Scott Brown's sermon, 'Led by the Spirit,' focuses on Romans 8:12-14 and Philippians 4:8, emphasizing the necessity of living by the Spirit rather than the flesh. Brown underscores the greatest miracle as the transformation of a sinner's heart to be led by the Spirit of God. He discusses the negative influence of modern media and electronic devices, describing them as cyber attacks on the soul that distract believers from their spiritual journey. Brown encourages believers to mortify the deeds of the flesh and to focus on what needs to live by setting their minds on the things of the Spirit. He elaborates on Philippians 4:8, highlighting the importance of meditating on things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. Brown also distinguishes between justification, which is solely God's work, and sanctification, which requires active participation from the believer. He calls for Christians, especially the young, to be vigilant about what they consume and to live in a manner that reflects their sanctification. The sermon concludes with practical advice on how to govern one's thoughts and actions to align with spiritual principles, ultimately leading to the peace of God.

Yes, please turn to Romans 8, find verse 12, Romans 8 verse 12. Romans 8 Verse 12, I will read to verse 14. 14, that will be the focus of what we'll be doing here today. Romans 8, 14, it's the inerrant, it's all sufficient, it's sweeter than honey, and it is the word of God. Praise the Lord for that.

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. The grass withers, the flower fades, but The word of our God stands forever.

Let's pray. Oh Lord, we pray that you would come and teach us your ways, that you would take us another step in our journey toward heaven, that you would move us, Lord, to be setting our minds on the things of the Spirit even more as a result of these words coming in, pressing into our conscience. Come and bless your people, oh Lord. Amen. Please be seated.

The greatest miracle that happens in the world is when a sinner's heart is changed and he begins to be led by the Spirit of God, after having been led by the Spirit of the world. He now has a new master, and he's being led by the Spirit of God. And that's the focus of what we're focusing in on this morning. The last time that we were here in this passage, we read these words that if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. And I was asking us as a congregation to consider very seriously what needs to die.

In what ways are you presenting your body to the flesh? Stop paying the flesh. Stop giving the flesh your resources. That was my admonition last time. And now as we turn to verse 14, we read the words, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

So now the focus is how to be led by the Spirit of God. And we've talked negatively about what is distracting us from the Spirit, from walking in the spirit, you know, what needs to die. I was quoting that great statement by John Owen, do you mortify, do you make it your daily work? Do it always while you live, be killing sin or it will be killing you. That's such an important thing.

Because the flesh is the cause of all of our troubles and mortifying the flesh is so critically but at the same time positively how to be led. So here we are, we're in Romans eight, and this is such a glorious chapter. The first four verses in this context focused on salvation. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And then in verses five through 14 is the whole doctrine of sanctification.

How does a person make their way toward God in their life? And then in verses 15 through 17, ahead of us, what does it mean to be a son or a daughter of God? I can't wait to get there. And then what about sufferings? Verses 17 all the way to verse 30.

And then finally, the security of the believer in verses 31 to 39. But I wanna really talk about what needs to live, not necessarily what needs to die, but we're not unaware of the devil's schemes to lure us into walking in the flesh. And I spoke last week that we've sort of entered in the era of the cyber attacks of the soul. And, you know, that the reality that we carry around these electronic devices where silently when no one is looking, the devil is looking for you in cyberspace. The cyberspace is one of the great domains of spiritual warfare that are at work in the world today, and particularly with Christians.

And there are forces at work that defeat, are being led by the spirit. They're forces at work and they have to do often with what is happening with our computers and our phones and our tablets, our YouTube accounts, Instagram, whatever it might be. There's actual warfare being waged. The algorithms are set to progressively corrupt your mind and actually people are paying to find you. That's how they find you.

And, you know, Fortune magazine recently said that if you're the average person with an iPhone, you're looking at your phone 144 times a day. That you spend four hours and 25 minutes a day looking at your phone on average you know in in American and I don't know if you or I are average I end up looking at picking up my phone quite a bit during the day you know it's interesting even the surgeon general issued an advisory the surgeon general that social media and youth mental health are in play here. And the Surgeon General wants to ban social media access to people at 16 and under. And I'm just quoting for what they say, these sites introduce a profound risk and mental health harms in ways we are only now beginning to fully understand. And we have this tyrannical enemy that is seeking us and the media tyranny is greater than the power of any government.

The media is more powerful often than your church. The media, and you parents be put on notice, the media that your children are seeing is more powerful than anything you do in your home. And I think that, you know, the computer and the iPhone in your home can easily neutralize everything you're trying to teach your children. It might be worse than the public schools that you got your kids out of. And I think that we all ought to be warned about this.

You know, I recently ran across a statement where someone said, if Paul were writing today, the church would get a letter about the way she spends her time and the things that are influencing her. You often like so randomly, you know, there's this truth, falsehood-seeking missile headed toward you all the time if you're at all involved in internet communications. And I want to just ask, you know, Are these things causing you to miss the nourishment that you need in your soul? Is this causing you to think silly, irrelevant thoughts? Is this causing your mind to be diverted away from God?

Is it causing you to be distracted from the call of God and the goodness of God and the truth of God. The point that the apostle is making here in this passage is that first of all, the things of the Spirit give life. And the second is that the things of the flesh always fail you. And so he's saying in different words, you know, make no provision for the flesh because the flesh cannot prosper the soul. The Feeding the flesh is death to you.

And so it's important to ask, you know, what needs to die. And what Paul is saying is that when God saves a person, something changes and he begins to be led by the Spirit. And it really is the greatest miracle that can take place in the life of a human being. And only God can flip that switch in a person's soul. And it puts that person on a pathway to seeking the things of the Spirit.

Now, what the apostle is saying though is, while that is true, Excel still more. And while that is true, keep putting to death the deeds of the body. In other words, sanctification has to do with what you do. Justification has to do with what God did. He did it exclusively by His own power.

Sanctification is something that you participate in. It's something that you do. You exercise your will in order to be sanctified. And so, I want to put the question before us today, not what needs to die, but what needs to live. And for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

And being led by the Spirit is so critical. You know, many, Many people, many true Christians are very far behind in their sanctification because of what they've been engaging their minds in. The apostle who wrote the book of Hebrews said that many of you should become teachers, but you've not cultivated your conscience on the word of God. You should be much further ahead. And I think all of us could say that we would be further ahead.

I know I can say this. I know I would be further ahead if I had been more judicious about the things I've read and looked at and things like that, particularly in the internet. So what does it mean to be led by the Spirit of God? The believer is, he's saying, this is a reality. The believer is led by the Spirit of God.

And what does it mean to be led? It means that the Lord puts things in front of you and he puts goods things in front of you and you want to follow them. He gave you a heart to want to follow him. And he actually has persuaded you that these things are good. You know that they are.

He doesn't force you. He's softened your heart and he influences you by his love. He shows you what is true and lovely and he leads you that way. He leads you personally, particularly by his word and by the Spirit that he has put within us. And we can set our minds on the things of the spirit just like the Apostle Paul is speaking of here.

And how? How do you do it? Well it's he leads us by his spirit through the word. Jesus said, my words are spirit and they are life. And, God, in many ways, God doesn't make you do what you don't want to do.

He leads you to do what you really do want to do. And that's the result of a transformed heart. But at the same time, we have impulses of the flesh, don't we? And how does the believer wage war against the world and the flesh and the devil and be led by the Spirit of God. And so that's what I want to talk about.

Really through the lens of Philippians 4.8. Philippians 4.8 is one of the most helpful ways to weaken the flesh. And you know, those of you who are young, let me just say, with all my heart, please embrace these with all of your heart when you're young, Because what you sow in the flesh in your youth will follow you. I know that's true. And I would just be here, particularly if you're young, you have many years ahead of you.

Be very, very careful to do everything that is commanded here in Philippians 4-8. And if you do, there'll be things that you won't live like other people. You won't watch what other people watch. But I'm just here to urge you to absolutely take this seriously. Take it with all your heart.

Don't try to minimize it. And it'll bear fruit for your whole life long. So here's the text. Verse 8 in Philippians 4. Go ahead and turn there.

We're gonna linger here in Philippians 4-8 for the entire time until we're finished. Finally, brethren, Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and saw and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you." So these are imperatives, these are commands. These are not just things to think about, these are actual commands to obey. And If you read this, you have whatever things are, whatever things are, whatever things are, they're all prefaced.

The command comes near the end. Let your mind dwell on these things. Meditate on these things. The command includes everything that comes above. Now, the apostle is writing this from a Roman prison.

He's finally arrived in Rome. We're in Romans. He's headed to Rome. He's writing to the saints there, but now in Philippians he's arrived in Rome. He writes what is arguably the most joyful book of the Bible.

And he doesn't know if this is his last letter. It might be his last letter to the church in Philippi. And he's writing this and there are many things that he commands and he's speaking about your mind share what you spend your mind share on and I like what Jay Vernon McGee said about this he said he said we need a sanctuary We need something to think about to clean up our minds. He's talking about what to dwell upon. And we've run into this word to dwell on or to meditate on.

It's that word logizomai. We've talked about it several times and it has to do with to reckon, to do the math. It's where we get our word logarithm. It's a mathematical, you know, calculation. And it's in the present tense.

It's ongoing. Continue to set your mind on these things. Do this every day. Do this every hour of the day. Set your mind on these things and don't take your time lightly because as a man thinks in his heart so is he.

We become like the things that we think about. It's just the way we are. You can't stop that. It's just the way life is. And so the things that we receive into our minds, the things that we see with our eyes, they shape our lives.

Everything, everything shapes your life. And so the apostle Paul is saying, be careful. But if you read this whole section it's very clear that the Apostle is telling the Philippians how to stabilize their life, how to think rightly, how to have peace, how to have a life of peace. That's what he's driving at. You know, we live in this world of tumult and upheaval, even in our own souls.

And he's saying, how do you have peace in this world? Here's how you do it. How do you escape the depression that comes over you? How do you escape the deception that's all around you? How do you do that?

Because it is all around us. And he's talking about how you govern your entertainment and I'm confident, you know, the Lord had this here, you know, having full ordained the internet generation because these things apply In all times, in all eras of the different types of media, you can trace the history of media. But this applies to all things. And these are the whatevers. These are the whatevers.

So what are you supposed to think about? Well, whatever. Well, whatever things are true. The greener grass that you're looking for in your entertainment is found right here. It's not everything that shows up on your YouTube channel.

It's not your fantasy books. It's not your movies. The greener grass isn't there. And we have an entire culture that thinks the greener grass is there. And it isn't there.

That's what the Apostle is saying. No, don't look there. And he's talking to us about how to think Christianly. Jesus Christ desires to revolutionize your mind and make you think like no one else in the world thinks. He wants to radicalize you to what is good.

He wants to stabilize you. He wants to make your feet firm. He wants you to be strong. He wants you to be at peace and stately in the midst of a world that's changing. And so These are commands and I want to just ask all of us, are you taking them seriously?

I'm not here to tell you what you can watch or don't ask me about a program or anything like that. I just wanna know if you take this seriously. That you want to obey it. These are direct commands. And the question is, you know, do these, do these glorious principles govern the music that you play in your house?

Do these principles govern the music you play when you get in your car or when no one is looking and you're looking into your phone or you put a movie on, are you serious about actually obeying these in everything that you do? That's really the question that's here on the table. I think this passage is like a litmus test for all internet activity and all movies and all everything. Does it pass the test? Honestly, like with, I mean, be honest.

Does it really? That's really the question. So there are, it starts out with six things. You see the outline in front of you. Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, and whatever things are of good report.

And then after that, there are two summary statements, there are two actions to take, and then there's a result. So that's this passage right here. He says, finally, brethren, whatever things are true. In other words, meditate on what is real, what is genuine, what is reliable. And by the way, there's lots of truth to meditate on.

This is not like, oh I'm so limited. You know there's so much truth to meditate on. God is not wanting to keep you from anything good. He's only wanting to focus you on what is true of real and genuine. And he's saying don't occupy your mind with things that are false, that are untrue, or things that are distorted.

If you dwell on distortions, you will be distorted. Distorted thoughts produce distorted living and that's really the point and we are we are products of the thoughts that we have. And God made us that way. I was reading J.C. Ryle this week.

And he talks about novels and romance stories and tales of fiction. And he says this, here in short is the great danger of reading most novels romances and works of fiction the greater part of them give a false or incorrect view of human nature The readers of such writings get their minds filled with wrong conceptions of what the world is. Their notions of mankind become visionary and unreal. Let me entreat my readers once for all to draw their ideas of human nature from the Bible and not from novels. You know, it was at actually a very early age.

It occurred to me that the screenwriters, these were people who were making up situations out of their own corrupt hearts. And I began to not want to listen to read the fantasy writers. I became unfanned of fiction because the fiction writers are just corrupt people creating these worlds that fit their corrupt nature and I didn't want to be, my mind to be led that way. Whatever things are true. Well I'll change the subject for a second.

There are so many issues that we could talk about. Like, let's talk about this having to do a church life. You know, people often, they come to church and they're looking for an emotional fix. But they're not looking for truth. They're looking for an emotional fix.

But it's the truth that sets you free, not emotional fixes go away. That's sort of the problem. But the truth makes you strong, and it keeps you strong. Here's another issue. If you knew everything there is to know about the left as opposed to the right, would you be happy?

If you knew what the most popular entertainers and politicians are saying, would it make you happier? No, whatever is true. Stick with what is true and what is real. Next, how to be led by the Spirit. Whatever things are noble.

This is how you're led by the Spirit. You set your mind on the things that are noble. This word has to do with what is honorable, what is worthy of respect, what is dignified, not silly, but significant. It stimulates thoughts that improve. It stimulates thoughts that elevate, not trivialize, whatever things are honorable or noble.

It's translated in other versions. And it's very interesting, this word is used of deacons as honorable and it's also used of older men. It has to do with building your life on what is, you're thinking on the things that are noble or honorable and focusing your mind on those things. And then the third way to be led by the Spirit is whatever things are just. Whatever things are just.

He's talking about the word justice. Now in other words, you could say whatever things are right. I believe the New American Standard translates as whatever things are right. In other words, whatever things are consistent with justice. Like the prophet said, to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

And this word normally speaks of penal justice and punishment. And to Set our minds on the things that are just or the things that are right. It was Abraham who, the purpose of his life was to teach his children to keep the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice. That's Genesis 18, 19. You know, God is the one who defines justice.

Set your mind on the things that are truly just or right. Meditate on these things. And then the fourth way to be led by the Spirit, whatever things are pure. Whatever things are pure. This word pure comes from the word holy, not polluted, uncontaminated, not mixed with impurity.

It's interesting too that this word in classical Greek was used like strength, you know, uncorrupted by the world. You know, God's design is for purity. And we know the Lord Jesus Christ, he said to take extreme measures regarding purity. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. If your right hand causes you to sin, chop it off.

He's not telling you to chop your hand off. He's talking about extreme measures that are necessary for sexual sin. Be holy for I am holy, says the Lord. And that requires vigilance. By the way, one of the roles of a husband is to wash his wife in the water of the word, to be involved in her sanctification.

And one of the things that I often find myself telling young couples who want to get married, I say, you know, will your wife be more holy because you're her husband or less? Are you going to take her into more holiness or less? Are you going to corrupt her in any way? Are you gonna set unclean things before her eyes? Because you actually have, as a husband, have a distinctive responsibility to do all you can to wash your wife in the water of the word that she might be holy and a pure bride dressed in fine linen.

You know, is her husband bringing more and more holy things into the home, into the bedroom, into the place where the computer screens are seen? You know, husbands have to understand their role in the world. But what he's saying here, how you be led by the Spirit is whatever things are pure. And then the Fifth, whatever things are lovely. This word speaks of what is pleasing, what is attractive, what is beautiful, what is causing true delight, not ugly, not degrading.

You know, the apostle Paul to the Ephesian church, which lived in a very highly sexualized culture there in Ephesus, he said, you know, don't speak of the things that the Gentiles do. He says it's shameful even to speak of such things. But when you have media, you have this blast of what the Gentiles do. They're showing you what the Gentiles do. How much do you want to see of what the Gentiles do?

Well, they do things that are shameful and and frankly You know, you don't want to be the person Who's bringing unclothed men and women into your house on your computer screens. They are in your house. Whatever things are lovely. Now of course, you know, loveliness is an attribute of God because God, God is lovely. God, God is beautiful.

And when we come to celebrate the Lord's Day, we're doing what David said in Psalm 27, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. That's why everything that has happened so far in this service has been holy, because God is holy And God wants to make a holy people. There has not been one unholy word spoken in this place today. Only words of life and truth and goodness. In every song, in everything.

Praise the Lord. This is the kind of culture that God wants to create with his people. A culture of holiness and purity. You know, it's so easy today. You know, depending on your news feeds and things like that, to fill your mind with the great scandals of the day.

Is that, how helpful is that? To begin the day talking about the great scandals in the day and what all the ridiculous things the Gentiles are doing and repeating them. The great political, you know, insanities, you know, the corrupt personalities of the day and what they're saying. Now, You cannot even look at the news without seeing that. But I'm just saying there's a way where your mind is just saturated with that.

And this becomes the whole structure of the meditations of your heart. And all your conversations are about what all the bad guys are doing. I'm just asking, is that helpful to your soul? I'm not saying it's sinful to know what the bad guys are doing. I know a few things that the bad guys are doing.

I want to know what the bad guys are doing. But I'm not meditating on them. I don't want to shape every meditation of my heart or my conversations about that. Behold the beauty of the Lord. Well here's a question.

You answer this yourself. How many old unholy things can you see with your eyes while you're scrolling through your iPhone? Oh, you're just scrolling. How many unholy things pop up while you scroll. Evil people doing evil things right before your eyes.

And again, I would just say young people especially, what you sow in your youth will follow you all the days of your life. It'll shape your conscience and your sensibilities and the sixth, the sixth how to be led by the spirit whatever things are of good report He's talking about Things of excellent reputation It's a word that speaks about what is commendable. Is it, are you meditating on what is commendable? The word has to do with what is highly regarded. And there's some places in the Greek usage where it's actually used in the context of a hero, heroism.

You know, something that is heroic, something that is spoken well of. It is of good report. And hero, it's good to have heroes. We live in a day where nobody's a hero But You know heroes Heroes are kind of a protection. They inspire us to a higher life.

It's actually a good thing. You know, see how they stood in front of temptation and pressure, how they rode through the rapids of their life. You know, heroes are so good, you know, for that. How they stood in the face of temptation and how they were an example how they give us hope You know who can read the story of Gideon and not have hope you know there's so many heroes in the Bible, these are not perfect people. And in Romans 15, we're told these things were written for our learning that we might have hope.

Whatever things are of good report. We're living in a world where It might just be impossible to escape the forces of the algorithms who are seeking you, to find you. Because they're always sending them things, they're always sending us things that we have already wanted. And instead, the problem with what we have going on right now is that instead of being taken to the glory of God, the algorithms just take us more deeply into ourselves. And they radicalize us for good or for bad.

And then, so after these, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever things are of good report. Then the apostle turns to summary statements. If there is any virtue, if there is any virtue. He's talking about Merit. Interestingly enough, it's an interesting word because sometimes it's connected with manliness.

Manly virtue. Moral excellence, the high ground. In Classical Greek, it was often used for those who stood against the tide or stood against the wind. You know, virtue is like that. It stands against what isn't good.

It's not like the emasculated nice guy. It's the strong man. If there is any virtue, right? It's a manly kind of a word. And then if there's anything praiseworthy, Again, he's talking about what is commendable.

I'm just defining the Greek word. It is commendable. It is of infinite worth. It is worthy of admiration. It is approved by God.

You know, It is praiseworthy. It's something that's worthy of being praised. Let your mind meditate on things that are worthy of praise. You know, so much of our depression and broken relationships happens because we don't set our minds on what is praiseworthy. We set our minds on what is wrong.

I mean you've always, you always got alternatives for your mind, right? You don't always have to think about what's wrong. And he's saying, no, think about what is worthy of praise. Let your mind focus on that. You know, sometimes you have people, they grow up and the problem, The reason they're so discouraged is their parents never taught them to focus on what was praiseworthy.

They were just always talking about what's negative. But you always have alternatives of what you think about. You know, you can focus your mind on what's wrong with people. You can always find something wrong with people. You can find something wrong with your boss and think about it a lot.

You can think about what's wrong with your country and that's all you think about. You can think, oh and please don't do this. Everything that's wrong with your pastors, well especially me. You know, you can think about what's wrong with everybody if you want. You could Go ahead, spend your life doing that.

And you'll just always be complaining and you'll always be discouraged about this or that. Everybody's falling short and you're just gonna work yourself into deeper depression. So he gives these two summary statements, if there's any virtue, if there's anything praiseworthy. And then he gives us actions to take. And here's where we get to the imperatives that collect up all the other things that were said previously.

And he's saying to take action, you know, there's something to do. Do the math, you know, there's a logarithm here you got to, you know, exercise. Meditate on these things, legizimai, and meditate on these things. It's so important that we create a mental life where we're focused on the things that are life giving, not death producing because the mindset on the Spirit is life and peace. The mindset on the flesh is death.

You know the Lord is so good. In Hebrews 2, 16, it says, he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. This is one way he gives aid to his children, is by helping them to focus their minds. He teaches us to set our minds on the things that above, not on the things that are on the earth. Colossians 3.1, He tells us in Romans 12, one and two, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

It all starts in the mind. In 2 Peter 1 5, Peter says, give all diligence, add to your faith virtue to virtue knowledge. Jesus said you shall love the Lord your God with all of your mind. Peter 1.13 says gird up the loins of your mind. Ephesians 6 speaks of putting on the whole armor of God.

He says in Romans 12, abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. Solomon said keep your heart with all diligence for it's the wellspring of life. Everything flows from what we think and I believe God has given these as parameters for All of your entertainment, all of your relationships, everything. Your conversations with your spouse, your friends, everything. And when you connect to a computer or watch a movie or go to a concert does it pass the test?

When you're scrolling your phone does it pass the test? So the second action to the first action to take is to meditate and then second is to put them into practice. Verse 9, the things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. What he's saying is you've seen, you've seen, you've seen this already. You've already seen how I did this.

Follow me. He's, he's, they've seen these things in action and there's someone to look at and Paul is saying be imitators of me. In Philippians 3, 17, he says, follow me as I follow Christ. There are four things here. Things you have learned, number one.

Things you have received. Things you have seen. And things that you have done. Those are the things that he's focusing in on. And then the result, the result is the peace of God.

And the peace of God will be with you. And you cannot experience the peace of God without setting your mind on the things of God. Because your emotions are servants of your mind. Write that down. Your emotions are the servants of your mind.

It's the way God wired you. That's why he says, set your mind on the things above. Not only are your emotions the servant of your mind, your body is the servant of your soul. You will never be sufficiently sanctified or protected by the peace of God by spending your time flicking your fingers at the internet and then taking a five minute Bible study in the morning. That won't work.

Because you're being radicalized to other things. You know, the Bible says that parents should be, Bible tells parents what to do. Teach your children when you sit in the house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up. In other words, let them saturate, let that saturate everything in your family life, not these movies. Let God and His Word and everything that's true and noble and just fill everything.

But it really begins with the heads of households. And you're the ones who are responsible for everything that comes into your house. So you only have so much time in this life, so be sure to spend it scrolling through meaningless pages looking for some stimulant. You only have so much time in this life, so be sure you fill your mind with silly songs. Be sure you entertain yourself with ungodly entertainers.

Be sure that you spend your time arguing with strangers about politics on the internet. Be sure that you spend your time posing on social media. Be sure that you spend your time looking at what other people are doing with their lives instead of living your life. Live in such a way where you can say, I have been crucified to the world, Galatians 6, 14. Well, back to the cyber attacks of the soul, the entertainers, the movies, the Twitterspheres.

I have a friend who was a Marine in Afghanistan, and we were talking about new warfare in Afghanistan, and he was telling me about the Thor 3. It's a new weapon, Thor 3. It's a radio-controlled counter-explosive device. And I was so fascinated by what he said. And after he told me this, I thought, Christians need a Thor 3 for their entertainment and their internet activity.

What Thor 3 does is, it was first used in Afghanistan to counteract cell phone bombs. What's a cell phone bomb? You wire a cell phone to a bomb and When you get near that bomb, your enemy makes a phone call to the cell phone, and the bomb detonates because of the signal to that phone. It only costs about 15, the decoder, the detonator costs about $15. It's a great way to kill a lot of people.

Very cheap. So the problem is, you know, you're walking down the road and there's an IED in the road, you don't know it's there. And when you get near the bomb, the enemy makes a phone call to the cell phone. And so what the US military did is they contracted a manufacturing development company to build something to jam the signals. And so they created a backpack.

Soldiers carry a backpack with radio frequency jammers. And the signals are impeded. So Thor 3 is a signal jamming device carried on a backpack of a U.S. Marine to jam the signal from getting through to detonate the bomb. So picture a backpack.

And the transceivers are mounted on the backpacks to jam the radio connection with the phone. And, but they're different, they're different frequencies that have to be accounted for, and they do that. It prohibits the connection so that the Marines are not blown up on the road. And I think Christians need kind of a Thor 3 for their entertainment and internet activity to cut out the signals that lead to your death. Because so much of what comes to us is sent to us, is seeking us out, is for our death.

We have to really understand that. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do. And the God of peace will be with you. I'd like for us just to take a moment of silence to just meditate on these things.

These wonderful things for the soul. Oh Lord, make in us a sanctuary of holy things, a holy people for your own possession. Help us to make progress further. Help us to learn what to, what needs to die and how to make the very best things live. I pray, Lord, that even in this congregation, you would make us a holy nation, a holy people, a people who set their mind on the things above, a people who actually obey your commands and make the