Title: The Futility of the Mind Meta: Futility of mind is when a man is forever and always trying to figure out how to be happy, while he is an enemy of God. Futility is the way of the world; they are full of thoughts that are empty, vain, and useless. Yet as Christians we are to put away futility of mind as Paul says in Ephesians 4:17, “you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.” Tags: futitle,mind,believer,Christian,new man,Ephesians 4:17-24 1 00:00:01,397 --> 00:00:09,142 Ephesians 4:17, "Now this I say and testify in the Lord, 2 00:00:09,148 --> 00:00:21,816 that you, Christians, must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, 3 00:00:21,822 --> 00:00:25,110 in the futility of their minds. 4 00:00:25,116 --> 00:00:27,209 They are darkened in their understanding, 5 00:00:27,215 --> 00:00:32,970 alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, 6 00:00:32,976 --> 00:00:35,842 due to their hardness of heart. 7 00:00:35,848 --> 00:00:40,066 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, 8 00:00:40,072 --> 00:00:43,496 greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 9 00:00:43,502 --> 00:00:52,309 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 10 00:00:52,315 --> 00:00:57,746 assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, 11 00:00:57,752 --> 00:01:02,883 as the truth is in Jesus," and what is that truth as it is in Jesus? 12 00:01:02,889 --> 00:01:12,287 "to put off your old man (ESV wrongly puts self there but it's the old man) 13 00:01:12,293 --> 00:01:23,380 which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 14 00:01:23,386 --> 00:01:25,985 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 15 00:01:25,991 --> 00:01:30,070 and to put on the new self (or the new man), 16 00:01:30,076 --> 00:01:37,943 created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." (P) 17 00:01:37,949 --> 00:01:43,803 Let's pray once again. 18 00:01:56,941 --> 00:02:10,568 Father, it's with faith that You fill this place and dwell here, 19 00:02:11,575 --> 00:02:17,352 hear our prayers, and are a God who answers prayer. 20 00:02:18,087 --> 00:02:34,941 Lord, we will ask that these verses would not be just merely ink, print, a dead letter; 21 00:02:34,947 --> 00:02:40,107 but I pray that Your Spirit would take these spiritual things 22 00:02:40,113 --> 00:02:44,914 and teach them to those here who are spiritual. 23 00:02:44,920 --> 00:02:48,616 May they resonate with us. May they help us. 24 00:02:48,622 --> 00:02:54,235 May Your Word be a lamp unto our feet. 25 00:02:55,844 --> 00:02:59,399 I pray that these people would be able to promise 26 00:02:59,405 --> 00:03:04,871 that they would keep what's found here. 27 00:03:05,628 --> 00:03:11,630 We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. (P) 28 00:03:18,318 --> 00:03:25,174 Now what Paul does here, in verses 17 through 19, 29 00:03:25,180 --> 00:03:32,782 and you'll notice in verse 21 there's a transition. 30 00:03:33,085 --> 00:03:49,160 But in verses 17 through 19, Paul gives us a description of the unregenerate. 31 00:03:49,166 --> 00:03:59,685 Probably one of the most complete definitions or descriptions of the unregenerate man 32 00:03:59,691 --> 00:04:01,605 that we have in our Bibles. 33 00:04:01,611 --> 00:04:03,073 Now I know there are other ones. 34 00:04:03,079 --> 00:04:07,469 In Romans 1 verses 18 and following, 35 00:04:07,475 --> 00:04:17,418 you have, through the end of the chapter there, a massive description of lost man. 36 00:04:17,425 --> 00:04:19,666 Again, we could go over to Romans chapter 3, 37 00:04:19,673 --> 00:04:28,164 again we have a very detailed description of the depravity of unregenerate man. 38 00:04:28,170 --> 00:04:34,248 You think of those first verses in Ephesians chapter 2, 39 00:04:34,254 --> 00:04:43,865 which was prior to the portion of Scripture we are reading by a couple of chapters, 40 00:04:43,871 --> 00:04:49,406 they have descriptions of the lost man as well. (P) 41 00:04:49,412 --> 00:04:56,134 Look, these three verses, this is man who is going to hell. 42 00:04:56,140 --> 00:04:59,863 This is hell bound man without the Spirit. 43 00:04:59,869 --> 00:05:02,109 This is man without salvation. 44 00:05:02,115 --> 00:05:05,983 This is man who is lost. 45 00:05:05,989 --> 00:05:12,690 And this is the shape of man by nature as he comes into this world. 46 00:05:12,696 --> 00:05:17,280 That's how we were. We were this way. 47 00:05:17,286 --> 00:05:21,720 If we are not this way, we are no longer that way but we were that way. 48 00:05:21,726 --> 00:05:23,566 That's where the 'no longer' comes in. 49 00:05:23,572 --> 00:05:24,818 This is how we were. 50 00:05:24,824 --> 00:05:26,713 By nature, this is how man is. 51 00:05:26,719 --> 00:05:29,319 We all were children of wrath. 52 00:05:29,325 --> 00:05:32,452 We all were these unregenerate, without the Spirit, 53 00:05:32,458 --> 00:05:36,905 hell bound, without God, without hope kind of people. 54 00:05:36,911 --> 00:05:43,022 But notice, Paul's main purpose here is not so much to tell us 55 00:05:43,028 --> 00:05:47,664 what the unregenerate man is like, 56 00:05:47,670 --> 00:05:55,427 as much as it is to tell us what we no longer are. 57 00:05:55,433 --> 00:05:57,208 You see that there. 58 00:05:57,214 --> 00:06:01,820 If you've learned Christ, this is what you are not any longer. (P) 59 00:06:01,826 --> 00:06:07,832 Now notice verse 17, because I want to focus on something this morning: 60 00:06:07,838 --> 00:06:15,182 "Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer" - 61 00:06:15,188 --> 00:06:24,284 you MUST no longer be like this; you must! 62 00:06:24,290 --> 00:06:27,740 "You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do," 63 00:06:27,746 --> 00:06:35,366 and how do they walk? "in the futility of their minds." 64 00:06:35,372 --> 00:06:43,233 And that's our subject matter this morning: The Futility of the Mind. (P) 65 00:06:43,239 --> 00:06:51,608 You know in Peter's first epistle, he has something to say about futility. 66 00:06:51,614 --> 00:06:53,343 Don't turn there but listen to this: 67 00:06:53,349 --> 00:07:06,024 In 1 Peter 1:18, "Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways 68 00:07:06,030 --> 00:07:09,886 inherited from your forefathers." 69 00:07:09,892 --> 00:07:13,191 Now I just want you to think for a second. 70 00:07:13,197 --> 00:07:18,147 "Your forefathers" - you know what Peter is saying? 71 00:07:18,153 --> 00:07:22,866 You have an inheritance, and he's not talking money, lands, houses. 72 00:07:22,872 --> 00:07:24,240 You inherited something. 73 00:07:24,246 --> 00:07:25,988 Do you ever think about your forefathers? 74 00:07:25,994 --> 00:07:28,215 Some people love family trees. 75 00:07:28,221 --> 00:07:29,776 You know what Peter is telling us? 76 00:07:29,782 --> 00:07:32,841 Take a look at your family tree and you know what you're going to find? 77 00:07:32,847 --> 00:07:38,364 You're going to find a bunch of people - and this is typical; 78 00:07:38,370 --> 00:07:42,630 you can be certain that Peter, by and large, is writing to first generation Christians, 79 00:07:42,636 --> 00:07:47,300 as Paul was, and as many in this room are. 80 00:07:47,306 --> 00:07:52,500 You see, the people that have a lineage of Christianity are very rare in this world. 81 00:07:52,506 --> 00:07:54,039 They are the exception. (P) 82 00:07:54,045 --> 00:07:57,601 By and large, you know what you find when you look at your family tree? 83 00:07:57,607 --> 00:07:59,171 Do you ever think like this? 84 00:07:59,177 --> 00:08:05,775 Great-grandfather, you know, we start losing the names of even who our relatives are 85 00:08:05,781 --> 00:08:07,252 right about at that level. 86 00:08:07,258 --> 00:08:14,678 Can anybody name all - how many great-grandfathers do we have? 87 00:08:14,684 --> 00:08:20,459 Well if you have two grandfathers, how many great-grandfathers would you have? 88 00:08:20,465 --> 00:08:24,164 Common, do your family tree. 89 00:08:24,170 --> 00:08:27,593 Four, right? 90 00:08:27,599 --> 00:08:32,660 Is that how it works? Or do you have eight? 91 00:08:32,667 --> 00:08:37,270 Common, do your family tree in your mind. 92 00:08:37,277 --> 00:08:43,086 Every one of your grandfathers would have had how many? 93 00:08:43,092 --> 00:08:47,040 You have grandfathers, grandmothers. 94 00:08:47,046 --> 00:08:50,209 Anyway, do you know their names? 95 00:08:50,215 --> 00:08:55,311 Can you say all the names of your great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers? 96 00:08:55,317 --> 00:08:57,658 Anybody can do that? 97 00:08:57,664 --> 00:09:00,777 Is there anybody that knows their family tree well enough? 98 00:09:00,783 --> 00:09:02,043 Nobody does. 99 00:09:02,049 --> 00:09:06,955 Isn't that amazing how fast you get forgot? 100 00:09:06,961 --> 00:09:08,210 You're gone. 101 00:09:08,216 --> 00:09:11,579 I mean, in a couple of generations, unless you wrote a book 102 00:09:11,585 --> 00:09:16,550 or you discovered something (your name got put on a star or something,) 103 00:09:16,556 --> 00:09:18,313 brethren, you're gone. 104 00:09:18,319 --> 00:09:20,289 You're just forgot. 105 00:09:20,295 --> 00:09:25,258 We pass away. We are like the grass. (P) 106 00:09:25,264 --> 00:09:27,942 But think about your forefathers. 107 00:09:27,948 --> 00:09:31,491 You know what Peter sees in your forefathers? 108 00:09:31,497 --> 00:09:34,505 We like to find out about, "What did our grandfather do? 109 00:09:34,511 --> 00:09:36,511 What notable thing did he do?" 110 00:09:36,517 --> 00:09:38,320 Peter looks at your grandparents and he says, 111 00:09:38,326 --> 00:09:44,060 "I'll tell you what notable thing they did. They passed on to you futility." 112 00:09:44,066 --> 00:09:45,527 You know what he is saying? 113 00:09:45,533 --> 00:09:49,683 He is saying that by and large, not a nice thought, but by and large, 114 00:09:49,689 --> 00:09:54,326 most of our grandparents and great-grandparents went to hell. 115 00:09:54,332 --> 00:09:58,596 And they went there in all their futile ways. 116 00:09:58,602 --> 00:10:00,336 That's what he is saying. 117 00:10:00,342 --> 00:10:02,540 And he is saying they just passed them on to you. (P) 118 00:10:02,546 --> 00:10:07,040 My family, by and large, catholic, passed on to me those futile ways 119 00:10:07,046 --> 00:10:12,893 that were landing them generation after generation of Irish Catholics went to hell; 120 00:10:12,899 --> 00:10:16,074 trusting their works and not trusting Jesus Christ. 121 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:18,320 And those things were passed to us. 122 00:10:18,326 --> 00:10:21,282 Just like it was passed to me by family, 123 00:10:21,288 --> 00:10:25,071 so your forefathers passed on to you futility. 124 00:10:25,077 --> 00:10:29,783 And Jesus Christ has ransomed us from that futility. 125 00:10:29,789 --> 00:10:31,856 That's what Peter is preaching. 126 00:10:31,862 --> 00:10:35,572 Futility, this is the way of the Gentiles. 127 00:10:35,578 --> 00:10:39,499 They have minds that are filled with futility. 128 00:10:39,505 --> 00:10:47,115 That means their thoughts; the thoughts of your grandparents were full of futility. 129 00:10:47,121 --> 00:10:49,017 And what is futility? 130 00:10:49,023 --> 00:10:55,113 Emptiness. Vanity. Uselessness. 131 00:10:55,119 --> 00:10:57,441 It means that their thoughts came to nothing. 132 00:10:57,447 --> 00:11:00,934 The things that they thought about, that they were striving after, they never got. 133 00:11:00,940 --> 00:11:05,139 The things that they hoped for in their minds never came to pass. 134 00:11:05,145 --> 00:11:09,313 The thing that they were trying to avoid, they got. 135 00:11:09,319 --> 00:11:10,341 Futility. 136 00:11:10,347 --> 00:11:15,282 Their efforts came to nothing, they were worthless. 137 00:11:15,288 --> 00:11:17,190 That's what was passed on to us. 138 00:11:17,196 --> 00:11:19,659 Look at your family tree, that's what Peter is saying. 139 00:11:19,665 --> 00:11:21,124 That's what God is saying. 140 00:11:21,130 --> 00:11:26,019 We basically come from family trees of futility. 141 00:11:26,025 --> 00:11:29,890 That's our heritage. (P) 142 00:11:29,896 --> 00:11:37,332 Futile, vain, empty, pointless, to no avail. 143 00:11:37,338 --> 00:11:39,973 And right here in Ephesians chapter 4, 144 00:11:39,979 --> 00:11:45,778 futility of mind is the characterization of the Gentiles. 145 00:11:45,784 --> 00:11:48,313 That's how you are no longer to be. 146 00:11:48,319 --> 00:11:53,537 Christian, we are to put away futility. 147 00:11:53,543 --> 00:11:57,946 No longer. You must no longer. 148 00:11:57,952 --> 00:12:03,215 Futility of mind is a picture of people using their mind 149 00:12:03,221 --> 00:12:06,737 in ways that are just a waste of time. 150 00:12:06,743 --> 00:12:10,931 They are a waste of effort. 151 00:12:11,645 --> 00:12:16,352 You want some examples? 152 00:12:17,972 --> 00:12:24,798 Brethren, I know this about all of us. 153 00:12:24,803 --> 00:12:27,113 We all want to be happy. 154 00:12:27,119 --> 00:12:29,859 That is what mankind is striving after. 155 00:12:29,865 --> 00:12:36,515 Mankind wants to feel good, and mankind strives after that. 156 00:12:36,521 --> 00:12:38,844 You want an example of futility of mind? 157 00:12:38,850 --> 00:12:48,580 Futility of mind is man who is forever and always trying to figure out how to be happy 158 00:12:48,586 --> 00:12:51,588 while he is an enemy of God. 159 00:12:51,594 --> 00:12:56,255 That, folks, is futility. 160 00:12:56,261 --> 00:12:59,331 That is vain. That is worthless. (P) 161 00:12:59,337 --> 00:13:10,195 Brethren, we don't have to think real hard about figuring out from somebody else's life, 162 00:13:10,201 --> 00:13:13,802 or somebody else's thoughts, or somebody else's futility about these things 163 00:13:13,808 --> 00:13:15,881 because this is where we were. 164 00:13:15,887 --> 00:13:20,272 We no longer walk this way because we did walk this way. 165 00:13:20,278 --> 00:13:21,622 That's what 'no longer' means. 166 00:13:21,628 --> 00:13:23,889 It means you used to, you don't now. 167 00:13:23,895 --> 00:13:26,828 And brethren, when we were there, how did we think? 168 00:13:26,834 --> 00:13:28,980 Here's a Sunday, how did you think? 169 00:13:28,986 --> 00:13:32,756 Take yourself back. I would go back thirty years. 170 00:13:32,762 --> 00:13:36,226 I was 20 years old, still 5 years off from being saved. 171 00:13:36,232 --> 00:13:39,012 How would I have thought on a Sunday morning? 172 00:13:39,018 --> 00:13:43,963 What would have been the futility in my mind? 173 00:13:43,969 --> 00:13:45,615 You know what we are thinking about? 174 00:13:45,621 --> 00:13:48,583 We are thinking about all the things that we think are going to make us happy. 175 00:13:48,589 --> 00:13:51,534 We are thinking about the things that, "Oh, if I could just get that." 176 00:13:51,540 --> 00:13:55,662 "You know what, if the Lions win today, then I'd be happy." 177 00:13:55,668 --> 00:13:58,337 I mean, that's how I thought. 178 00:13:59,104 --> 00:14:04,896 "If I could win the lotto, then I'd be happy." (P) 179 00:14:04,902 --> 00:14:07,412 Think about the things that you thought. 180 00:14:07,418 --> 00:14:10,948 "If I could just get this, if I could just get over there, then I'd be happy." 181 00:14:10,954 --> 00:14:11,717 But you know what? 182 00:14:11,723 --> 00:14:13,817 No matter what you ever got, you weren't happy. 183 00:14:13,823 --> 00:14:16,062 No matter what you ever got, you were not fulfilled. 184 00:14:16,068 --> 00:14:20,258 No matter what you got, there was still a sense of that hollowness within. 185 00:14:20,264 --> 00:14:23,551 You thought, "If I had that money, If I just had that girl around my arm, 186 00:14:23,557 --> 00:14:26,414 or that guy come and show interest in me, 187 00:14:26,420 --> 00:14:27,312 then I'd be happy." 188 00:14:27,318 --> 00:14:28,003 And you know what? 189 00:14:28,009 --> 00:14:30,937 Even when the things that we wanted came to pass, 190 00:14:30,943 --> 00:14:35,041 isn't it amazing we never found the paradise that we thought we were going to find. 191 00:14:35,047 --> 00:14:36,648 Because we always wanted something else. 192 00:14:36,654 --> 00:14:40,607 Why? I'll tell you why, brethren, I'll tell you why this is such futility. 193 00:14:40,613 --> 00:14:51,156 Because the Bible says, "'There is no peace,' says my God, 'for the wicked.'" 194 00:14:51,162 --> 00:14:56,773 Or, God says this in Isaiah 3:11, "Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him." 195 00:14:56,779 --> 00:15:03,744 Or, you might think of Romans 3:16, "In their paths are ruin and misery." (P) 196 00:15:03,750 --> 00:15:05,112 You know what? 197 00:15:05,118 --> 00:15:07,923 You can have a pocket full of money, 198 00:15:07,929 --> 00:15:13,752 you can have the person hanging off your arm that you want to be with, 199 00:15:13,758 --> 00:15:15,914 you can have all the stuff that you might imagine, 200 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:22,842 you can have the president get elected who you think is going to change the world; 201 00:15:22,848 --> 00:15:23,836 and then what happens? 202 00:15:23,842 --> 00:15:27,719 You wake up Sunday morning and your heart is hollow and empty. 203 00:15:27,725 --> 00:15:28,889 You know why? 204 00:15:28,895 --> 00:15:33,243 Because God is not going to let you be happy. 205 00:15:33,249 --> 00:15:34,926 You got to get in those verses. 206 00:15:34,932 --> 00:15:39,799 God is saying, "You know what? If you're wicked, you will not have peace. 207 00:15:39,805 --> 00:15:42,508 If you're wicked, it will go ill with you. 208 00:15:42,514 --> 00:15:45,581 If you're wicked, you will experience misery." 209 00:15:45,587 --> 00:15:48,554 You know why it is so futile? 210 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:55,139 Because God will not let you be happy as long as you're at odds with Him. 211 00:15:55,145 --> 00:16:00,179 It's futile, and that's how this world is. 212 00:16:00,185 --> 00:16:03,068 That's how San Antonio is today. (P) 213 00:16:03,074 --> 00:16:12,396 Brethren, every single person that has a rational mind in San Antonio, 214 00:16:12,402 --> 00:16:19,030 you may say it's insanity, but I am talking about every lost person who can think, 215 00:16:19,036 --> 00:16:23,415 their mind isn't all messed up and broken, 216 00:16:23,421 --> 00:16:27,935 they can actually put thoughts together and they have some cognitive function, 217 00:16:27,941 --> 00:16:31,755 they are thinking today about what to do, how to do it, 218 00:16:31,761 --> 00:16:33,425 so that they can be happy. 219 00:16:33,431 --> 00:16:36,141 And most of them are thinking about how to do that 220 00:16:36,147 --> 00:16:38,438 while they are at odds with God, 221 00:16:38,444 --> 00:16:39,889 while they are in rebellion to God, 222 00:16:39,895 --> 00:16:44,806 and while they are bowing down before whatever idol it is in their life. 223 00:16:44,812 --> 00:16:47,041 And it's not going to happen. It's futile. 224 00:16:47,047 --> 00:16:47,743 And you know what? 225 00:16:47,749 --> 00:16:52,028 That's what your forefathers did. (P) 226 00:16:52,034 --> 00:16:54,419 Isn't it amazing? 227 00:16:54,425 --> 00:16:59,716 It's not like we can even find one example of one person who has ever been successful. 228 00:16:59,722 --> 00:17:02,538 It's not like we can find one day in our lives; 229 00:17:02,544 --> 00:17:05,810 yes I know there are some things that we can find 230 00:17:05,817 --> 00:17:10,742 and it may give us happiness for a season, but it always runs out. 231 00:17:10,749 --> 00:17:14,648 There is pleasure in it for a season but then it's gone. 232 00:17:14,655 --> 00:17:17,240 And you know what? Our own experience tells us it's true, 233 00:17:17,246 --> 00:17:20,208 and it told us it was true while we were lost. 234 00:17:20,214 --> 00:17:21,513 And yet, isn't it amazing, 235 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:28,242 the very fact that there is not any exceptions to this, we still pursue it. 236 00:17:28,249 --> 00:17:30,907 We'll get to more of that. (P) 237 00:17:30,913 --> 00:17:36,441 Something else, another example of futility: 238 00:17:36,447 --> 00:17:41,204 Trying to fix the world's problems any other way 239 00:17:41,210 --> 00:17:47,704 than by Christ and Him crucified, and Him resurrected. 240 00:17:47,710 --> 00:17:53,713 Brethren, any of you that are buying into 241 00:17:53,719 --> 00:18:01,558 "the next president got to be this guy, and that's going to set everything right," 242 00:18:01,564 --> 00:18:06,693 you are buying into the futility of this world's thinking. 243 00:18:06,699 --> 00:18:12,105 If you think that getting rid of wheat out of your diet 244 00:18:12,111 --> 00:18:16,251 is going to make everything right, 245 00:18:16,257 --> 00:18:18,758 immunize your children or don't immunize your children 246 00:18:18,764 --> 00:18:20,559 is going to make everything right, 247 00:18:20,565 --> 00:18:23,107 brethren, it's not. 248 00:18:23,113 --> 00:18:25,453 We've got all these solutions. 249 00:18:25,459 --> 00:18:31,890 You know, if we could just get all the nations together. 250 00:18:31,896 --> 00:18:35,125 If we could just have a peace accord over in the Middle East. 251 00:18:35,131 --> 00:18:37,515 Brethren, how many peace accords have we had in the Middle East 252 00:18:37,521 --> 00:18:39,797 and there has been no peace ever? 253 00:18:39,803 --> 00:18:44,336 Why? Because there is only one thing that changes the hearts of men. 254 00:18:44,342 --> 00:18:47,040 It's the power of the cross. (P) 255 00:18:47,046 --> 00:18:56,350 It is absolute futility to think that you are going to solve abortion, 256 00:18:56,356 --> 00:18:59,754 transgenderism - if that's even a word, 257 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:06,441 I made it up and had to add it to my dictionary in my computer. 258 00:19:06,447 --> 00:19:12,492 But brethren, all these things that we think have to be fixed, have to be set right - 259 00:19:12,498 --> 00:19:17,611 all the shootings in the schools, the politicians who are chronic liars, 260 00:19:17,617 --> 00:19:19,950 supreme courts going liberal on us, 261 00:19:19,956 --> 00:19:24,562 all the divorce, the terrorism, ISIS, all these things, 262 00:19:24,568 --> 00:19:27,400 brethren, there's only one thing that's going to fix this. 263 00:19:27,406 --> 00:19:30,976 Yes, you can go in and you can drop your bombs and blow everybody up. 264 00:19:30,982 --> 00:19:32,581 But does that fix any problem? 265 00:19:32,587 --> 00:19:36,005 No, because the next generation just comes forth and they are just as evil. 266 00:19:36,011 --> 00:19:38,085 And they do all the same things over. 267 00:19:38,091 --> 00:19:40,061 Brethren, nothing ever fixes it. 268 00:19:40,067 --> 00:19:44,405 Man is full of all their ideas, but nothing. 269 00:19:44,411 --> 00:19:50,016 And brethren, we are the miracle right in this room. 270 00:19:50,022 --> 00:19:57,320 I mean, we've discovered something that does change the world. 271 00:19:57,326 --> 00:19:59,145 But it's the only thing that does. (P) 272 00:19:59,151 --> 00:20:02,230 How about futility. 273 00:20:02,236 --> 00:20:06,555 Brothers and sisters, can you imagine the amount of time 274 00:20:06,561 --> 00:20:18,939 that men's minds have been given to trying to figure out how the universe started 275 00:20:18,945 --> 00:20:21,824 without God in the equation, 276 00:20:21,830 --> 00:20:27,403 and how life started without God in the equation. 277 00:20:27,409 --> 00:20:40,201 The books, the whole educational system out there, all the time. 278 00:20:40,207 --> 00:20:46,770 The futility that men pour their whole lives 279 00:20:46,776 --> 00:20:53,768 into trying to figure out how man came forth from apes. 280 00:20:53,774 --> 00:20:55,227 Futility! 281 00:20:55,233 --> 00:20:58,319 Why? Because we didn't come forth from apes, 282 00:20:58,325 --> 00:21:01,942 and God made life, and God made the universe. 283 00:21:01,948 --> 00:21:08,377 It's just futility to try to figure out how something came into being when it's not true. 284 00:21:08,383 --> 00:21:09,691 That's just futility. 285 00:21:09,697 --> 00:21:12,519 People spend their whole lives. (P) 286 00:21:12,525 --> 00:21:14,668 Brethren, how about this? 287 00:21:14,674 --> 00:21:23,012 Man trying to figure out how to be good without the Holy Spirit. 288 00:21:23,018 --> 00:21:25,034 And men try to do that. 289 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:28,298 Every Christmas, don't you notice this? 290 00:21:28,304 --> 00:21:34,848 Every Christmas, men are infected by this spirit of 291 00:21:34,854 --> 00:21:39,963 "peace on earth and goodwill towards men." 292 00:21:39,969 --> 00:21:41,487 But what happens? 293 00:21:41,493 --> 00:21:45,428 Christmas gets over, and what we've been talking about all along, 294 00:21:45,434 --> 00:21:48,133 the hollowness comes, the emptiness comes, 295 00:21:48,139 --> 00:21:52,241 people go back to being just as mean. 296 00:21:52,247 --> 00:21:59,080 Sometime ago, I read a story about Christmas eve. 297 00:21:59,086 --> 00:22:02,931 It was one of the World Wars, I believe, 298 00:22:02,937 --> 00:22:09,818 because I remember it being Americans and perhaps British as well, 299 00:22:09,824 --> 00:22:11,950 and then the Germans over on the other side. 300 00:22:11,974 --> 00:22:18,508 It was Christmas eve, and one side started singing Silent Night." 301 00:22:18,514 --> 00:22:22,169 They sing Silent Night in German as well. 302 00:22:22,175 --> 00:22:28,440 And the song wafted over the front lines to the other side. 303 00:22:28,446 --> 00:22:32,667 And the other side started singing. 304 00:22:32,673 --> 00:22:36,122 So, both sides are singing Silent Night. 305 00:22:36,128 --> 00:22:43,338 And of course, the story is written to show, "Look, even at the hardest times, 306 00:22:43,344 --> 00:22:51,755 man is basically good, and there's love, and there's goodwill." 307 00:22:51,761 --> 00:22:55,148 Man is sentimental, I'll grant that. 308 00:22:55,154 --> 00:22:59,687 But what the story fails to say is the guys woke up the next morning 309 00:22:59,693 --> 00:23:03,771 and went to putting bullets in each others' heads again. (P) 310 00:23:03,777 --> 00:23:15,856 Brethren, trying to be good without the Holy Spirit is total failure. 311 00:23:15,862 --> 00:23:22,939 Total failure. Total futility. 312 00:23:22,945 --> 00:23:26,304 Somebody wants to say, "Hey look, see, man has good in his heart," 313 00:23:26,310 --> 00:23:27,679 but it's not that. 314 00:23:27,685 --> 00:23:30,276 Or how about this: 315 00:23:30,282 --> 00:23:39,335 We have this futility of just trying to be good enough to be accepted by God. 316 00:23:39,341 --> 00:23:46,370 Just this mindset that man imagining he can be good enough on his own 317 00:23:46,376 --> 00:23:49,341 to receive God's approval on judgment day. 318 00:23:49,347 --> 00:23:52,942 This is man like Cain. What did Cain do? 319 00:23:52,948 --> 00:23:58,006 He brought his own kind of sacrifice. 320 00:23:58,012 --> 00:24:01,053 You remember when you were lost? 321 00:24:01,059 --> 00:24:05,925 You did not think you were going to go to hell. 322 00:24:05,931 --> 00:24:07,581 Probably. 323 00:24:07,587 --> 00:24:12,496 I never thought that until the Spirit convicted me of sin 324 00:24:12,502 --> 00:24:14,902 and righteousness and judgment. 325 00:24:14,908 --> 00:24:18,213 Then I knew, I knew God had to send me there. 326 00:24:18,219 --> 00:24:19,172 But I'll tell you this. 327 00:24:19,178 --> 00:24:22,055 Before that ever happened, I didn't believe I was going to hell. 328 00:24:22,061 --> 00:24:23,782 I believed I was going to heaven. 329 00:24:23,788 --> 00:24:26,102 Why? Futility. 330 00:24:26,108 --> 00:24:31,099 Why? Because I had it in my mind, and you did too. You know this is true. 331 00:24:31,105 --> 00:24:34,599 You had it in your mind that somehow, you weren't going to go to hell. 332 00:24:34,605 --> 00:24:36,506 Why? Because you had it figured out. 333 00:24:36,512 --> 00:24:38,500 And it's just total futility. (P) 334 00:24:38,506 --> 00:24:43,444 When God's Word just screams, "Man is wicked. God hates evildoers. 335 00:24:43,450 --> 00:24:46,509 God is going to send them to hell for their sins. 336 00:24:46,515 --> 00:24:51,051 There is eternal punishment. There is a price to pay. 337 00:24:51,057 --> 00:24:55,446 God does deal with wickedness and He does not sweep it under the rug. 338 00:24:55,452 --> 00:25:00,978 There is justice with God and He never bends the rigidity of that justice." 339 00:25:00,984 --> 00:25:04,150 And we just have it in our mind, all futility. 340 00:25:04,156 --> 00:25:06,529 "Yeah, whatever. I mean, whatever." 341 00:25:06,535 --> 00:25:07,516 Isn't that what happens? 342 00:25:07,522 --> 00:25:10,334 You take the Gospel out to people, you try to tell them about this, 343 00:25:10,340 --> 00:25:13,080 and they still walk away after what you've just told them. 344 00:25:13,086 --> 00:25:19,851 And they've devised in their own minds, "I've got a way. 345 00:25:19,857 --> 00:25:25,569 You just keep that. You share that with somebody that needs it." 346 00:25:25,575 --> 00:25:27,656 You ever had that happen? 347 00:25:27,662 --> 00:25:34,461 "I got that taken care of. You take it to the guy next door, he needs that." 348 00:25:34,467 --> 00:25:37,336 Just futility. (P) 349 00:25:37,342 --> 00:25:40,490 Or how about this: 350 00:25:40,496 --> 00:25:46,043 The futility that people walking around just spending their time; 351 00:25:46,049 --> 00:25:49,245 I was thinking about, some of you know about Bruce Gerencser, 352 00:25:49,251 --> 00:25:54,205 who was one of the co-elders down at Community Baptist Church 353 00:25:54,211 --> 00:25:55,985 when Ruby and I were down there, 354 00:25:55,991 --> 00:26:01,388 who apostatized and basically became an Atheist. 355 00:26:01,394 --> 00:26:08,871 What futility to spend your life trying to convince yourself there is no God. 356 00:26:08,877 --> 00:26:15,987 You see, these are the futile ways or futility that comes to nothing. 357 00:26:15,993 --> 00:26:17,066 Nothing at all. (P) 358 00:26:17,072 --> 00:26:18,176 Or how about this: 359 00:26:18,182 --> 00:26:22,021 How about those that try to convince themselves there's no hell? 360 00:26:22,027 --> 00:26:26,090 We were watching the Noah deal that Ray Comfort did the other day, 361 00:26:26,096 --> 00:26:28,301 and he's talking to people and they are like, 362 00:26:28,307 --> 00:26:31,638 "No, I don't believe there's any hell." 363 00:26:31,644 --> 00:26:35,850 What a waste of breath for somebody to say that. 364 00:26:35,856 --> 00:26:39,423 It's like you're on an Amtrak [train] 365 00:26:39,429 --> 00:26:43,969 going down the tracks towards a great big chasm and the bridge is out, 366 00:26:43,975 --> 00:26:46,960 "Well, I don't believe that chasm is there." 367 00:26:46,966 --> 00:26:55,310 What foolishness! What a waste! (P) 368 00:26:56,127 --> 00:27:06,859 And you know, one of the futilities that really permeates the Church 369 00:27:06,865 --> 00:27:12,178 is people thinking they can have God's salvation without holiness. 370 00:27:12,184 --> 00:27:15,858 What futility. 371 00:27:15,864 --> 00:27:23,521 They live their lives saying, "Lord, Lord, we came to church, 372 00:27:23,527 --> 00:27:26,919 we were there with the Grace brethren, 373 00:27:26,925 --> 00:27:30,156 we came to the prayer meetings even." 374 00:27:30,162 --> 00:27:33,343 But you know you are a slave to unrighteousness, 375 00:27:33,349 --> 00:27:37,770 and you're trying to convince yourself despite all the sin in your life, 376 00:27:37,776 --> 00:27:42,663 "It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay." 377 00:27:42,669 --> 00:27:49,476 That is futility. Absolute futility. (P) 378 00:27:49,482 --> 00:27:52,796 Those are some examples of the futility. 379 00:27:52,802 --> 00:28:00,119 Just the worthless efforts that people make and spend their time on. 380 00:28:00,125 --> 00:28:03,418 Now, here's what I want you to see. 381 00:28:03,424 --> 00:28:09,351 We might ask the question, "What fuels all this futility?" 382 00:28:09,357 --> 00:28:12,964 I believe that verse 22 has something to say about this. 383 00:28:12,970 --> 00:28:16,380 It captures a reality. 384 00:28:16,386 --> 00:28:23,313 Notice Ephesians 4:22, If you've learned the truth in Christ, it teaches you this, 385 00:28:23,319 --> 00:28:29,310 "To put off your old man," - who is the old man? 386 00:28:29,316 --> 00:28:34,184 Well, remember the context, he is the Gentile. 387 00:28:34,190 --> 00:28:36,682 You're no longer to walk like the Gentiles. 388 00:28:36,688 --> 00:28:43,073 You are to put off the old Gentile, the old man - 389 00:28:43,079 --> 00:28:47,565 "which belongs to your former manner of life," Right? 390 00:28:47,571 --> 00:28:51,919 You're no longer to walk that way because that's your former manner of life, 391 00:28:51,925 --> 00:28:53,607 not your present manner. 392 00:28:53,613 --> 00:28:56,770 Not if you learn Christ. 393 00:28:56,776 --> 00:29:04,305 You are to put off that old Gentile which belongs to your former manner of life. 394 00:29:04,311 --> 00:29:08,416 But notice this. Notice what characterizes that: 395 00:29:08,422 --> 00:29:14,789 "And is corrupt through deceitful desires." 396 00:29:14,795 --> 00:29:17,539 Now, here's what I want you to see. 397 00:29:17,545 --> 00:29:22,831 Futility of mind and deceitful desires go hand in hand. 398 00:29:22,837 --> 00:29:25,511 They are brothers. (P) 399 00:29:25,517 --> 00:29:32,497 And the question might be, "Why? I mean, why are they brothers? How does that work?" 400 00:29:32,503 --> 00:29:35,141 Well, think about it. 401 00:29:35,147 --> 00:29:37,391 What are deceitful desires? 402 00:29:37,397 --> 00:29:41,593 Your Bible might say lusts; deceitful lusts. 403 00:29:41,599 --> 00:29:50,461 It's deceitful passions, desire, lust, I'm drawn to something. 404 00:29:50,467 --> 00:29:55,868 What is that? It's clearly a desire that is sinful. 405 00:29:55,874 --> 00:30:09,992 There are desires that are not sinful unless they carry you to do what is forbidden. 406 00:30:09,998 --> 00:30:16,471 A man desires his wife - that's good. 407 00:30:16,477 --> 00:30:20,298 1 Corinthians 7 says he should. 408 00:30:20,304 --> 00:30:25,982 A man desires another man's wife - that's bad. 409 00:30:25,988 --> 00:30:36,895 You see, deceitful desires are forbidden desires. 410 00:30:36,901 --> 00:30:45,082 Like Eve in the garden desiring a fruit. 411 00:30:45,088 --> 00:30:47,551 There were lots of trees in the garden, 412 00:30:47,557 --> 00:30:49,652 and there were lots of fruits in the garden, 413 00:30:49,658 --> 00:30:56,113 and desiring to eat fruit is a good thing. 414 00:30:56,119 --> 00:31:02,369 But desiring that fruit; the fruit that was forbidden, 415 00:31:02,375 --> 00:31:10,649 suddenly, it becomes not only a forbidden desire, it's a deceitful desire. 416 00:31:10,655 --> 00:31:23,788 Why? Because it says, "Eat of me, and you will not surely die. 417 00:31:23,794 --> 00:31:31,060 In fact, your eyes would be opened and you will become like God." 418 00:31:31,066 --> 00:31:32,581 You see, that's why they are deceitful, 419 00:31:32,587 --> 00:31:38,842 because they make a promise that they can never deliver on. (P) 420 00:31:38,848 --> 00:31:45,018 "Oh! Take that man's wife, and then you'll be happy." 421 00:31:45,024 --> 00:31:47,089 And then you wake up in hell, and you say, 422 00:31:47,095 --> 00:31:51,522 "Wait, that didn't work quite the way I thought it was going to work." 423 00:31:51,528 --> 00:31:53,616 You see, it's deceitful. 424 00:31:53,622 --> 00:32:00,152 It was forbidden. You chased it. It was a lie. It's a deception. 425 00:32:00,158 --> 00:32:03,648 Eve, it's a deception. 426 00:32:03,654 --> 00:32:08,434 If you eat of that fruit, you will die. 427 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:13,631 It may say you won't die, but you will. 428 00:32:13,637 --> 00:32:21,652 It's right here that the futile mind holds hands with deceitful lusts. 429 00:32:21,658 --> 00:32:26,990 You see, brethren, it's in the mind that you get deceived, right? 430 00:32:26,996 --> 00:32:33,154 Your body desires, it's pulling, it's pulling, "That looks good; that's desirable." 431 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:37,687 There is a pull, a pull, a pull, 432 00:32:37,693 --> 00:32:42,595 and it's in your mind where you get deceived. 433 00:32:42,601 --> 00:32:50,654 It's in your mind where you buy into the lie of that desire. 434 00:32:50,660 --> 00:32:55,986 You say, "Hey! I can do that and it's going to feel good. 435 00:32:55,992 --> 00:32:57,914 And there's not going to be any consequences." 436 00:32:57,920 --> 00:32:59,998 It's in the mind where I reason that way; 437 00:33:00,004 --> 00:33:05,312 it's in the mind where I reason that I can eat the forbidden fruit and I will not surely die. 438 00:33:05,318 --> 00:33:07,527 And it's total futility. 439 00:33:07,533 --> 00:33:10,123 It's total futile use of the mind. 440 00:33:10,129 --> 00:33:12,748 Why? Because you will die. 441 00:33:12,754 --> 00:33:17,476 The soul that sins shall die. (P) 442 00:33:17,482 --> 00:33:24,621 Brethren, it's the very height of futility for people to use their minds 443 00:33:24,627 --> 00:33:29,971 to try to achieve goals, that try as they might, they can never attain. 444 00:33:29,977 --> 00:33:33,905 Isn't that futility? 445 00:33:33,911 --> 00:33:41,391 Christian, no longer. 446 00:33:41,397 --> 00:33:43,739 Think about the things you think about. 447 00:33:43,745 --> 00:33:46,674 Think about the things you desire. 448 00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:49,614 Brethren, we need to be honest with ourselves. 449 00:33:49,620 --> 00:33:58,306 We need to ask, "Are the things that I desire futile? 450 00:33:58,312 --> 00:34:01,068 Where are they taking me to?" 451 00:34:01,074 --> 00:34:03,511 No longer, brethren, no longer. 452 00:34:03,517 --> 00:34:06,761 That is not the way you've learned Christ. 453 00:34:06,767 --> 00:34:09,210 What are we doing with our brains, what are we doing with our minds, 454 00:34:09,216 --> 00:34:12,241 where are our thoughts? You see what I am saying? 455 00:34:12,246 --> 00:34:18,536 Man desperately uses his mind to seek what? 456 00:34:18,542 --> 00:34:22,570 Brethren, you think with me cos you can think about this 457 00:34:22,576 --> 00:34:24,587 cos you can go back to when you were lost. 458 00:34:24,592 --> 00:34:26,032 But you think about this. 459 00:34:26,038 --> 00:34:36,638 All, say 2 to 2.5 million people in the greater San Antonio area, 460 00:34:36,643 --> 00:34:45,848 how many of them do you think today are going to set their minds on money, 461 00:34:45,853 --> 00:34:54,003 sex, sports, physical fitness, 462 00:34:54,009 --> 00:35:00,413 things that they think that, "If I get those things, they are going to make me happy." (P) 463 00:35:00,419 --> 00:35:03,071 What do men set their minds on? 464 00:35:03,077 --> 00:35:07,248 Oh brethren, what do men want? 465 00:35:07,254 --> 00:35:15,244 And I'll tell you, there is a forbidden path here and there's a non-forbidden path here. 466 00:35:15,250 --> 00:35:16,550 Hear what I am saying. 467 00:35:16,556 --> 00:35:17,703 What is it that men desire? 468 00:35:17,709 --> 00:35:19,139 Men desire riches. 469 00:35:19,145 --> 00:35:22,831 Well you know what? There are riches that are not forbidden, 470 00:35:22,837 --> 00:35:26,624 and there are riches that will never bring true riches. 471 00:35:26,630 --> 00:35:27,999 Men want riches. 472 00:35:28,005 --> 00:35:32,521 Men want beauty, and I'll tell you, there is a beauty to be had. 473 00:35:32,527 --> 00:35:38,023 But there is a beauty that people chase that will never bring them what they want. 474 00:35:38,029 --> 00:35:40,894 Intimacy; oh brethren, there is an intimacy to be had, 475 00:35:40,900 --> 00:35:46,992 and there is an intimacy to be chased that will lead you to emptiness and to the pit. 476 00:35:46,998 --> 00:35:48,136 What do men pursue? 477 00:35:48,142 --> 00:35:49,600 They pursue happiness. 478 00:35:49,606 --> 00:35:54,283 Pursuing happiness, pursuing joy, pursuing fulfillment, pursuing pleasure, 479 00:35:54,289 --> 00:35:55,951 those are things that men pursue. 480 00:35:55,957 --> 00:35:58,024 And brethren, that can be good. 481 00:35:58,030 --> 00:36:02,280 Men pursue peace; men pursue a quiet conscience. 482 00:36:02,286 --> 00:36:10,590 But, the people of this world are seeking all those things in the wrong places, 483 00:36:10,596 --> 00:36:13,367 and they are chasing, there's futility. 484 00:36:13,373 --> 00:36:21,233 And I'll tell you what, death and hell strip it all away. (P) 485 00:36:21,239 --> 00:36:28,451 Brethren, here's the problem: The mind of lost men and the way they think, 486 00:36:28,457 --> 00:36:33,277 is taking them down a road that is 180 degrees opposite 487 00:36:33,283 --> 00:36:37,235 of achieving the very things that they want to achieve. 488 00:36:37,241 --> 00:36:40,671 Because men want riches, men want beauty, men want health, 489 00:36:40,677 --> 00:36:44,400 men want pleasure, men want intimacy, men want happiness, 490 00:36:44,406 --> 00:36:47,188 men want a clear conscience, men want peace; 491 00:36:47,194 --> 00:36:52,163 and you can have all those things if you have Christ. 492 00:36:52,169 --> 00:36:56,331 And they are pursuing them in new cellphones, 493 00:36:56,337 --> 00:37:02,004 watching the Cowboys, getting the right woman, having money, 494 00:37:02,010 --> 00:37:08,762 shining their cars, jogging the trails. 495 00:37:08,768 --> 00:37:13,323 Death and hell strip it all away. 496 00:37:13,329 --> 00:37:17,317 They expose all of it as futility. 497 00:37:17,323 --> 00:37:20,053 They are going in absolutely the opposite direction 498 00:37:20,059 --> 00:37:22,511 of getting the very things that they want. 499 00:37:22,517 --> 00:37:24,117 It's folly. It's vanity. 500 00:37:24,123 --> 00:37:27,235 The vast majority of mankind has this kind of mind 501 00:37:27,241 --> 00:37:31,672 that thinks thoughts that are leading to the absolute failure 502 00:37:31,678 --> 00:37:35,453 of obtaining the very things that they want. (P) 503 00:37:35,459 --> 00:37:39,115 Brethren, have you ever though about the text that says, 504 00:37:39,121 --> 00:37:43,039 "There is a way that seems right to a man." 505 00:37:43,045 --> 00:37:51,136 Have you ever thought about, 'Seems right to him about what?' 506 00:37:51,142 --> 00:37:57,291 Well, seems like it would be good for me to go down this path. 507 00:37:57,297 --> 00:38:00,904 But what's down that path? 508 00:38:00,910 --> 00:38:03,100 You see the futility? 509 00:38:03,106 --> 00:38:06,344 Brethren, that's how we were. That is how Gentiles are. 510 00:38:06,350 --> 00:38:08,763 That is how the old man is. 511 00:38:08,769 --> 00:38:13,365 No longer. We are to put all that aside. 512 00:38:13,371 --> 00:38:15,030 Be done with it. (P) 513 00:38:15,036 --> 00:38:19,583 Brethren, just look at the advertising of this world. 514 00:38:19,589 --> 00:38:23,773 What does it promise? 515 00:38:23,779 --> 00:38:27,667 What does the advertising in this world promise? 516 00:38:27,673 --> 00:38:31,045 It promises everything. 517 00:38:31,051 --> 00:38:33,410 What do the politicians promise? 518 00:38:33,416 --> 00:38:36,778 I think I've said this before, but I heard Donald Trump say, 519 00:38:36,784 --> 00:38:49,738 "Hilary Clinton is not going to take us to the promised land." 520 00:38:49,744 --> 00:38:53,469 What is he implying by that? 521 00:38:53,475 --> 00:38:56,391 He will. 522 00:38:57,458 --> 00:39:02,289 This world promises us everything. 523 00:39:02,294 --> 00:39:04,723 Does it deliver? 524 00:39:04,729 --> 00:39:14,014 Last election or two ago that I remember, Obama was the messiah. 525 00:39:14,020 --> 00:39:16,795 Has he delivered? 526 00:39:16,801 --> 00:39:21,639 It's all futility. It's all emptiness. 527 00:39:21,645 --> 00:39:24,041 The world doesn't have answers. 528 00:39:24,047 --> 00:39:31,392 And brethren, why? I mean, what is there in all of this for your soul? 529 00:39:31,398 --> 00:39:36,215 You have souls. God created us in His image. 530 00:39:36,221 --> 00:39:44,310 We are spiritual, and we are trying to feed on food that is not made for us. 531 00:39:44,316 --> 00:39:48,575 It doesn't work. 532 00:39:48,581 --> 00:39:51,180 That's how we were as Gentiles. 533 00:39:51,186 --> 00:39:57,102 Man is scheming, he is planning all the time 534 00:39:57,108 --> 00:40:06,233 how to get what he thinks he needs to really make him happy. (P) 535 00:40:06,239 --> 00:40:08,217 As I was thinking about all this futility, 536 00:40:08,223 --> 00:40:12,291 I was thinking about what hell must really be like. 537 00:40:12,297 --> 00:40:23,797 Hell is the great revealer of futility. 538 00:40:27,379 --> 00:40:31,112 Do you think about people who get exposed to the Gospel? 539 00:40:31,118 --> 00:40:35,728 People who might visit here and hear the Gospel and then they just go away. 540 00:40:35,734 --> 00:40:37,642 What futility. 541 00:40:37,648 --> 00:40:44,361 They came face to face with the one thing that is not futile, 542 00:40:44,367 --> 00:40:52,457 but rather would lead them to have their hearts desire, 543 00:40:52,463 --> 00:40:54,420 and they go. 544 00:40:54,426 --> 00:40:57,576 They go back to their TV sets and their computer screens 545 00:40:57,582 --> 00:41:03,496 and their cellphones and their sport teams 546 00:41:03,502 --> 00:41:10,270 and their health craze and their diets and just all the stuff. 547 00:41:10,276 --> 00:41:13,605 Hell strips it all away, 548 00:41:13,611 --> 00:41:16,817 because you know what would happen when somebody dies? 549 00:41:16,823 --> 00:41:23,000 Every hope they had; every vain hope they had is dashed. 550 00:41:23,006 --> 00:41:29,700 All their plans to not go to hell are wrecked, 551 00:41:29,706 --> 00:41:31,344 because that's one of the follies, 552 00:41:31,350 --> 00:41:34,789 that's one of the futilities that is filling men's minds. 553 00:41:34,795 --> 00:41:39,058 They do not plan to go to hell. They are going to miss it. 554 00:41:39,064 --> 00:41:41,487 They are going to live their lives the way they want to live their lives, 555 00:41:41,493 --> 00:41:43,273 enjoying life the way they want to enjoy it, 556 00:41:43,279 --> 00:41:45,083 following the idols they want to follow, 557 00:41:45,089 --> 00:41:47,803 having the sin in their life that they want to have; 558 00:41:47,809 --> 00:41:52,307 divorcing, remarrying, aborting their kids, 559 00:41:52,313 --> 00:41:56,959 living the way they want to live, drinking, 560 00:41:56,965 --> 00:42:01,463 soothing their consciences with drugs and with pleasures of this world, 561 00:42:01,469 --> 00:42:05,591 and all the time thinking, "But I'm not going to go to hell in the end. 562 00:42:05,597 --> 00:42:12,627 Look how hell just rips and wrecks. 563 00:42:12,633 --> 00:42:16,767 What a wake up call to the futility. 564 00:42:16,773 --> 00:42:21,619 But then it's too late. It's too late.(P) 565 00:42:21,625 --> 00:42:28,286 And then what do men use their minds for after that for all eternity? 566 00:42:28,292 --> 00:42:30,251 There's no more vain hopes. 567 00:42:30,257 --> 00:42:37,944 They are not having hopes that, "Well, this isn't real. God isn't real. 568 00:42:37,950 --> 00:42:43,293 The fires of hell will burn out one day." 569 00:42:44,792 --> 00:42:46,940 It's just torment. 570 00:42:46,946 --> 00:42:50,447 Notice what's said in verse 20, 571 00:42:50,453 --> 00:42:58,215 "But that is not the way you learned Christ - 572 00:42:58,221 --> 00:43:02,949 assuming that you have heard about Him." 573 00:43:02,955 --> 00:43:18,697 I mean, if you've heard about Him, then you didn't learn to be futile. 574 00:43:18,703 --> 00:43:22,451 "That's not the way you learned Christ - 575 00:43:22,457 --> 00:43:26,423 assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, 576 00:43:26,429 --> 00:43:31,615 to put off your old man, which belongs to your former manner of life 577 00:43:31,621 --> 00:43:34,165 and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 578 00:43:34,171 --> 00:43:38,185 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds." 579 00:43:38,191 --> 00:43:42,789 That futile mind, it's new. 580 00:43:42,795 --> 00:43:47,460 You learn of Christ. It transforms the mind. 581 00:43:47,466 --> 00:43:52,153 That knowledge of Christ comes in, you see Christ, you behold Him, 582 00:43:52,159 --> 00:43:57,534 you learn Him and the mind is renewed. (P) 583 00:43:57,540 --> 00:43:58,723 Brethren, I'll tell you this. 584 00:43:58,729 --> 00:44:05,287 As you study Christ (and we as Christians are told, Christ says this, "Learn of Me") 585 00:44:05,293 --> 00:44:08,540 and as we make it our life's study to learn of Him, 586 00:44:08,546 --> 00:44:11,447 I'll tell you, what you learn as you study Christ, 587 00:44:11,453 --> 00:44:13,786 you learn the opposite of futility. 588 00:44:13,792 --> 00:44:17,123 You learn the exact opposite. 589 00:44:17,129 --> 00:44:20,758 Brethren, as I was looking at 'futility', 590 00:44:20,764 --> 00:44:24,241 I looked at 'futile' and 'futility' on my thesaurus, 591 00:44:24,247 --> 00:44:27,800 and I was looking for antonyms - antonyms are the opposite. 592 00:44:27,806 --> 00:44:30,051 What's the opposite of futility? 593 00:44:30,057 --> 00:44:33,580 Brethren, whatever words they might have there, 594 00:44:33,586 --> 00:44:36,673 I thought, "Christ is the opposite of futility!" 595 00:44:36,679 --> 00:44:39,293 Christ and Christ alone, 596 00:44:39,299 --> 00:44:40,691 because I'll tell you this: 597 00:44:40,697 --> 00:44:46,582 Every path in life is futile except the path that leads to Christ. 598 00:44:46,588 --> 00:44:49,854 Every other one! Every path! 599 00:44:49,860 --> 00:44:54,476 Every hope of every person in this entire world 600 00:44:54,482 --> 00:45:01,917 that has a hope that is outside of Christ, not resting on Him, it is futile. 601 00:45:01,923 --> 00:45:03,296 All of it. 602 00:45:03,302 --> 00:45:08,598 If you learn Christ, you learn that which is the opposite of futility. 603 00:45:08,604 --> 00:45:15,489 He is the summation of all that is opposite and contrary to that which is futile. 604 00:45:15,495 --> 00:45:24,351 What we learn from Him is that He is the great futility remover. 605 00:45:24,357 --> 00:45:27,874 He removes futility from what He touches. 606 00:45:27,880 --> 00:45:30,874 Where He goes, you will not find futility. 607 00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:35,599 Where He goes, you find just the opposite. (P) 608 00:45:35,605 --> 00:45:46,472 What we learn of Christ is that if we can only get to Him, 609 00:45:46,478 --> 00:45:51,020 if we can only touch the hem of His garment, 610 00:45:51,026 --> 00:45:56,986 if we can only get His attention, 611 00:45:56,992 --> 00:46:02,920 He will save us from futility. 612 00:46:02,926 --> 00:46:15,400 Brethren, Jesus touches things and they are just big different. 613 00:46:15,406 --> 00:46:19,634 I mean, think about where He walked. 614 00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:35,202 It's like an aroma of total futility killer, eradication. 615 00:46:35,208 --> 00:46:43,796 It's like every thing where He walks becomes changed, becomes transformed. 616 00:46:43,802 --> 00:46:54,652 It's moved away from futility to that which is fruitful and useful and valuable. 617 00:46:54,658 --> 00:46:58,734 Watch Him in Scripture. 618 00:46:58,740 --> 00:47:08,809 There are fishers of fish; Christ shows up on the shore, 619 00:47:08,815 --> 00:47:13,314 and now they are fishers of men. 620 00:47:13,320 --> 00:47:18,722 You take another scene: look at this guy, as Paul Washer said, 621 00:47:18,728 --> 00:47:21,637 lepers - you can smell them before you see them. 622 00:47:21,643 --> 00:47:26,723 This guy is unclean. 623 00:47:27,535 --> 00:47:34,085 Jesus touches him, and he's not a leper anymore. 624 00:47:35,201 --> 00:47:37,243 Look at Him: 625 00:47:37,249 --> 00:47:43,158 Five thousand hungry people, but wait, Jesus shows up; 626 00:47:43,164 --> 00:47:49,217 all these people are satisfied, and they've got twelve baskets to spare. (P) 627 00:47:49,223 --> 00:47:54,294 I mean, watch how Jesus transforms the futility of this world. 628 00:47:54,300 --> 00:47:58,905 You get all these brave soldiers, they come in there to the garden, 629 00:47:58,911 --> 00:48:04,063 "We're looking for this Jesus." 630 00:48:04,602 --> 00:48:11,292 Next thing you know, there's a pile of bodies there. 631 00:48:11,298 --> 00:48:14,524 They weren't so bold anymore. 632 00:48:14,530 --> 00:48:24,317 Paul, the Christian persecutor; Christ meets him on the road to Damascus. 633 00:48:24,323 --> 00:48:27,639 Now he's the persecuted Christian. 634 00:48:27,645 --> 00:48:31,924 He just turns everything on its head. 635 00:48:31,930 --> 00:48:37,641 He is the deliverer from futility. 636 00:48:37,647 --> 00:48:41,823 There is no futility in that. 637 00:48:41,829 --> 00:48:47,770 Stormy sea, Jesus wakes up, calm sea. 638 00:48:47,776 --> 00:48:54,718 Naked demoniac, chains can't hold him, full of a legion of demons; 639 00:48:54,724 --> 00:49:03,739 Jesus shows up, clothed in his right mind and headed back to his hometown 640 00:49:03,745 --> 00:49:10,476 to speak of what Christ did for him. 641 00:49:11,578 --> 00:49:17,067 Brethren, running around among tombs cutting yourself is futile. 642 00:49:17,073 --> 00:49:25,558 Clothed in your right mind headed back to your hometown to preach Christ is not. (P) 643 00:49:25,564 --> 00:49:30,341 Do you recognize what we learn of Christ? 644 00:49:30,347 --> 00:49:36,993 Every page of those Gospels, you are confronted by [this]. 645 00:49:36,999 --> 00:49:40,323 Here's a guy living his life as a tax collector, you think that's futile? 646 00:49:40,329 --> 00:49:47,032 In his day it probably seemed good - buy the tax franchise, get rich. 647 00:49:47,038 --> 00:49:52,441 Christ comes, he's not a tax collector anymore. 648 00:49:52,447 --> 00:49:58,530 He's headed to heaven as one of the apostles of Jesus Christ. 649 00:49:58,536 --> 00:50:06,237 See blind Bartimaeus over here? Here comes Jesus down the road; 650 00:50:06,243 --> 00:50:09,643 they didn't call him blind Bartimaeus after that. 651 00:50:09,649 --> 00:50:11,524 Just Bartimaeus. 652 00:50:11,530 --> 00:50:17,086 You want to put an adjective on it? He's seeing Bartimaeus. 653 00:50:17,092 --> 00:50:24,867 His eyes were futile; they were stuck in his head and they couldn't see. 654 00:50:24,873 --> 00:50:28,602 And Jesus comes and sets it all right. (P) 655 00:50:28,608 --> 00:50:30,368 How do we learn Him? 656 00:50:30,374 --> 00:50:34,768 Brethren, I'm talking about your life. 657 00:50:34,774 --> 00:50:39,042 That's what we are talking about here. That's what Paul is talking about. 658 00:50:39,048 --> 00:50:47,841 You must no longer walk in the futility of your minds like the Gentiles do, 659 00:50:47,847 --> 00:50:50,543 because that's not the way you learned Christ. 660 00:50:50,549 --> 00:50:57,709 What we learn about Christ is we are to put off the old man 661 00:50:57,715 --> 00:51:02,955 with all his futility of mind. (P) 662 00:51:02,961 --> 00:51:12,301 Brethren, If you have ever read Pilgrim's Progress part two 663 00:51:12,307 --> 00:51:14,721 (I know some of you haven't even read part one,) 664 00:51:14,727 --> 00:51:20,942 the part two is the story of Christian's wife, Christiana, 665 00:51:20,948 --> 00:51:25,673 and her venture to the Celestial City. 666 00:51:25,679 --> 00:51:29,560 You know, Christian went into the Interpreter's house, 667 00:51:29,566 --> 00:51:35,999 and Bunyan magnificently portrayed all manner of spiritual truths. 668 00:51:36,005 --> 00:51:40,533 In the second part, Christiana visits the Interpreter's house as well. 669 00:51:40,539 --> 00:51:43,461 Can I tell you about something she sees? 670 00:51:43,467 --> 00:51:51,029 She is taken into a room where she sees the man with the muckrake. 671 00:51:51,035 --> 00:51:52,576 You get the picture. 672 00:51:52,582 --> 00:51:59,880 Imagine a man standing, he's raking the muck, 673 00:51:59,886 --> 00:52:09,869 he's kind of pulling straws and sticks with the edge of that rake. 674 00:52:09,875 --> 00:52:20,813 And the picture is: there's one who is above him, offering him a celestial crown. 675 00:52:20,819 --> 00:52:28,191 But he never looks up. His eyes are locked down. 676 00:52:28,197 --> 00:52:38,461 This crown offered, and he just rakes the muck, rakes the muck. (P) 677 00:52:39,649 --> 00:52:44,496 Christiana says, "I am persuaded that I know the meaning of this; 678 00:52:44,502 --> 00:52:51,504 for this is a figure of a man of this world. Is it not, good Sir?" 679 00:52:51,510 --> 00:52:55,706 Brethren, you know what we have a picture of here? The Gentile. 680 00:52:55,712 --> 00:52:58,079 The old man. 681 00:52:58,085 --> 00:53:06,982 Interpreter says, "You have said right, and his muckrake does show his carnal mind. 682 00:53:06,988 --> 00:53:12,270 And as you see him give attention to raking up straws and sticks, and dust of the floor, 683 00:53:12,276 --> 00:53:16,731 rather than to look to the one above him with the celestial crown; 684 00:53:16,737 --> 00:53:23,267 this is to show that heaven is but a fable to some men. 685 00:53:23,273 --> 00:53:35,302 And to such men, the things here in this world are counted as the only things that are substantial. 686 00:53:35,308 --> 00:53:43,274 Now, since it was shown to you that the man could look in no direction except down, 687 00:53:43,280 --> 00:53:54,926 it's to let you know that earthly things when they come with power upon men's minds, 688 00:53:54,932 --> 00:53:58,974 they carry their hearts away from God." (P) 689 00:53:58,980 --> 00:54:07,133 Christiana cries out, "Oh, deliver me from this muckrake!" 690 00:54:07,139 --> 00:54:09,140 And Interpreter says this, 691 00:54:09,146 --> 00:54:17,758 "That prayer is scarce the prayer of one of ten thousand." (P) 692 00:54:17,764 --> 00:54:19,961 You see what he is saying? 693 00:54:19,967 --> 00:54:28,712 Almost nobody in this world is asking to be delivered from futility; from the muckrake. 694 00:54:28,718 --> 00:54:31,617 Just raking the muck, raking the muck, 695 00:54:31,623 --> 00:54:35,264 when there is a crown; celestial crown. 696 00:54:35,270 --> 00:54:37,316 You know what Paul is saying? 697 00:54:37,322 --> 00:54:41,236 Christian, look up. 698 00:54:42,048 --> 00:54:49,301 Be done with the futility of mind; minds focused on the muck. 699 00:54:49,307 --> 00:54:52,692 Get your eyes off the computer. Get your eyes off the TV set. 700 00:54:52,698 --> 00:54:57,600 Get your eyes off the stuff of this world, and look to Christ. 701 00:54:57,606 --> 00:55:00,977 Learn Christ. Study Christ. Imitate Christ. 702 00:55:00,983 --> 00:55:02,289 Walk like He walked. 703 00:55:02,295 --> 00:55:07,017 Be done with the Gentile ways of people in this world 704 00:55:07,023 --> 00:55:12,611 who just obsess themselves with muckrakes. 705 00:55:12,617 --> 00:55:14,421 Be done with it. 706 00:55:14,427 --> 00:55:16,552 That is what we're being called to. 707 00:55:16,558 --> 00:55:18,067 No longer, brethren. 708 00:55:18,073 --> 00:55:19,878 That is how you used to walk. 709 00:55:19,884 --> 00:55:22,022 No longer. 710 00:55:22,028 --> 00:55:27,044 The absolute foolishness of raking the muck in our lives. (P) 711 00:55:27,050 --> 00:55:34,143 Brethren, you have one life to live, that's all. 712 00:55:34,149 --> 00:55:39,204 You weren't made to muckrakers. 713 00:55:39,210 --> 00:55:45,455 God made man in His image, and God made man to be bride of His Son, 714 00:55:45,461 --> 00:55:50,344 and God made man to worship Him in spirit and in truth. 715 00:55:50,350 --> 00:55:56,043 What a waste of time to spend your life with the muckrake. 716 00:55:56,049 --> 00:55:59,367 Have you ever seen this car - we don't get snow down here, 717 00:55:59,373 --> 00:56:02,932 but I grew up first 25 years of my life I saw many snow storms - 718 00:56:02,938 --> 00:56:07,041 it's like, you see a car, you can maybe imagine it in the mud down here, 719 00:56:07,047 --> 00:56:11,095 a car stuck in the snow, a car stuck in the muck. 720 00:56:11,101 --> 00:56:16,554 And what happens? The tires spin and they don't go anywhere. 721 00:56:16,560 --> 00:56:18,181 That's futility! 722 00:56:18,187 --> 00:56:22,085 You spin your wheels, you spin your wheels, you spin your wheels, 723 00:56:22,091 --> 00:56:25,438 you're going through life but it's not taking you anywhere. (P) 724 00:56:25,444 --> 00:56:28,735 Brethren, let's be honest. 725 00:56:28,741 --> 00:56:32,471 The author of Hebrews could look at the people in his day and say, 726 00:56:32,477 --> 00:56:36,858 "There are some of you, and at such a time as you ought to be at a certain place, 727 00:56:36,864 --> 00:56:38,748 you haven't got there. 728 00:56:38,754 --> 00:56:40,690 You haven't moved! 729 00:56:40,696 --> 00:56:42,542 You need the initial principles. 730 00:56:42,548 --> 00:56:44,605 At such a time as you ought to be a teacher, 731 00:56:44,611 --> 00:56:51,871 you need somebody to come and teach you the most basic principles of the Christian life." 732 00:56:51,877 --> 00:56:59,201 Brethren, honestly, some of you haven't yet figured out 733 00:56:59,207 --> 00:57:01,998 how to get up on time on a Sunday morning 734 00:57:02,004 --> 00:57:09,754 in order to be prepared for the worship of God among the gathered saints. 735 00:57:09,760 --> 00:57:14,069 To even show up without having to walk through that door 736 00:57:14,075 --> 00:57:23,902 in the middle of what we are doing already as a congregation. 737 00:57:23,908 --> 00:57:29,760 You walk in and interrupt, many of you, interrupt Sunday School. 738 00:57:29,766 --> 00:57:39,549 Brethren, there is a time to mature. 739 00:57:39,555 --> 00:57:43,110 There is a time to learn of Christ. 740 00:57:43,116 --> 00:57:44,878 You get one life to live. 741 00:57:44,884 --> 00:57:49,024 I am talking about the basic things. (P) 742 00:57:49,030 --> 00:57:56,694 Brethren, we got to be done with the futility and the things of this world. 743 00:57:56,700 --> 00:58:02,299 True Christianity is not to be any mere exercise of futility. 744 00:58:02,305 --> 00:58:04,818 Brethren, we are to be advancing; 745 00:58:04,824 --> 00:58:11,214 we are to be running towards heaven, making strides in holiness, in maturity; 746 00:58:11,220 --> 00:58:15,700 onward, advancing beyond the elementary things. 747 00:58:15,706 --> 00:58:17,274 We are to be running. 748 00:58:17,280 --> 00:58:19,736 We are to be people that turn the world upside down. 749 00:58:19,742 --> 00:58:25,005 You don't turn the world upside down if you can't get out of bed. 750 00:58:25,011 --> 00:58:27,553 Brethren, futility! 751 00:58:27,559 --> 00:58:33,504 It's the world out there that sleeps in until 11 o'clock on Sunday mornings. 752 00:58:33,510 --> 00:58:36,907 And I'm talking about one thing. 753 00:58:36,913 --> 00:58:40,204 Brethren, futility. 754 00:58:40,210 --> 00:58:46,687 May the prayer of Christiana be our prayer, "God, deliver us from it." (P) 755 00:58:46,693 --> 00:58:52,855 Escaping the futility of mind of the Gentiles means living a life 756 00:58:52,861 --> 00:58:57,041 where you're using your minds to do what? 757 00:58:57,047 --> 00:59:05,864 To live for God. To think with your mind. To pray. To strategize. 758 00:59:05,870 --> 00:59:10,873 Brethren, in ways to magnify our God. 759 00:59:10,879 --> 00:59:13,492 To live for our God; to extend His kingdom. 760 00:59:13,498 --> 00:59:16,812 To help people that are in darkness be brought to the light. 761 00:59:16,818 --> 00:59:20,533 To live, to grow, so that we might have the greatest influence, 762 00:59:20,539 --> 00:59:24,708 so that we might be like those men in the book of Acts who turned the world upside down. 763 00:59:24,714 --> 00:59:26,331 Brethren, you have one life. 764 00:59:26,337 --> 00:59:32,823 We need to escape the futility of this world. 765 00:59:32,829 --> 00:59:38,587 Escaping futility is not just simply, "Now, we watch Little House On The Prairie, 766 00:59:38,593 --> 00:59:43,720 we don't watch the Zombie movies anymore." 767 00:59:45,838 --> 00:59:47,545 Don't watch the Zombie movies. 768 00:59:47,551 --> 00:59:48,861 It might be okay to look at that, 769 00:59:48,867 --> 00:59:52,224 but brethren, you got to hear what I'm talking about. 770 00:59:52,230 --> 00:59:57,380 I'm talking about we have to fill our minds with the things that matter. 771 00:59:57,386 --> 01:00:04,107 We have to think and use our minds in ways that matter. (P) 772 01:00:04,113 --> 01:00:09,354 You know what I know about somebody's mind who walks through that door mindlessly, 773 01:00:09,360 --> 01:00:12,223 halfway through Sunday School? 774 01:00:12,229 --> 01:00:13,824 They don't care they are interrupting. 775 01:00:13,830 --> 01:00:17,866 They don't care that brother studied the first 30 minutes of that message, 776 01:00:17,872 --> 01:00:22,069 that he prepared to teach them something. 777 01:00:22,075 --> 01:00:28,972 You see, that mind is very likely on the muckraker stuff. 778 01:00:28,978 --> 01:00:33,413 Because if life was centered around, "I'm living for the glory of God, 779 01:00:33,419 --> 01:00:35,698 and my whole life is devoted to that, 780 01:00:35,704 --> 01:00:38,990 and I'm going to structure my life and give my life," 781 01:00:38,996 --> 01:00:43,386 And I hear the kind of person that says, "Lord, I promise, I am going to keep your Word, 782 01:00:43,392 --> 01:00:45,173 and I am going to live for your glory." 783 01:00:45,179 --> 01:00:47,245 Brethren, that's how you escape futility. (P) 784 01:00:47,251 --> 01:00:48,858 How do you escape futility? 785 01:00:48,864 --> 01:00:52,678 You escape futility when you get to the place like the apostle Paul, 786 01:00:52,684 --> 01:00:57,374 where he says, "For me, to live is Christ. And I'm going to live for Him, 787 01:00:57,380 --> 01:01:02,595 and what I do, I am going to do for the sake of His people - for the elect's sake. 788 01:01:02,601 --> 01:01:04,697 And if I know that walking through that door 789 01:01:04,703 --> 01:01:07,401 is likely going to distract some of God's people, 790 01:01:07,407 --> 01:01:10,793 I am going to live my life so as not to do it." 791 01:01:10,799 --> 01:01:13,717 But you see, that's not what's being thought of. 792 01:01:13,723 --> 01:01:16,717 What's being thought of? "Well, I stayed up late last night." 793 01:01:16,723 --> 01:01:19,987 Why? "I was out with the guys, we went to the movie, we did this." 794 01:01:19,993 --> 01:01:22,934 And so you come in here, you come in late, you distract, 795 01:01:22,940 --> 01:01:26,584 your mind is on the things you did last night because you didn't prepare. 796 01:01:26,590 --> 01:01:29,446 Brethren! there's a bigger picture here. (P) 797 01:01:29,452 --> 01:01:31,969 How do you escape futility? 798 01:01:31,975 --> 01:01:34,350 "For me, to live is Christ! 799 01:01:34,356 --> 01:01:37,319 And I'm going to live my life for Him on Saturday night 800 01:01:37,325 --> 01:01:40,107 and on Sunday morning, and all through the week. 801 01:01:40,113 --> 01:01:43,577 I am going to focus my life on living for Him." 802 01:01:43,583 --> 01:01:52,126 Brethren, Jesus Christ went to the cross to unleash power to deliver us from futility. 803 01:01:52,132 --> 01:01:57,410 He died on that cross to deliver you from a life in front of the TV set, 804 01:01:57,416 --> 01:01:59,408 and from a life at the movie theaters, 805 01:01:59,414 --> 01:02:04,091 and from a life of Saturday nights ill-spent. 806 01:02:04,097 --> 01:02:07,361 He died to deliver us from that. 807 01:02:07,367 --> 01:02:13,244 And I'm just making one little thing here into a big thing because, brethren, 808 01:02:13,250 --> 01:02:19,886 it's so representative of the kinds of things that just turn into muckraking. 809 01:02:19,892 --> 01:02:24,141 We just continue, week after week, we rake the same muck, 810 01:02:24,147 --> 01:02:29,028 rather than looking up and saying, "Wow, the power of the cross! 811 01:02:29,034 --> 01:02:31,005 The power of resurrection! 812 01:02:31,011 --> 01:02:33,563 I am no longer to walk like that. 813 01:02:33,569 --> 01:02:37,802 I learn in Christ of a Man who spent His time well; 814 01:02:37,808 --> 01:02:39,471 lived His life for others." 815 01:02:39,477 --> 01:02:42,604 We heard about, in the first hour, what He did with His life. (P) 816 01:02:42,610 --> 01:02:48,973 Brethren, man was made for bigger things and greater things 817 01:02:48,979 --> 01:02:54,111 than to constantly be moving the sticks and the dust and the stuff 818 01:02:54,117 --> 01:02:56,551 and the straw in the muck. 819 01:02:56,557 --> 01:02:59,421 Look up, brethren. Look up! 820 01:02:59,427 --> 01:03:05,084 See where you are. See what's happening. (P) 821 01:03:05,090 --> 01:03:07,244 "For me, to live is Christ." 822 01:03:07,250 --> 01:03:11,512 I'll tell you what, when that grabs hold of a man or a woman; 823 01:03:11,518 --> 01:03:14,860 when that's the passion that drives somebody, 824 01:03:14,866 --> 01:03:17,830 that's when futility gets thrown out the window. 825 01:03:17,836 --> 01:03:21,973 When I'm living my life that, "I want to run as well as I can," 826 01:03:21,979 --> 01:03:30,169 brethren, there is a way people walk who put off futility. 827 01:03:30,175 --> 01:03:35,365 Watch their lives. You watch their lives. 828 01:03:35,371 --> 01:03:38,797 There is a way people live. 829 01:03:38,803 --> 01:03:43,018 There's a way people who have escaped futility walk. 830 01:03:43,024 --> 01:03:45,247 And that's exactly what Paul is dealing with. 831 01:03:45,253 --> 01:03:49,986 No longer, brethren, are you to walk like the Gentiles in the futility of their mind. 832 01:03:49,992 --> 01:03:51,936 And there is a way that you walk 833 01:03:51,942 --> 01:03:56,320 when you no longer walk like the Gentiles do in the futility of their mind. 834 01:03:56,326 --> 01:03:58,631 There is a way a person walks when he sees, 835 01:03:58,637 --> 01:04:03,928 "You know what? By and large, cellphones may be useful for something, 836 01:04:03,934 --> 01:04:06,734 but if I make that thing beyond what it ought to be 837 01:04:06,740 --> 01:04:12,016 in the ways that it can help me expand the kingdom of Christ, it's a mirage." (P) 838 01:04:12,022 --> 01:04:13,887 Brethren, have you figured out yet? 839 01:04:13,893 --> 01:04:17,309 This world, all the advertising out there, all the politics out there, 840 01:04:17,315 --> 01:04:19,449 and all the things that they promise, it's a mirage. 841 01:04:19,455 --> 01:04:20,754 It doesn't come to pass. 842 01:04:20,760 --> 01:04:22,186 They don't satisfy. 843 01:04:22,192 --> 01:04:25,158 Brethren, we are told in Scripture all this is going to burn up. 844 01:04:25,164 --> 01:04:27,994 We are told in Scripture about the futility of all of it. 845 01:04:28,000 --> 01:04:32,599 We are told in Scripture, brethren, about what really matters. 846 01:04:32,605 --> 01:04:34,609 And we are told that we only have one life, 847 01:04:34,615 --> 01:04:35,970 and that life is like a vapor. 848 01:04:35,976 --> 01:04:40,161 We are told in Revelation chapter 14 that the things that we do in this world 849 01:04:40,167 --> 01:04:41,857 follow us into the next. 850 01:04:41,863 --> 01:04:48,392 And how ought we to live as people who recognize the things that really matter 851 01:04:48,398 --> 01:04:51,234 and the way things really are. (P) 852 01:04:51,240 --> 01:04:57,107 Brethren, I am not wanting to be legalistic in what I'm saying here; 853 01:04:57,113 --> 01:05:08,181 but I'll tell you this, people who cast off futility live disciplined lives, 854 01:05:08,187 --> 01:05:12,844 they put things off, they are calculated. 855 01:05:12,850 --> 01:05:15,847 They use their mind, not to think about futile things 856 01:05:15,853 --> 01:05:18,562 and things that are going to come to nothing and waste their time 857 01:05:18,568 --> 01:05:22,359 and only make them colder towards God and grieve the Spirit, 858 01:05:22,365 --> 01:05:23,965 but they are calculated. 859 01:05:23,971 --> 01:05:27,269 They are using their minds, "I want to live in a way that doesn't grieve the Spirit. 860 01:05:27,275 --> 01:05:29,324 I want to live in a way that is pleasing to God. 861 01:05:29,330 --> 01:05:33,016 I want to live in a way that is going to unleash the maximum amount of power in my life 862 01:05:33,022 --> 01:05:35,204 so that I might be as fruitful as I can be, 863 01:05:35,210 --> 01:05:37,909 and my witness might be as powerful as it can be. 864 01:05:37,915 --> 01:05:40,957 I don't want to live a life so that when I go to try to share the Gospel, 865 01:05:40,963 --> 01:05:42,222 there's no power there." (P) 866 01:05:42,228 --> 01:05:51,455 Brethren, some of you have to be taught the basics that sexual sin in your life is bad. 867 01:05:51,461 --> 01:05:54,440 And you know what? You go and do that, and you fall into that, 868 01:05:54,446 --> 01:05:57,065 and then you come into the church and sit in the prayer meeting, 869 01:05:57,071 --> 01:05:59,989 and your prayer is dead, because it is not owned by God, 870 01:05:59,995 --> 01:06:01,462 and it affects the whole church. 871 01:06:01,468 --> 01:06:04,977 And when we get people in the church who immerse their lives in that, 872 01:06:04,983 --> 01:06:10,537 brother Mike said it last week, God works through holiness. 873 01:06:10,543 --> 01:06:14,565 And you get unholiness, and what happens? 874 01:06:14,571 --> 01:06:21,711 Brethren, it's futile trying to live the Christian life as close to unholiness as you can. 875 01:06:21,717 --> 01:06:24,960 What waste! Why would you do that? 876 01:06:24,966 --> 01:06:28,036 People ask, "Well, what's wrong with that?" 877 01:06:28,042 --> 01:06:29,870 What's right with that? 878 01:06:29,876 --> 01:06:34,016 Brethren, live your life to excel. (P) 879 01:06:34,022 --> 01:06:40,038 I'll tell you this, you want to know what the absolute futility-killer is? 880 01:06:40,044 --> 01:06:43,559 Escaping futility is this: If there's anything that matters, 881 01:06:43,565 --> 01:06:44,901 if there's anything that's good, 882 01:06:44,907 --> 01:06:47,581 if there's anything that's the opposite end of futility, 883 01:06:47,587 --> 01:06:51,010 brethren, it is living your life so that you come that day - 884 01:06:51,016 --> 01:06:53,426 like we talked about in the Eschatology series - 885 01:06:53,432 --> 01:06:57,309 and you stand before Jesus Christ, and He looks at you, 886 01:06:57,315 --> 01:07:00,560 and your life is put in the scales and in the balances, 887 01:07:00,566 --> 01:07:05,400 and He says, "Well done, good and faithful servant." 888 01:07:05,406 --> 01:07:13,087 I'll tell you, that's escaping the futile mind. (P) 889 01:07:13,939 --> 01:07:19,289 Are we ready? You only get one shot at this. 890 01:07:19,295 --> 01:07:21,561 You say, "Why do we have to take it so importantly?" 891 01:07:21,567 --> 01:07:25,950 Brethren, because this is what God is calling us to. 892 01:07:25,956 --> 01:07:28,661 This is how God wants us to live. 893 01:07:28,667 --> 01:07:30,433 He wants us to live this way. 894 01:07:30,439 --> 01:07:33,330 He wants us to pour out our lives this way. 895 01:07:33,336 --> 01:07:38,197 Brethren, futility is all around us. 896 01:07:38,203 --> 01:07:44,471 There's a million futile ways to use your time. 897 01:07:44,477 --> 01:07:49,683 Think about all the futile temptations to use your money 898 01:07:49,689 --> 01:07:53,578 in ways that don't amount to anything eternal. 899 01:07:53,584 --> 01:07:58,574 And Jesus Christ comes along; how do we learn Him? 900 01:07:58,580 --> 01:08:01,513 "Redeem the time," through the apostle Paul. 901 01:08:01,519 --> 01:08:08,143 How do we learn Him? "Store up treasure in heaven. Be wise." (P) 902 01:08:08,149 --> 01:08:15,166 Brethren, one of the ways you are going to cast off futility 903 01:08:15,172 --> 01:08:19,493 is to use your mind to diagnose futility. 904 01:08:19,499 --> 01:08:23,401 Think about what you do. Think about what you say. 905 01:08:23,407 --> 01:08:24,997 Think about where you go. 906 01:08:25,004 --> 01:08:27,002 Think about who you hang out with. 907 01:08:27,008 --> 01:08:29,505 Think about what you're doing with your time. 908 01:08:29,511 --> 01:08:31,587 Think about your actions. 909 01:08:31,594 --> 01:08:34,426 Think about how they impact others. 910 01:08:34,432 --> 01:08:41,277 In all those areas, there are a million ways to be futile, 911 01:08:41,283 --> 01:08:47,899 and there are some ways that you will find, as you learn Christ, 912 01:08:47,906 --> 01:08:51,740 that you totally escape that. 913 01:08:51,746 --> 01:08:54,060 We need to strive for that. (P) 914 01:08:54,067 --> 01:09:02,814 Brethren, you don't have to get rich to escape futility. You don't. 915 01:09:02,819 --> 01:09:05,578 You don't have to become famous to escape it. 916 01:09:05,585 --> 01:09:15,479 You don't have to go to India to escape futility. 917 01:09:18,352 --> 01:09:21,702 You just need to be persuaded that Jesus Christ is that treasure 918 01:09:21,707 --> 01:09:23,785 that you are willing to trade everything else for, 919 01:09:23,791 --> 01:09:26,316 and live for Him, and be willing to die for Him. 920 01:09:26,322 --> 01:09:28,662 That's escaping it. 921 01:09:28,667 --> 01:09:31,563 You pour out your life living for Him. 922 01:09:31,569 --> 01:09:34,756 I know there will be imperfections, there will be falls, 923 01:09:34,761 --> 01:09:41,087 there are going to be difficulties, there are going to be battles, brethren, I know all of it. 924 01:09:41,093 --> 01:09:45,291 But think, brethren, think about what you've been doing with your lives 925 01:09:45,296 --> 01:09:48,020 that doesn't amount to anything. 926 01:09:48,026 --> 01:09:49,846 Live in light of judgment day. 927 01:09:49,853 --> 01:09:54,943 Live in light of the fact that what you do here is going to carry over there. 928 01:09:54,949 --> 01:09:58,260 Live in light of what you do with your money here 929 01:09:58,266 --> 01:10:04,508 will actually store up treasure there. 930 01:10:04,514 --> 01:10:17,554 Don't live any longer like the Gentiles in the futility of their minds. 931 01:10:17,560 --> 01:10:24,953 You have not learned Christ that way. Amen. (P)