R1039A God In God Out

Are you ready for a challenge? Dr. Wilton's going to challenge us all today as we open God's Word to Philippians chapter 4 for a very special message. This is The Encouraging Word featuring the Bible-based teaching of Dr. Don Wilton, well-known author, evangelist, seminary professor, and pastor, and today's message, God in, God out.

Okay, maybe not makes a lot of sense right now, but we'll make more sense in just a moment as we open God's Word to Philippians chapter 4. As we do so, please know that we're here for you to pray with you and connect with great resources on our website, TEWOnline.org. As a matter of fact, many folks have been taking up on the opportunity to email Dr. Wilton about God's story in your life and how The Encouraging Word is encouraging you. His email is Don, D-O-N, at TEWOnline.org. Just his first name, Don, at TEWOnline.org. He'd love to hear from you.

And now we put our hearts into hearing from God's Word through God's servant. This is Dr. Don Wilton. Folks, listen. I'm going to challenge you right up front.

I'm going to challenge you. Buy someone else a Coke. Make that decision. Calculate how much you think you're going to go and spend on yourself and somebody else, your family. Why don't you just give away as much as you actually give to yourself? Instead of buying $100 worth, buy $50 and give the other $50 to someone else.

I can give you lots of things, like the Parsons Pantry run by own Ron and Karen Jackson, soup kitchens, the Helping Ministry Center, Celebrate Recovery, orphans, people in need. Just do random acts of kindness. Just stop in the road one day if you see someone. Don't go and ask them what they need or don't need. Just do it for them. When you stand in line at Burger King, just look around, find someone, say, would you mind if I just bought yours today? They'll say, oh, no, what do you mean? When you go to Ingalls or Publix or Fresh Market and you're standing in line, just turn to the person behind you and say, let me get that for you today. Don't weigh them up.

Don't decide whether or not they look like they need it or don't just do it. Now, folks, you're going to need your Bibles this morning. I just want to tell you right up front that I'm very nervous about what we're about to talk about. I want you to know that I'm going to be in the forefront of what God says to us today. And we're in Philippians chapter four.

Please turn there. Philippians chapter four. We're going to be focusing in on verse eight and verse nine.

Verse eight and verse nine. But before I read this verse to you, I've got to tell you something. I have a great appetite for life. I do.

I'm going to just be right up front. I love life. If there's one reason I want to ask God to let me live as long as possible, just because I love life.

Have you ever heard someone say, goodness, there's someone who has a great zest for life. I enjoy it all. I'm going to be perfectly honest. Let's just start with food. I love it all.

Now, I'm not as bad as Steve Skinner, but I love it all. I'm one of those people, what you put in front of me, I eat. Accepting boiled peanuts and boiled okra. I'm just going to tell you that right up front.

Boiled peanuts and boiled okra. Now, if you put it in front of me and I don't know you, I'll eat it. You won't get anything out of me, but my tummy won't agree with it. But I love food. I love food. It doesn't matter.

You don't have to ever worry about, well, is Don going to eat this? I love all food. Everything. I love all sport. People say to me, well, what do you prefer? Rugby or football? Both. Cricket or baseball?

Well, let me get on another one. I can enjoy golf and soccer and lacrosse. I just enjoy sport and athletics. I love traveling. So, for me, if I travel somewhere, you say to me, would you like to go to, you know, Myrtle Beach or Charleston?

Yes. I love being in different places. I love people. Someone said to me, what is the absolute favorite thing you love about being a pastor?

All of it. I just love being your pastor. So, here's the bottom line, folks. See this body? I know you're all looking at me saying, boy, I wish I had a body like that. Brandon, we asked you to come and say the offering and then you can leave, brother.

We don't need comments coming from the college and young adult department. But now, if you were to look at me, I have this body. I've got one body. I've got a mind. I've got a body and I've got a soul. Really, I'm made up of three parts.

You are too. Body, mind and spirit. Now, this is going to be interesting because as much as I love food, there comes a point when I eat food, even though I love it all, that I cannot eat any more food. I fill up. I love to read, for example. I read everything I can get my hands on. Some people say, well, you're the pastor, so you only read devotional books.

No, I don't. I love novels and biographies and harem, scarum stuff. I mean, I read it all. I just get my hands on and I want to read. I love to read. So, I read all kinds of things because I believe education is important. But have you ever read a book? Maybe you've gotten into bed at night and you read a book or you're reading, you know, on holiday or something and you say, man, I don't think I can read another word. You become saturated. You cannot read another word. You ever gotten to that point? Cannot eat another thing.

Cannot read another word. You can actually have so much of something that this vehicle that God has given to you gets so filled up, you can't put any more in it. Weddings are happy occasions. I've often heard a bride or a groom say, goodness, I've never smiled so much. I don't know if I can smile anymore.

You've got to discipline yourself to smile, not because you don't want to smile, but because you smiled so much that your face begins to hurt, right? We're about to get into something here, folks. I want to speak to you about God in, God out. Did you know that the Bible tells us that what comes out is in direct proportion to what you have in.

Some of you today will identify with us. Now, folks, listen carefully. God in, God out can also mean garbage in, garbage out.

What is inside will show outside. And we're about to look here in God's word where Paul is about to tell us something that is of utmost importance and what he's about to say, and I'm being very simplistic. He's about to say to people like you and me that God has given you a capability and a capacity to hold just so much. And the problem with so many people today is that we fill the just so much so often with all the wrong things to the point at which we've got no room to fill ourselves with the right things. Some of you are behaving badly. Paul is saying to us the reason people behave badly is because they have filled themselves up with bad behavior. You keep making the wrong choices. The reason you keep making the wrong choices is because this instrument that you have, that I have, this body, this holding tank, if you please, whilst we applaud just how magnificent mankind is and we're very impressed with our capability and we use cute phrases like a mind is a terrible thing to waste. That's what God is talking about you when it comes to knowing the mind of Christ. Let's be perfectly honest with each other today folks.

There are thousands of us worshiping with the Lord Jesus right now that you've got nowhere to put what you're hearing right now because you've put so much else there and much of the something else, not of God, you've loaded up your life with junk food. I have a great propensity to always want to begin with dessert. We tell each other boy that looks so good or we go to a restaurant and they bring out these yeast rolls and you know that you've ordered a magnificent meal and you've got a salad and you've got everything and they bring out these hot rolls and you say well I'll just have one, I'll just have another, I'll just have another.

Before you know it, before they've even brought your salad, you've had five or six of these yeast rolls. You don't need to tap him like that, I know he does it all the time and then you get to the good stuff you've got no room for it. Proper thinking is not optional when it comes to life in Christ folks because people's lives are the products of their thoughts. Proverbs 23 verse 7, the Bible teaches us for as he thinks within himself so is he. In Mark, I haven't even got to our passage but in Mark's gospel chapter 7 and verse 20, listen to what Jesus said, Mark chapter 7 verse 20, Jesus said what comes out of a man is what makes him unclean for from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.

All of these evils come from within the heart of a person, thereby rendering that person unclean before God. The number one reason why so many people are unfaithful in marriage is because of lust. The reason you decided to leave your spouse was because in your heart you began to lust after someone else's body and it came from in here.

Somewhere you allowed whatever it was to infiltrate your heart, your mind. When presented with an option, you know life is filled with options. When presented with options, most people ask questions like this. Number one, does it work?

Well here's this option, here's an opportunity, here's this thing that I'm going to do, this place that I'm going to. People ask questions when you consider what it is that you're going to do, here are just some of those questions, does it work? Here's another one, how much does it cost?

Can it cost me anything? Here's a good one, will this make me feel good? That's a major question people ask today. You've got something going on and you've got an option and you're making a decision whether to put that into your body, to apply to your soul spirit, to consume it, to make it part of your thought pattern.

It's going to make me feel good, if it makes me feel good I'm going to do it. But there are very few people, folks, who ask the most important question, is it of the Lord? In Romans 12, Paul said in the first two verses, he said in essence, in order to not be conformed to the world but rather to be transformed, what we've got to do is we've got to renew our minds in Christ Jesus.

So I want to make a statement here, you can line up all the most famous, terrific, godly people you've ever been around. I guarantee you will always discover they are disciplined people who make the right choices about what to put into their heart and mind. Please forgive the interruption, we'll be back with more of Dr. Wilton's message in just a moment, but all what that challenge reminds us of, the challenge to guard what's coming into our head, because ultimately that's how we guard our heart. We want to make sure that it is God honoring. One of the things we can do to help you in this is provide a free resource called the Daily Encouraging Word Devotional. It's available both on our website, you can sign up for it today at www.tewonline.org to receive as a quarterly booklet that we'll send out to you, absolutely free, or you can receive an email from Dr. Wilton every single morning, launching your day in the power of God's encouraging word. Again, sign up on our website www.tewonline.org to receive it either way, either via email or on a physical copy. However you want it, we would be happy to send it out to you.

You can also call about your copy at 866-899-WORD. Just ask for the free daily devotional called the Daily Encouraging Word with Dr. Don Wilton. Now let's dive back into today's message, God in, God out, with Dr. Don.

You'll find that common denominator all the time. They are disciplined people who make the right choices to put into their heart and mind, to fill up their space with good things. All right, now let's take a look at our passage.

And I think you're going to discover something, it's amazing. So we're in Philippians chapter four. I want to speak about God in, God out.

This is what Paul says in verse eight of chapter four. Finally, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. Whatever you have heard or received or learned or taken from me, Paul says, or seen in me, Paul says, put into practice and the God of peace will be with you. All right, folks, let's just put this down the line here today, because this is a great challenge. It's a challenge to me, first of all.

And I'm praying for you today. You see, Paul here is preoccupied with helping people like you and me to stabilize as believers, to live lives to the fullest. Aren't you tired of meaninglessness? Aren't you tired of busy nothingness, folks? Aren't you tired of that empty feeling all the time? And yet you look around, you say, how can this be?

I'm doing this, I'm seeing that, I'm watching this, I'm going there, I'm surrounded by that, but I've still got this thing. The Bible says, do not quench the spirit. And we are guilty of quenching the spirit. We're taking little stabs at God. We've got to understand some things about the Lord, because he loves us so much.

He wants the best for us. Paul here is talking about this. And so he lays out before us six godly virtues.

I just mentioned them to you. And folks, here's what he's doing. Watch this. Paul is saying, what you and I need to do is we need to think, we need to inhale, we need to dwell on, we need to make a deliberate decision that amongst others, these six virtues are going to be at the forefront of what is going to go inside our being. I want to like, this is the meal, there's a meal in front of me. I want to put these six virtues into me because when I put these six virtues in me, it means they've got a place because I've made room for them in my life. If my life is just filled with all other kinds of things, there's no room for any of these.

Because contrary to public opinion, folks, you can only assimilate a maximum amount of stuff. And I don't know what that mark is. Some people can do that much and some people can do that much. But I can tell you something. God is warning us and saying to us that in Christ, if you want to live a full and a meaningful life, if you want to be on top of your game, you need to put inside the things that are of God. I'm challenging you today about the movies you're watching. I'm challenging you today about the books that you're reading. I'm challenging you today about the places you're going and the conversations that you're having. I'm challenging you today about what's pouring inside your system because the more you put in your body, the more garbage is in there, the more garbage will come out of there.

That's what he's trying to tell us. That's why I told you for me, this is a tough one, because I've got such a zest for life. I want it all. Folks, you don't have to beg me to go gangbusters. I want to be involved. I want to get it all. I want to do it all. I want to be it all. I just want to be, I'm just like this ants in my pants.

I've got to be very careful. I've had to make some of the most difficult decisions in my life since being your pastor. You think it's easy. Folks, I don't fall out of bed in the morning and say, I've got to spend hours sitting in a room by myself with a Bible in front of me. And if you all think I'm so spiritual that I roll out of bed and say, you know, well, goodness, there's monk Wilton there sitting in his cave. Because I want to, my life, and there's nothing wrong with these things.

I love it all. But folks, what I've got to do, I've got to examine what I'm doing, what I'm putting inside. I've got to make sure that what is in here comes out. Because if I put the wrong things in there, what comes out is not very pleasant.

I'm telling you folks, what goes into my heart messes me up. In my life, because I've been around the block. I was a tank commander overseas.

First Special Services Battalion. I've been around as much junk as any of you. And I have this old man down there. My wife tells me and my kids tell me, they've always told me that I have a look. And they don't like that look. I don't know what they're talking about. But evidently, if my wife says she doesn't like that look, I'm going to tell you, when evidently that look comes out is when this body is being filled with everything that's not of God.

It causes the look. I don't want that. What a powerful message. What an honest and open discussion of the fact that we must be guarding our heads, guarding our minds, and guarding our hearts by determining what's coming into our eye gate, to our ear gate. I pray that you would know that in this moment, as we've listened and studied God's Word with Dr. Wilton, we stand ready to pray with you, perhaps about a decision that needs to be made. Maybe there's something that you need to take off of your plate in order to put on more time in God's Word.

Perhaps it's the scrolling of social media. For me, I was involved in many different social media platforms. I was involved for me.

I was involved in many different social media. I'm now just down to two. I feel like I've got to make a conscious choice about guarding my head and my heart. Maybe you need to make that choice today. We'd love to pray with you about it at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. But all of the decisions about how we monitor our life, how we balance and strive to live for Christ, all must start with the very first decision. Have you given your life to Jesus Christ? Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much, and I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin. I confess my sin to you, and I invite you to come into my heart and into my life, I pray. In Jesus' name, I pray. If you prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey. If you just prayed with Dr. Wilton to give your life to Jesus or perhaps rededicate your life to Jesus, Dr. Don wants you to have some free resources right away. Once you call us and let us know about your decision for Jesus, 866-899-WORD is our phone number.

That's 866-899-9673. We'd love to speak with you, pray with you, rejoice with you, and give you these resources that'll help you grow in your faith. You can also meet us on our website at www.tewonline.org.

That's www.tewonline.org. We are committed to lifting up the name of Jesus through Bible-based teaching, and every day, lives are being changed, thousands of lives, every single day. Would you consider prayerfully getting behind the ministry of the Encouraging Word? To pray for Dr. Wilton, to pray for our ministry would be a great blessing, and you just need to know that if you give, every pin you give goes to the mission. Dr. Wilton takes no salary. He doesn't even take money for the books that he writes. It all goes to share Jesus. Would you consider being a part of the Encouraging Word?