is much different from the life of the world in terms of success and prosperity. The success and prosperity in His kingdom come as we follow His word. We don't turn to the right hand or to the left hand from it, and then we will be successful.

Shall you make your way prosperous and have good success? This room this morning accounts for over 400 people with incredible potential for the kingdom of God. Look at the things that God did through His apostles—12 men—and consider how the world was transformed by the work that God did through those apostles. Think about what God can do through your life today. But it won't happen if you allow the enemy to bind you up in sin and let him come in and pillage the abundant life that Christ desires to give you.

This portion of Scripture in Ephesians chapter 5 is so applicable to us. We are to be imitators of God as dear children, following close behind Him. Do not let these other things once be named among you, because they'll blind you, bind you, and grind you.

Let's have the worship team come back up again at this time, and let's pray. Father, I thank You for Your word and its application for us today. I ask, Lord, that You would take this word and plant it deep in our hearts. Even now, I know that the enemy is seeking, like a bird, to come and devour the seed that You've planted this morning. Or maybe the cares of this world, like weeds, are creeping around it. Lord, perhaps it has fallen this morning on some stony ground of our hearts, but I ask by Your Spirit that You would do a work of ripping out those weeds, shooting down those birds, and breaking up that fallow ground. God, take Your word and use it in my life and in the lives of my brothers and sisters.

Here this morning, God, help us to be imitators of You. Help us to follow hard after You, to seek You first, and Lord, to realize the life that You desire to give us.

God, as Paul, would You help us to be able to lay aside all of these things and press on towards the goal, to lay hold of that for which You've laid hold of us. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.