Don't Be Deceived About Sexual Immorality — Tim Conway

Ephesians 5:3–6 and the Call to Purity

Well, we are once again carrying on with our study in Ephesians. Ephesians 5 is where we're going to be today. Verses 3 -6. I'm going to read that for you as soon as you all find the passage in your Bibles.

Ephesians 5 verses 3 -6. I'm going to tell you right up front, I am not going to deal with covetousness today. That likely is going to be in a message all by itself. I know it's here in this passage. I know it's mentioned twice.

I believe perhaps next week the message will deal with that. It's here, but I'm not dealing with that. Ephesians 5 v. 3, but sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper or as is fitting or as becometh a saint of God.

Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking which are out of place or not suitable or out of character, not comely for a saint. But instead, let there be thanksgiving. Verse 5, For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Father, I pray that You would help us to navigate these verses in a way that would be pleasing to You and helpful to the people that are here.

Defining Sexual Immorality and Impurity

I ask this in Christ's name, Amen. Brethren, we can't get around this fact. That terminology right there is biblical terminology. And we as Christians need to be clear as to what these words mean, what they represent, what they stand for.

I mean, when you hear them, you need some idea. What is that? They're not extremely difficult words, but let's just move through them quickly. Sexual immorality. In some translations, it's translated fornication.

It is the Greek word porneia. Probably enough said. The Young's literal translation uses what the King James Version uses sometimes. Hortum. It's an ugly word. It basically describes unlawful sexual intimacy.

Paul said this, because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. Obviously, there is an unlawful sexual intimacy and there is a lawful.

The next word we have here is all impurity. Some translations, uncleanness. Do you know what this word literally means? It means decayed flesh. So often, words are used figuratively, but if you look at the literal meaning, yeah, that's disgusting.

Isn't it interesting that in a moral sense, impurity, which is typically sexual impurities, it is seen in a moral sense like rotting flesh. There is an ugliness. You see, we live in a culture where the ugliness has been really beautified.

It's been accepted. It's not as ugly as God sees it. It's figuratively used of moral impurity, especially that which is sexual. Then we have this next word, filthiness. Again, if you're talking about a literal meaning, filthiness, that's an ugly word.

It means that. Ugly. Deformed. It's that which is obscene. That which is indecent. That which is shameful or disgraceful. It's actually a defiance of accepted moral standards, even if it's cultural or if it's spiritual.

And then we have foolish talk. That's just useless, stupid. Yes, children, I know your parents teach you not to say that, but there actually is a way to talk that's stupid. And that's what this is. It's stupid talk.

It's empty. It's frivolous. It's thoughtless. And then you have crude joking, or some of the translations say coarse jesting. You know, the actual word, again, we have this literal meaning that means to turn.

It's actually the idea of having an ability with language where you can turn it to where it's suggestive. It's suggestive of that which is unclean. Especially people with a sense of humor, they can be really witty and they have an ability to take language and put twists and turns on the meaning so that you get something that people laugh at, but it's typically crude.

It's coarse. It's unclean. And you know what? The Apostle says this is not fitting for the Christian to be like that. It doesn't mean that we can't have a sense of humor as Christians. This is the idea.

It's dirty. You talk in such a way that you put twists in things where it's dirty, it's vulgar, it's indecent. And then you look at verse 5. You get sexual immoral, or sexually immoral again. King James Version says whoremonger.

You talk about another ugly word, whoremonger. We hardly use that, but it just sounds like a bad thing. An impure, or the KJV says the unclean person. Brethren, this is a terrible collection of words, but I can make no apology for explaining them to you.

Holiness and the Identity of the Church

Paul, listen, this is one of the things you have to recognize. Paul is not speaking to the world at large out there. You know who he's speaking to here? He's speaking to Ephesian Christians. He is speaking to the church.

And he's using these words, and he's saying to the church, you need to hear this. Paul is not interested in cleaning up the world. He is not interested in bringing morality to San Antonio. Because the reality is, it won't be good, it won't be deep, it won't be a change at the level.

They're incapable of it. The lost world is incapable of this. He is talking about what is not fitting, what is not becoming for the Christian, for the saint of God. He's not concerned with the whole world out there.

The world will not respond to this. Christians are saints. And this has to do very specifically with what is proper among saints. Do you know what a saint is? It comes from the same word group as holy.

It's the idea of set apart. Christian, you have to recognize this. One of the most important things that can be said about you is God has taken you from all the mass of mankind and He has set you aside.

Especially and specifically for Himself. To be one of His people. To be one of His children. To be one of His saints. I am holy, God says. Be ye therefore holy as I am holy. Set apart. I mean, Christian, I think we ought to say that to ourselves.

Say that to yourself if you're saved. I am set apart for God. I mean, say it in your head. Think that to yourself. I am set apart for God. So if such a terrible collection of words is being addressed to saints, can we not deduce that God thinks we need this?

Do you know what we can deduce from this? There's enough of this in some of us that it takes a word from God to wake us up so that we get rid of it. I mean, it would not be brought up this way for any other reason.

We can't say, oh, we don't need this. No, we need this. If this is being brought up, we need it. We can't say, oh, this is too graphic for a church service. No, the truth is, we must speak of these things.

You know what it said back in chapter 1? You have been chosen. This is very interesting. Even as He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him.

You remember that? Holy and blameless before Him. That's the idea. He's there. We are before Him and we stand in His sight holy and blameless. That's the idea. God has set apart for Himself. We're saints.

We're children. We're priests. To spend an eternity before Him, an eternity in His presence, holy, blameless. Do you hear the Apostle? If you are a saint, sexual immorality and all impurity, all of it, every bit of it, must never even be named.

That means you don't ever do anything or say anything or think anything that if somebody's trying to put a name on what you're doing, what you're thinking, what is there in your midst, in your life, if somebody's trying to put a name to it, it's never going to be one of these names.

Don't let it be named among you. Don't even let the hint, not a vestige, not a taint, not the least evidence, every form of it is to be gone. Every bit. You must avoid and renounce and completely avoid it in its entirety.

There is no place for this. Our society is casual here. And most of us come from that background. Most of us were not saved when we were five years old. Most of us are many, many, many here are first generation Christians.

We come out of wicked backgrounds and we know about this stuff. And I'll tell you, you can come in and you can feel like, well, I've been radically transformed, but there's still some vestige here. You know what he's saying here?

Nope, no, no! Not even a little bit. It is not becoming of you. Total eradication is what he's after here. Not even named. Leave it alone. Stand away. Avoid it. Stay clear. No trace of it. Listen, don't even think it.

Lust in the Heart and Purity in Thought

You know what our Lord Jesus said? Our Lord Jesus said that you have heard that it was said you shall not commit adultery, but I say unto you, and He says if you look at a woman and you can switch it around, ladies looking at men, or if you come out of that background that Jeff talked about, even if it's somebody of the same sex, the reality is if there is a look, whoever looks at a woman with lustful intent, that means to desire her.

He's already committed adultery with her in the heart. This is even in the thought. None of it. This is purity even in our thinking level. All impurity. Thought as well as deed. And look, you know this, no little part of this battle is typically thought in the mind.

I mean, that is the reality. Don't let it be named among you. Don't let it be identified among you. Don't let it be found. Not even in the recesses of your head. Not in your thoughts. Not in your brain.

Don't do it. Not even the mention of it. Why? It's not proper for a holy vessel of God. Filthiness, foolish talk, coarse jesting. It's all out of place. Filthiness. I mean, how expressive is that? We're to have nothing to do with anything ever that's obscene or vulgar, foul, revolting.

And you know the thing is, Paul even includes here foolish talking, stupid talking. You know why? You get around friends and you start talking and you start talking stupid. That kind of talk is careless.

It's reckless. It's thoughtless. You know what happens to a reckless driver? Eventually, they go over the line. And you know what happens when you start talking that way with each other? You're trying to one-up each other.

And you get where you cross the line. It's unguarded talk. These are the facts. This is the filth. Christians, we need to listen. God is speaking. We live in a pornographic society where this stuff is tolerated.

It's accepted. Brethren, there is this fearful and terrible warning that we must face. And I'm going to say this. I'll probably say it again and again. It is amazing to me that when the Apostle says, okay, you need to put off the old man.

You need to be renewed in the spirit of your minds. You need to put on the new man. When he starts talking that way and he goes to specifics in 425, he talks about deception, falsehood. And you know he moves through anger and corrupt talk and stealing.

You know all that he deals with there. It is interesting to me that he never introduced the wrath of God until he came to this. V. 5, you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance.

The Warning of Judgment and Exclusion from the Kingdom

You may be sure of this. It doesn't matter what title, what name you give yourself. It doesn't matter what you're called. It doesn't matter if other people call you brother or sister. You may be sure of this.

Everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, they have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

I'll tell you, when the ever-living God, the judge of heaven and earth, He stands forth and He gives us a warning concerning life and death, we do well to sit on the edge of our seat and take notice.

It does tend to be wise and in our own best interest to listen to this carefully. You may want to notice that word in v. 5. Everyone. It's amazing. People always seem to think they're the exception. We are professionals at thinking we're the exception to the rule.

Everyone who is sexually immoral. Everyone who is impure. You trace it out. Sexual immorality describes their life. Trace out the line. Trace the path. Where does it go? It doesn't go to the kingdom. That's what he's saying here.

No inheritance. What does that mean? It means you miss heaven. It means that which is to be feared more than all else, the wrath of God, that will be your lot forever. And your lot. This is hell we're talking about.

The wrath of God. You will know it to the full. The thing about hell is I think about people that are there. You know, in this life, even sinners, the deepest stained, they can cry out when they're suffering or when they're in pain and there's hope of mercy.

And we know there is because we read in Scripture that the kindness of God is meant to lead us to repentance and we know that God allows His Son and His reign to fall on the unjust. The thing is when we cry out here, God often gives a reprieve.

But in hell, you can cry forever and ever and there will be weeping. But there will never be pity or mercy forever. Can you imagine being in a state that no matter how much you cry, God will never hear?

That is it. Because of our sins. Our sins are that bad to require that kind of damnation, perdition, eternal destruction, punishment, wailing and gnashing of teeth. The Scripture says the lake of fire.

This is real. And God is saying to the church, you know, you might expect, well, we go out here and all the people that were out carousing and partying last night, we should take these words out there to them.

Isn't it amazing? Paul recognizes these kind of words need to be spoken in the church. Take warning. Take heed, he says, to those sitting under the preaching of God's Word. Take heed. This is real. You know what our Bibles end with?

I just told you one thing it ends with. If you're thirsty and you will come, you can have it. But it also ends with this. As for the sexually immoral, there's other types of sinners listed, but as for the sexually immoral, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

And right at the end, Revelation 22 .15, standing outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral. Outside. This isn't like outside on a bright, sunny morning where the birds are singing and like this, blue sky and a gentle breeze.

That's not the outside. This is outside when it's bright and sunny and joyful and peaceful inside. And out there, it's dark. It's black. There is a blackness of darkness and there's a horrifying reality out there.

There is something out there that means to do us harm. That's the idea of being outside. There is no place at all for impure people inside. Not at all. All are put outside. Everyone who is sexually immoral.

Look at v. 5. Look at how it starts. You may be sure of this. The new American standard, this you know with certainty. This you know. Paul says this is beyond doubt. Beyond dispute. It's something that ought to be self-evident, especially to Christians, that there is no place in the eternal kingdom for sexually immoral people.

And you know what? I believe that this generally tends to be the case. We don't have difficulty recognizing the principle. We don't have problems recognizing you know, some people have been disciplined out of this church for sexual immorality.

We don't have great amounts of difficulty recognizing that if those people don't repent, it will not go well with them throughout eternity. I suspect that most of us have no problem knowing and recognizing that such people are going to perish in their sins if they don't repent.

I suspect that we know that those people are in grave danger. This is the issue. We see clearly when it comes to other people. Isn't it amazing that we can do things, we justify it, we have explanations for it, we have an answer for it.

Somebody else can do exactly the same thing and we're well capable of seeing how wrong it is in somebody else. That's one of the reasons that we need to be told not to be deceived. Because we do have a tendency to see things right in other people, but sometimes we have a tendency to not see it so well in our own selves.

Deception, Self-Examination, and the Danger of False Assurance

Listen to v. 6. "'Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.'". Let no one deceive you! You! Me. You! Deceived! Empty words!

What empty words? What are the empty words? The empty words that say that you can be sexually immoral or unclean or filthy in the use of the Internet, the use of your mind where nobody else can see. It's the deception that that can be the reality and you're still going to enter glory.

And do you know why He would say don't be deceived? Because there are deceivers everywhere who want to spread this message. It's basically this message that you can be saved and you can live however you want.

The real important thing is that you believe by faith we're saved, by grace through faith. We know that that is a biblical truth. But brethren, why this warning? For one simple reason. Hell is full of sexually immoral religious people who went there deceived.

But I'll guarantee you this, they're not deceived anymore. Let no one deceive you. That means you better stop and think and be honest. Because when the wrath of God is at stake, this can cost you your life.

I think He talks this way, this strongly, because obviously this was a problem in His day. This was a problem in our day. And I think it is so... Let no one deceive you. This is a point at which Paul desires to undeceive people right here at this point of sexual immorality.

And he's talking about it not even be named. It's not just like, well, you know, I quit openly doing some of these things. Not even named. How much is it being named among you? You see, we're going to come into this area.

Where's the line? How close? How far? That's often how we think. How much? What frequency? Don't be deceived. Let no one deceive you. We need to stop and think. We need to be honest. And deception here can cost you your soul.

Remember, we find this in Hebrews, God is a consuming fire. It is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living God. You don't want to be somebody who came this close to the truth, this close to the saints of God, and miss it in the end.

Because on that day, we're not going to be judged as a collective group. It's one by one. And our lives are going to be looked at. Paul knows there are empty-worded deceivers. Take warning. Some of you have private lives.

Some of you do things behind closed doors. And some of you do things in the mind where no one else can see. And God sees it. Take warning. Let no one deceive you. You know what happens? We see this in, I'll be honest, correspondence.

People tend to be very subjective. What does subjective and objective mean? What's subjective? It's personal. Objective is outside of yourself. It's like an object removed from self. People oftentimes when it comes to Christianity begin with themselves.

Let me give you an example of an email that James sent me from, I'll be honest. A young man says this. He starts by talking about how he was saved. He starts by telling, well, I know I'm saved. I remember when I got saved.

And then he starts talking about how he can't overcome pornography. And he actually asked me to explain to him how it is possible for a real Christian to be such a slave to pornography. That is the deception Paul is warning about.

Don't start with yourselves. That's not what you want to do. Well, I know I'm a Christian. They start with themselves. I know. I know where I'm at. And see, we can clearly see that when it has to do with other people.

But we're masters oftentimes at doing the same thing. The question of salvation comes up when we start with ourselves. We can rationalize. We justify. We explain our own sins, our failures. Is it not true?

I mean, brethren, the thing is we're on such good terms with ourself. Yes, lost people, that's true. Good terms. They love themselves. They like themselves. They're confident. There's a way that seems right to them.

They've got that way. They're very happy with where they're at. They feel confident in this whole thing. The scary thing is when we bring that into Christianity, we're not measuring things. We bring it into the church.

It can be difficult to think it impossible for God to be on bad terms with us. We're pretty artful at protecting ourselves. We want our own happiness. It's hard for us to imagine God smiling at us because we are not smiling at us.

Frowning at us because we so want His smile. We hesitate. We fight to convince ourselves and others that it's okay no matter what the facts might indicate. That's why we're told not to be deceived. I mean, here's how the deception works.

You know, you can't even hear this. Some people can't even hear this. It's like people are so programmed. My wife tells me how she was before she got saved. She said she could be in a bar, cigarette in hand, beer in hand, and she could be telling somebody how absolutely convinced she was that she was saved.

And you can't even hear verses like this. Don't be deceived. The sexually immoral. They don't inherit the kingdom. The wrath of God is their part. You get people in the church just the same. Well, hey, I remember when I believed.

I remember back in the Stockdale days, I was talking with a young man about it. He's like, well, I wrote it in the cover of my Bible. Are you saved? Well, it's not like I came under conviction of sin and righteousness and judgment.

At least something that sounds scriptural that I became convicted of my sins. I saw how desperately lost I was. I'm asking him about being saved, and he looked at his mom like, well, the date was written somewhere.

And people do that. Well, I remember when I did so-and-so. I remember when I believed. I remember when I repented. I always get nervous too when we get these I'll be honest things and these people are like, well, I know I repented.

So often it's I, I, I, I. I remember when this happened. I remember when I did this and I did that. And I remember... Wait, that's not what Paul's asking about. How's your sexual purity? No, wait, wait.

I believed the Bible. What must a man do to be saved? Doesn't Scripture say believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? I believe. Listen, I know I believe. And we're saved by faith, not by works. What's with this works thing?

You're talking about what I do. That's not the basis upon which people get saved. So don't go there. Don't talk to me about that. You see, people, they start here. Hey, I used to... I mean, we were just down in...

Diego and I were down in Ecuador not too long ago and Diego was telling me after we had this get-together that some of these people that were talking to him, he's asking them about their salvation and they're saying, well, there was this time I quit smoking.

That's what people want to do a lot of times. I used to smoke weed. Wait a second. That's not what's on the table here. It doesn't have to do with whether you smoke weed or not. Yeah, that may be coming somewhere, but this isn't about whether you're smoking or not.

This isn't about whether you think you were born again or not. This isn't whether you had some experience. This isn't whether you think you got changed. This is like right now, right now, where is your life at when it comes to sexual purity?

You see, that's what Paul's doing. And it's like people will fight like crazy to bring, well, I know I'm saved. I know I'm saved. Irregardless of this text that says don't be deceived, I know I'm saved.

I know it. You see, that is so subjective. You know what's objective? To stand back and start with God and to start with His truth. That's what's safe. We need to start with God. Okay, what's the truth with God?

Regeneration, Sanctification, and Evidence of Salvation

God saves sinners. God saves sinners, but He saves them a certain way. The reality is He grants faith. That's right. By that faith, we're justified. Yep. All our sins are pardoned. Absolutely. But you know what the New Covenant teaches us?

That if God saves you, He puts His Spirit within you. And He causes you to walk in His statutes and to obey His rules. That's what Scripture teaches us. He writes His law on the heart. To say we know Him, if you say I know Him, I'm a Christian, but you don't keep His commandments.

Oh, John says that broadly, but let's focus in right here where Paul is. But you don't keep His commandments. And Jesus did say, you better gouge out that eye or cut off that hand or you will perish. You say, man, that sounds so much like works.

No, that is true salvation. That is salvation God's way. Where faith is real, there's more than just believing here. Believing and being justified. I'm not preaching works. I am preaching regeneration and sanctification.

Those are realities in the Christian life. And if your life is left unmoved and unchanged in this area of sexual impurity, no matter what else, see, this is the thing, people just want to fight for something else.

Something else. You know what Scripture says, not everybody that says Lord, Lord is going to inherit the kingdom, but those that do the will of His Father in heaven. What we find is that in Romans 6, the power and dominion of sin are broken.

And if you're not putting to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit, you don't have life. Look, I recognize, this isn't perfection. You know that Scripture comes along and says little children, you ought not to sin.

I write to you that you don't sin. But if you do, we have an advocate with the Father. But the truth is, what this has to do with is the overall character. Listen to what it says. You may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral, this is the idea that the habitual nature of the sin that we used to drink like water, it's broken.

What you need to ask yourself is this, are such sins characteristic? Is it frequent? You see what's being said here? This isn't supposed to be named among you. Can it be named among you on a regular basis?

Can it be named among you frequently? But it's the pattern. Do you keep going back there? It's this idea. When you have that little word, everyone who is. Everyone who is. It's what defines you. That's the idea.

What's the character of your life? What's the persistence? What do you continue in? Not even named among you. What does Scripture say? Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Who has access? Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. Men, do you have clean hands? That's the reality here. This is essential. Now, hear me.

Temptation, Struggle, and the Battle for Holiness

Temptation to sin is not sin. This can be an all-out battle. Remember what Peter said? These desires of the flesh, they wage war against the soul. This can be an all-out battle. And because you're fighting, you're resisting, because thoughts are coming, especially you're young, your hormones are strong, the battle can be absolutely intense.

Sometimes you can't help certain things you dream about. Thoughts can all of a sudden flash in your head. We have an enemy who seems to be quite adept at inserting thoughts. Again, I go back to this Christian walking through the valley of the shadow of death had little whisperings in his ear that he actually thought were his own thoughts although they were coming from the outside.

I think Bunyan adequately portrayed that. Temptation... you know, you can be sitting there thinking this is the weakest point in my life and I'm exhausted from the battle. And you can feel like what you're hearing right now, I'm just defeated.

But here's the thing, what God says is it won't have dominion, but putting it to death can be all out battle. But the question is this, is there victory or do you keep going back to it? Do you keep going back over and over and over again?

We can feel this can be a hellish fight. And there can be seasons where you feel so weak under the force of this. Look, simply thinking that somebody of the opposite sex or even of the same sex is attractive or that they're beautiful or that they're handsome, that in and of itself is not sin.

Any more than recognizing that the sunset's beautiful. You just have to be careful with where it takes your mind. We have to recognize this for what it is. On the other hand, you don't want to call something a struggle when the reality is there's no victory.

People who say I'm struggling with that when there's never any victory, that's not struggle. That's failure. That's wallowing in it. There's a huge difference there. And listen, if you're failing over and over and you feel filthy, you feel dirty, you feel empty, you feel discouraged, that's not a positive sign if that's what you default to over and over and over and over.

Lost people out in the world, they feel that way all the time because of sin. The proof is in the pudding, as my 10th grade geometry teacher used to say. You know how Paul could say it? Such were some of you.

We're new creations. And if there isn't a struggle and a battle where there's victory, don't deceive yourself. There's a path to the wrath of God in all of this. We need to be honest. We need to sit up and take note.

You have heard that it was said you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.

For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away, it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

Radical Measures Against Sexual Sin

And I would just say this, Christian, show me the pile of eyes and hands. I remember going back at one time and looking at all these black and white photos of the Civil War. They couldn't save limbs in that day.

This was before they really had antibiotics figured out. The last war before that was figured out. There was a picture of an army hospital and outside the surgeon's tent, a pile of arms and legs. If you got hit by a musket ball, they amputated and seared it.

That was their best possible attempt at saving your life. Because they knew otherwise infection was going to set in and you were a dead man. There was a pile of arms and legs. You see, that's grotesque.

But that's the imagery being used here. And I would say this, the reality is if you're a genuine Christian in this area, there's a pile of eyes and hands. Because that's what Jesus says. Because people that don't have the pile of eyes and hands, that means you're amputating and gouging out things in your life to protect yourself here and you're fighting this thing and you're taking it serious.

You make changes to your life when it comes to phones, when it comes to computers, when it comes to going to malls, when it comes to going to certain places, movies you watch, things you allow into your life, you're amputating things.

Show me that pile. Because if you say there really isn't any pile, then you hear Jesus' words for yourself. This is the question. This is where we're at. Not putting anything else, no other factors at all.

Just bringing this to the table. Just this. Are you one who is going to inherit the kingdom? Sometimes we can get casual because we're not there yet. We sometimes give ourselves this hope. Even if we look at ourselves in the mirror and we say, oh, man, this causes me to be afraid.

But we trust we have life tomorrow and if something's not right, we're going to get it right. I'll tell you, don't be deceived. People get casual about these things. They end up deceived and they end up perishing and they end up coming face to face with the wrath of God and it is too late.

You don't want to gamble here. You don't want to be careless. You don't want to be negligent. But not bringing any other factors to the table. Are you one who is going to inherit the kingdom of Christ and God?

And you know what? Sometimes we could almost wish because the battle can be strong and there can be failures on the part of a genuine Christian. Sometimes you can get in the heat of that battle and you wonder, oh, I almost wish that the Lord Himself would come and tell me very distinctly what my case is.

Whether it's well with my soul or not. But I would say this, we can hear all this and it can raise concerns. If some of us are honest, we know that there are defeats. We can get really nervous about where that line is.

How much can I fall and still be real? There can be uncertainty. And this has to do with our souls and it has to do with the terrible wrath of God. What do we do? Here's what I would tell you to do. Think.