Insight for Living

Guest (Male): Our desperate times call for clear-minded behavior. The dangers are many, and those who walk in slumber do so at their own peril. That's the warning from the apostle Paul. And today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll teaches from Romans chapter 13, where Paul wrote these words to the Romans: "The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." Let's pick up where we left off yesterday. Chuck titled his message: "Wake Up and Get Dressed!"

Pastor Chuck Swindoll: The spiritual message is that you can't do battle aggressively with the enemy while you're wearing your pajamas. I know one thing about every one of you without even asking. You are not wearing right now what you wore last night. I know. I know you aren't. I look at you Sunday after Sunday. I don't think I've ever seen any adult in his PJs coming to church, or whatever you sleep in. But you're dressed for what's appropriate. And the styles may vary, and your choice of clothing will vary. That's fine. The point is you're not wearing your night garments. And that's his point here.

Steve Amerson, tenor soloist, has a wonderful signature song he usually adds to his repertoire. It's called "This Could Be the Day." I always ask him to sing it when he's doing a concert for us. "This could be the day." He could come before Christmas. How good would that be? He could come before nightfall. Or you could go. I'm so grateful that the apostle is a realist and he's not so brainy that he stays in these theological, ethereal realms, but he comes right down to where we live. And he remembers he's writing to people in Rome in the first century whose lifestyle was very near our lifestyle, as history cyclically repeats itself.

Which is why he describes the changing of clothing as we talk about it here, coming to our closet and looking in. We now must make some decisions. What is appropriate to wear? What is necessary to put aside? He tells us what's necessary to put aside in verse 13 and what's necessary to wear in verse 14. There are three pairs of garments. Think of them as a blouse and skirt, think of them as a shirt and pair of pants. Think of them in three pairs.

The first we're to get rid of are, well, look at verse 13: those things that reveal a lack of personal discipline—carousing and drunkenness. And then those things that have to do with the lack of moral integrity—sexual promiscuity and sensuality. And then the third set of garments: the lack of relational harmony—strife and jealousy. It's all right there. The thing I love about expositing the scriptures is you don't have to be cute and clever. All you got to do is read and the text speaks for itself. Let me encourage you who are teachers: stay in the text. Illustrate it, keep it interesting, but stay riveted to the text. You cannot beat Holy Scripture.

Here is an example to start with: let us behave properly. Now we're standing at the closet, we're ready to take on the day, and we're told to behave properly. The word "behave" literally is the word for "walk." Walk. So we're going to walk this day in the everyday world of ours. And yours is different from mine, hers is different from hers and his from her and his from his. They're all different worlds, but we're all to walk properly, appropriately. So we're to lay aside the things that we have no business wearing.

The first set of garments have to do with the lack of personal discipline. I'm going to be a little pedantic here as we work our way through these six items, just like you would carefully choose clothes that match and go together. The first we're to set aside: carousing. Interesting word, isn't it? I doubt you've used the word, unless you're my age or older, in the last few weeks. Carousing is a word that has to do with actions that are inappropriate and improper. Revelries would be an older word as well. Some refer to it as orgies. If you're in England and England has lost a soccer match, there's a group of people that have come to be known as hooligans. Remember reading of the hooligans? They go to the street and they set cars on fire.

I never figured out how losing a soccer game results in setting cars on fire. The logic of that breaks down. Of course, if you're involved in carousing, logic has no place there. You do what's illogical. You do what's improper and often unlawful. So you have to ask yourself when you come to this garment, am I spending my time with people that are worth my time? Do they help me or do they weaken me? Do they go places I have no business going in their carousings? My dad used to say, "Son, get home before midnight. Nothing good happens on the street after midnight." He's right. He, being dead, still speaks.

Only the good work of the police department and those that assist in areas of mercy and health—the rest is not good. Stay off the street when it's not appropriate to be out there or you'll get into trouble. Carousings. That leads to drunkenness. Now I know some of you are thinking he's going to unload the truck now. This is a preacher's moment. So that I don't disappoint you, I plan to do that right now. This has nothing to do with taking a sip of wine for an evening meal. This is drunkenness. This is too much alcohol. This is the use of illicit drugs. This is becoming addicted to prescribed drugs. This is anything that is the result of the breakdown of personal discipline.

This is excessive drinking, which is always viewed in scripture as wrong. Now before I go any further, may I remind you that God's desire for us is a wholesome, happy, fulfilling life. He's not wandering around heaven with a big club and a nail in it, hoping to take away your joy in life. So he tells you the truth. If you live a life of drunkenness, you'll live a life of misery and ultimately shame. Ask any child of an alcoholic and they'll tell you their story. I've never known it in my home, so I can't speak from experience, but I found out about it during a hitch in the Marine Corps, where by the time many of the guys in our outfit went back home from Okinawa, they were alcoholics.

I witnessed it. I wasn't a prude. As a matter of fact, in our outfit you couldn't be a prude and survive. But in that Marine Corps barracks, over 90 percent had venereal disease, which they picked up in the village and they carried their disease back home with them. So my world was a world of awakening. This is long before seminary, thank God. So I understood depravity. I understood what happens when a person loses his or her way. And let me say to you who are alcoholics: there's a place here for you.

I know it's a best kept secret among your friends and maybe even in your family, it's what nobody talks about, but here you can talk about it. Meetings are held and gatherings led by those who know what it is to be where you are. There will be no shame. There will be no condemnation. But our hope is to help you survive a life of drunkenness. And for you who have gone through this and had your marriage collapse, our hearts go out to you. I want you to know that because you know horror stories that many of us don't know. Thank God you survived.

So when you're choosing garments and you're looking for those things to push aside, stay away from anything that could lead you to that kind of lifestyle. You're an adult, you can make that decision. That's why I call this a lack of personal discipline. It just takes discipline. While I'm on the subject, please teach your children how to handle it when they grow up and are on the road and everybody in the company goes out for a drinking party. How do they survive that? How do they handle that? Tell them how you learned to handle it. Ranting and raving about drink is not going to help because the most common drug in a high school is alcohol, fast becoming in junior high or middle school. Help them know how to say no. Help them know how you did. They'll thank you the rest of their lives.

Not in carousing and drunkenness. Now we get to even more specific: not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality. You'll be interested to know the Greek word that is rendered sexual promiscuity. It is the term for "bed"—B-E-D. We're adults, we know what that's saying. Stay out of bed with someone else's wife or husband. Stay out of bed, married or unmarried, with someone who isn't your married partner. Stop it. That's a garment that will hurt you. Not only you, it will hurt those who love you. I had a brokenhearted woman stop me after the second service in tears and say, "Do you have a book on forgiveness?"

I talked about various things she could read. When she finished, she said, "I've been deceived for 21 years. I've just found out the truth." I didn't ask her any more. The message that she had just heard on the subject I'm addressing had caused her to realize that if she stays in this disillusionment and the sadness and bitterness of where she is, she'll be poisoned. Just to go on. By guarding against sexual promiscuity, you will not leave your mate in the backwash of disillusionment.

The next word William Barclay says is one of the ugliest words in the Greek language: aselgeia. Aselgeia. It even sounds ugly. It's a word that describes not only immorality, it describes the one who has lost shame—shameless immorality. Shameless immorality. May I just spend a few moments and we'll go on. Isn't it just like the world system and the enemy of our souls to take the single most intimate, lovely expression of affection—sexual desire between a husband and wife—and to twist it, and to lead it into avenues of pornography and all sorts of promiscuity related to this once intimate, innocent act between married partners?

If the world has its way, it will ruin everything beautiful. And it's pretty much ruined sex. So much so that even husbands and wives struggle with intimacy because of the bombardment. Sex sells. I hope you still are alert to the commercials and how often it weaves its way into them. Stay alert. Jeremiah writes of the people who no longer even blush. Good question: when's the last time you blushed? I was watching a ball game the other evening with Austin, our grandson, and the Cowboys were playing the Green Bay Packers. Except the cameraman felt that the cheerleaders were more important than the game.

And I'm sitting over here in my chair and Austin's sitting here on the sofa, and he says, "Good night. Shorts need to be shorter. I mean it's just about down to a yard of Saran Wrap and a string of pearls, huh?" Here I'm sitting with my 13-year-old grandson and it was a classic moment for me to make a contribution to his life that hopefully will help him understand how to view such things. Teach your children. I can't teach them. I have my own family and my own grandchildren. That's my limit. You got yours. They got to know how to pick their clothing, literally.

Not in sexual promiscuity, not in sensuality. Not in strife and jealousy. This is a lack of personal relationships, a lack of harmony. See the word "strife"? It's the spirit that is born of unbridled competition. It's the drive for place and notoriety and power and control. Essentially, it's the sin of having to be prominent. And let me tell you something: the ministry is shot through with it. Where else did this many people listen when I talk? Amazing. And you're kind enough not to yell back. That's a role of authority.

I had a young man say to me, "The Lord's calling me into ministry and I heard enough today to know that I've got some homework to take care of before I follow through on that call." I said, "Good for you. Guard against having to be in control. Hold it loosely." I'll be honest with you, I pay no attention to the size of crowds. I couldn't care less. I'm the guy that held down the numbers for how large the new worship center ought to be. Had one of the committee members say, "You're the first preacher I've ever seen that wanted it smaller than the rest of us wanted it." Yeah.

Let's do our best to control that. This role isn't about authority; this role is about servanthood. This is a role of appealing to you, leading you as a shepherd, not acting like I'm the big model of all of this. Furthermore, when I'm gone, I'm gone. You'll still be there, choosing your clothing. Watch out for strife, guard against jealousy. This is a discontentment, a lack of satisfaction. This is having an envious eye on what others have. This is keeping what you have to yourself. I got to tell you and time for full confession: I struggled for years early on with jealousy in my relationship with Cynthia.

It almost broke us up. I was driving her crazy. And I was on my way to being one of these husbands that checks the odometer in her car in the morning and then at night, asks where she went, who'd she talk to, who talked to you. I know guys so jealous they don't even want their wife to look nice. I don't want any woman that other guys wouldn't look at. I want other guys to go, "Whoa! How'd that old guy get her? Whoa!"

You know it's like dating a girl that's never been kissed. Whoa, man! I don't know I want to do that. You don't want one that's kissed everybody, but one that's never been kissed? Give me a break. Come on. That's a bad situation, I got to tell you. May I apply this a little further and I'm through. Stay away from anything that weakens your moral fiber. Anything. If you can't handle the TV in the hotel room, stay with somebody else in a hotel room—same sex—a buddy of yours, a lady friend of yours, gals who travel. Stay with someone else if you can't stay away from the dirty channels.

I just heard about a chain of hotels where the owner has taken out all of the televisions that played the pornography channels. How good is that? But he's making a decision for you. Stay away from TV programs that weaken you. Stay away from books and literature that weaken you. Stay away from video games that weaken you. Stay away from people who lead you in the wrong direction. Stay away from experimentation with things that could lead to an addiction. It's very simple. Stay away from them. Just say no. Just say no. Just say no. You can do it. That's what's involved in this.

Second part of this is stay involved with everything that strengthens your walk. Become a serious student of the scriptures. My meal is prepared and I serve it as best I can, but I cook this meal. Learn to cook your own meal. Learn to stand on your own when the bottom drops out of your life. You can draw from that reservoir you've been building up as you have made a study of the scriptures. Become a person of prayer and meditation. Read books and magazines that are healthy and wholesome.

I'm going to go even farther: get involved in a good exercise program. It's great. Before you put down all the drunks, look in the mirror. If you're fat, don't say anything. I got this weird idea as I think about this: someday we get to heaven, Jesus may be fat. Have you ever thought about that? That's just a thought. One of the first things he may say was pie was good for you. I never heard that.

Let me tell you a little more: run with those you respect and admire. The people you want to be like—those are the people to hang out with. Keep the long view in life. In the long run, ask yourself, "Will this be good for me? Ultimately, is this healthy and beneficial? Will I be glad looking back that I did this? Can I tell my grandkids about it? Will I be humiliated if my family finds out about it?" Those are all searching questions. Ask them. They help.

Essential reminder for victory, verse 14: put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put him on in the morning. Wear him all day. Wear him to wherever you go. Wear him to whatever you say. Wear him to whatever you're listening to. Wear him to whatever you're watching. Right there, put him on. And by the way, make no provision for the flesh. Leave the flesh hanging in the closet. Each morning say, "Lord, I know you're in me. I take you with me, Lord, today."