A Well-Ordered Life

[0:00] Let's turn in our Bibles to the book of 1 Thessalonians. We are going to continue in chapter number 4 with a message on a well-ordered life. You know, there's some things that are a part of a life that honors Jesus, and there's things that are not part of a life that honors Jesus.

[0:18] Are we all on the same page? Okay. And we've started off chapter number 4 with a very clear statement of, there are things that don't honor Jesus.

[0:30] There is a way of life that is the opposite of holiness, and he says, put it off, put it away, because that's not the way that honors Jesus. You see, this whole series has been titled Waiting for the Son, Waiting on the Son.

[0:45] We are waiting on Jesus, right? He has saved us, and we are looking forward to his return. And the way, it's all about the way of life that honors him while we wait.

[0:56] While we're here, what does that life look like? What is the kind of life that is walking with Jesus? What is the kind of life that is living in truth? What is the kind of life that is living in love?

[1:09] And, you know, coming out of chapter number 3, it's been very strongly stated in the Scripture that love is to abound. We are to walk in faith. We are to walk in hope.

[1:19] Our hearts are to be established in holiness. Faith, hope, and love, those are at the center of the Christian life. And so he says, we're going to walk in those, and we're going to flourish in them, and we're going to abound in them.

[1:31] Now, what is it that... Let me give you this. What... Let me ask you this. What do you call it when someone's words and their behaviors don't match up?

[1:42] What do you call that? Hypocrite. Hypocrite. Exactly. Okay. That's what's going to be really dealt with in this section of Scripture, is a life of hypocrisy that's not matching.

[1:54] The truth that we claim is not matching the life that we live. And in particular, it's going to be about how we wait, how we look for the return of Jesus.

[2:04] Because as we study down through this, we're going to see that these Thessalonian believers, they had really kind of gotten locked in in almost like a tunnel vision on the return of Christ. So much so that they took some pretty fanatical steps.

[2:18] Some of them did. Of course, this was not all of these people, but there were enough that had locked in on that, the return of Christ. And hey, Jesus is coming back. It's imminent, right? What is imminent? That means any moment, today, this hour, it's upon us.

[2:33] At any moment, the return of Christ can happen. That is imminent. And they, knowing the imminent return of Christ, some of them said, you know what? Well, then why work? Why do anything?

[2:44] I mean, if it's like he could come back at any moment, any time, like, let's just sit here and be ready. But that was a misapplication of a misunderstood truth, right?

[2:56] Because they said, if Jesus is coming back at any moment, then why do anything, right? Why prepare for the future? Why be wise with the resources that God has given us?

[3:09] God will provide for me. He's coming back. So you know what? I'm just going to kind of wait here. And that was a misapplication of that truth, a misunderstanding of that truth.

[3:20] They didn't work. They didn't provide for themselves. And they started becoming freeloaders on others. They were misusing others, misusing others' generosity. And the world saw that and said, that's hypocrisy.

[3:34] You claim to love God and you claim to love others, but you're taking advantage of people by basically making them provide for you because you're not going to take care of your own business.

[3:45] And that was a problem, acting in misguided ways because of misunderstood truth. They didn't get a hold of it. And so they started acting wrong. You know, there's even other ways that we can do this.

[3:58] And this is maybe a little bit outside the scope of what we're going to be studying tonight. But you know, we can stand for truth in a wrong way, right? We can stand for truth in a mean way.

[4:10] We can stand for truth in a fighting way. But what does the Scripture tell us about how we speak truth? We speak the truth in love, right?

[4:20] We speak the truth in love. That is the method of communicating truth. And so this matter of laboring that we're going to talk about, the matter of how we speak the truth, all of those things, they have to come from a proper understanding of truth and a proper application of truth.

[4:40] And that's kind of what we got going on here tonight. So God answers this question for us. What is the life that honors Jesus? What does the life of waiting for Jesus look like? Here's a couple things.

[4:50] It is living in holiness. We saw that last time. It's living in holiness. It is growing in love for other Christians and for those outside of the body of Christ. It is being ambitious to lead a quiet life.

[5:04] That's going to be a big portion of our state tonight. And it's making an honest living. That's what's shown here in 1 Thessalonians, what it is to live a life that is pleasing to God in light, in hope of His return.

[5:18] And so let's read our Scripture tonight. We'll pray and then we'll jump into this study this evening. Verse number 9. But as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.

[5:32] And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in Macedonia. But we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more, and that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that ye may walk honestly toward them there without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

[5:54] We're going to pause there. We're going to pray. Heavenly Father, we come to you tonight. Lord, I pray that you'd help us as we open your Word together, as we study it, as we consider what it is to live a life that honors you, to live a life that is defined by love and driven by love and shaped by love.

[6:10] God, I pray that tonight we would take a step forward in our growth as people who love you and as people who love others, as people who are striving to have a testimony with those around us that is respectable, that is honorable, that is most of all glorifying to you.

[6:28] Lord, I pray that you would use your Word and apply it to our hearts as only you can. We praise things in Jesus' name. Amen. The first thing that we're going to come to as we begin working through this passage of Scripture, he starts off with one of the big topics in this book, and that's love.

[6:45] And it's like, okay, love again. Why are we going to talk about love again? Well, we're going to talk about love again because the type of love that God teaches us is an increasing love.

[6:55] That's your first blank there. God teaches us increasing love. Would you look back with me at verse number 9 and 10? He's starting off saying, all right, we talked about lust and what it is to how we should not live in lust because that is obviously, that is not love.

[7:12] That is the antithesis of love. Now, let's talk about love. He's going to say, when we touch on this topic of brotherly love, he doesn't even have to really write them about this.

[7:24] Now, this is kind of amazing. Let's read verse 9 again, and we're going to start working through this. But as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you. The question that hit me was like, okay, Paul, if you're writing that you don't need to write about this, why are you writing about it?

[7:40] Anyone with me? If you're writing like, I really shouldn't have to tell you this, but I am going to tell you this. Then why are you telling them this? Is it because there's some deficiency?

[7:51] All right, let's read and let's think about this. Why is he writing this? He says, As touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.

[8:04] And indeed, ye do it towards all the brethren, which are in all Macedonia, but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more. Essentially, he's writing to encourage.

[8:16] He's writing to encourage. He's writing to strengthen. Because certainly, he does not need to give them a dissertation on love. And why is that? Here's your next blank. Love is natural for the Christian.

[8:27] Love is natural for the Christian. Who teaches us to love? Do you notice what it said there? Who is it? God teaches us to love. How incredible is that? We don't need a class to say, All right, step one of loving people is this.

[8:41] Step two of loving people is this. Step three of loving people is this. Why? Because when we look at Jesus, and we look at what he did for us, and when we look at how he laid down his life for us, that is the greatest lesson on love that we can ever have.

[8:56] Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. We know what it is. We've seen what it is to live a life of love, because what happens?

[9:07] When we get saved, love becomes natural for the Christian. It's expressed in our new family. Now, there's two different kinds of loves that are talked about here. When you are in verse number nine, he says, as touching brotherly love.

[9:21] That's translated from a Greek word, Philadelphia. You've probably heard of this before. There's Philadelphia love, which is like a family type of love. He's basically saying, listen, you know how to love your brothers and sisters in Christ.

[9:32] You have come into this family. You found a fellowship. I mean, when we, there is something special about a congregation. There's something special about a church. There's something even special about, you know, the few times I've gotten the chance to visit a mission field, a foreign field, and you gather with a group of believers, and you sing songs together, and you open the word of God together, and there's worship, and there's teaching, and there's praise.

[10:01] There's a brotherhood there. Even though I can't speak all the words, and I can barely have any type of conversations like, these are people who love Jesus. These are people who know God, and we know what it is to love them.

[10:13] And that just comes natural. It is a warmth, a care, a concern, friendship, camaraderie. It's getting up at 5.30, and running out, or not running. I didn't run. Greg ran, but we were out hiking this morning with a couple Joshes and some other people.

[10:28] We're out hiking this morning, and there's a camaraderie there. We're brothers in Christ, and we're out there, you know, climbing the mountain. That was fun. That's Philadelphia. But then he goes on, and he says, you as touching brotherly love, I don't need to write you about that.

[10:43] You're taught of God to love one another. And now that, you might guess, that love is the agape love. That is the love of God. That is the love that is giving.

[10:55] It is an unqualified love. It's a one-way love. It's an undeserved love, and that's the kind of love that God has put on display for us, and that it has been shown to us at the cross.

[11:06] It's not concerned with how deserving we are, how good we are, but it is simply, I love you. That's an amazing thing, and it's much like what happened in Deuteronomy when God's talking about his love for, or it's talking about God's love for the children of Israel.

[11:26] Let's look at these. I think they have them in the back there. Deuteronomy 7, verses 6 and 8. These are so good. For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

[11:42] He says, you are a special people. Israel is God's chosen people, but why did God choose them? Look at verse number seven. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you are more in number than any people, for you were the fewest of all people.

[11:57] Listen for the reason. He's gonna give not reasons. It's like, I did not love you and choose you because you're wonderful and you're great and you're strong and you're powerful or you're advanced.

[12:07] You're the model civilization. They were a small tribe, a few people, nomadic, wandering about, often going astray.

[12:18] But look at what it says in verse number eight. But because the Lord loved you. That's the only reason. Did you notice that? It wasn't because of these things that you didn't have, because he didn't have them.

[12:31] But because the Lord loved you and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn to your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

[12:44] That is the love of God. Not a love that we deserve, but a love that is given, a love that he works in our hearts. It's much like what happens in 1 Thessalonians chapter three, verse 12. We're gonna reference this verse a number of times throughout this study.

[12:57] Would you look back with me at chapter three, verse 12? In the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another and toward all men, even as we do toward you.

[13:09] In that verse, who is making love abound in our hearts? It's God. It's God. It's not something that we can coerce anyone into doing, to become more loving, but God, he makes love to abound in our hearts.

[13:24] And what is Paul doing here? Let's go back to that original question. If he doesn't need to write to them about love because God teaches to them to love, then why is he writing about love? Well, Paul's kind of acting like a coach here.

[13:37] He's kind of acting, he's acting as a motivator, an encourager. He's affirming, saying, you know love. You genuinely know what it is to love.

[13:47] I don't know about you, but one of the most encouraging things that someone has ever said to me was, you know what? I think you're the real deal. And that's the, brethren, that's not to my credit because I have plenty of blemishes and failures and stumblings.

[14:05] But to affirm in someone's life that they have a real love for God and a real love for others, that is an incredibly motivating, encouraging thing. And that's what he's doing.

[14:16] He's saying, you know love. You do love people. I see that in you. Keep on loving. That's what he's doing. He's acting like a coach saying, hey, I can't give you anything new, but I can motivate you and I can support you and I can maybe give you some direction here and there, but you know what?

[14:34] You have the real thing. You've got the skills. Now let me just help you continue in the way. And that's what he's doing. He's saying, listen, continue in love, increase more and more. That is the kind of life.

[14:45] Love's increase. Here's your next blank. Love's increase is the goal for the Christian. This matter of love is not something, again, I love my check boxes, but this is not something that we check off and say, yep, I've got the love lesson down.

[14:58] I've got it down. I know how to love. I can just go throughout my life and never have to think about it again. I just love people. Love is something that we know how to do. Love is something that God has shown us, but love is something that is designed to increase in the Christian life.

[15:14] Did you notice that when we get down to verse number 10? And indeed, ye do it toward all the brethren which are in Macedonia, but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more.

[15:28] New levels of love, new levels of compassion, learning how to express love. You know, that's honestly probably one of the hardest parts, is it not? Even whether it's really any relationship or marriage or with parenting or with friends, with people around you, it's one thing to feel love and it's another thing to express love.

[15:47] That's a hard thing and that's something that we need to be practiced in. But why is increasing love the goal for the Christian? Here's a couple things to consider. Increasing is the nature of love.

[16:00] Overflowing is the nature of love. More love is the nature of love. Right? It's kind of like you've probably heard somebody say, you know, being married to my spouse, this is a wonderful thing, but you know what I've found?

[16:13] That it just keeps getting better. I know there's many people in here that would testify to that. That it's like, oh, I'm so in love as a dating or engaged or a newly married couple.

[16:28] But you get to places of deeper love, of more love, of a love of a different nature because it continues to grow. See, love is not a finite resource.

[16:39] That's one of the beliefs that is a little bit difficult. I know personally for me is love is not a finite resource. It's not like you spend love and then you're out of it. That's really not how love works.

[16:51] A heart transformed by love, it keeps on loving. That's what God does. Someone said this, while abiding in love, we must also be abounding in love because that too is the nature of love.

[17:05] It can never be content with what it has given. It has to give more. Love does not set quotas. Love does not quit. Love like Niagara Falls never ceases to pour itself out.

[17:17] Oh, that's pretty good. That's a good way of putting it. Love keeps growing. How can this be? How can this be? You know, because this is one that I asked a similar question last week, but I think this is like at the key of every scripture is do you believe this to be true?

[17:33] Do you believe that love can always increase and abound in your heart and life? Do you believe it to be true? How can that happen?

[17:43] How can that happen? Here's two thoughts for you to jot down because God gives us a capability to love, a capability to love. Love is the fruit of the spirit. It's something that we're not alone in this trying to work up love or trying to do better loving.

[17:57] It's like God is working in us. He is teaching us love and He's working in us to express and live in love towards others. And we have an increasing capacity to love.

[18:08] Now, those might sound similar, capability and capacity, but think about it this way. You know, Graham, where did Graham go? Is he still? Oh, he stepped out. Okay. That little girl that they're gonna welcome into the world, that is just, those of you who are parents, you know that that just is like that day when you have that little baby, it's just like, your heart just explodes.

[18:31] It's amazing. You know, and the funny thing is, and we learn, I experience this a little bit, is when another one, another child comes along, it's like, man, am I gonna be able to love this one like I do that one?

[18:42] Because man, that's just so wonderful. Can it get any better? And it's not like the love quotient gets split in half and it's like, okay, we'll give this one 50% of love, we'll give this one 50% of love.

[18:52] What happens? Love doesn't divide, it multiplies. It continues growing. And it's like, wow, I didn't think that I'd be able to love anymore. But I can, and it's a wonderful thing.

[19:03] Here's the problem. We look at people more like problems to be dealt with than we do as individuals to be loved. Because if we looked at those around us like God does as people to be loved, could it be that instead of feeling like we have to take whatever love we can muster and like chop it up into little bits and distribute it the best we can, we'd say, wow, this is a person to love.

[19:31] This is a person that God's put in my path. This person, man, I need to show them the love of Christ. And God can show his love through me. Love's increase is the goal for the Christian.

[19:42] Now, this all comes to, and it flows right into the next part, which this almost sounds completely disjointed, right? We're talking about love, and then we're going to talk about labor, and we're going to talk about a quiet life, a well-ordered life.

[19:56] How do those go together? Well, here's what it is. There's love that is increasing within, and as love is expressed to others, and as selfishness dies, there's a testimony with the world that is honorable and is respectable and is glorifying to God.

[20:15] Now, let me say that again because I kind of kind of mished a bunch of things together. We're loving God. We're loving others. The problem was that these believers took spiritual things and used them to act selfish and basically say, listen, I'm going to wait for Jesus to come back.

[20:31] I'm not going to work. I'm not going to take care of my own things. Hey, brother, can you help me out here, right? Let's get lunch. Let's, you know, I need a hand because I'm, you know, I quit my job and I left my farm because, you know what, Jesus is coming back, but he didn't come back today, so, you know, can I get a little grain from you?

[20:49] Yeah. That's a selfish behavior that was driven by a misunderstood truth. And so, what he's saying is, listen, when we are loving God and when we love others, God leads us, here's your next two blanks, God leads us into a quiet, honest life.

[21:05] You see, for them, this spirituality, this fascination, if you will, with the return of Christ, and it was, it's not that the return of Jesus or eschatology or things to come are things that we should not look at and be enamored with and be excited about the return of Christ.

[21:22] But, just like anything, when we grab onto one thing and let go of the other things that God has given us, we put ourselves in the wrong place. Are you with me?

[21:32] Right? We can grab onto one thing and we can let go of something else and it puts us in the wrong place where we are dishonoring to God and that's exactly what had happened. Listen to this. Someone wrote, Some believers had taken imminence of the Lord's return to mean it was pointless to work and were idling around waiting for the second coming.

[21:52] Now, they had become a burden to their brethren and a mockery to the unsaved. It's like, can you believe this, people? They say there's this king coming back and now they won't pay their bills and they won't work and they won't do the things that, you know, they should be doing, right?

[22:09] And this is not Christians saying this. This is the lost world saying this. Looking at Christians saying, what are you doing? You're being foolish. And what Paul's saying is those who would look at a believer that's living in a foolish way and say, that's not smart, that's not wise, whether they're saved or lost, they're right.

[22:31] Isn't that something? He's saying, listen, you're living in foolishness, you're not living in love, you need to live a quiet life. Here's your next blank. The quiet life is a holy ambition.

[22:41] Now, we need to define this and we need to apply it. We got a lot to do before we close out. The Christian's aim is a well-ordered life. Now, what do we mean by that? There's a couple things that are said here in verse number 11 that we need to walk through.

[22:56] He says, and that ye study to be quiet. That phrase, study to be quiet, is really fascinating. We don't think about studying in quiet like as things, like as going together.

[23:08] But what is the idea here of studying? Studying is the idea of having an aim, having a goal, having something you're working towards. Having an ambition is a good word for it. In Romans 15, 20, this is a verse you might write down.

[23:21] The same word here that's translated to study in Romans 15, 20 is translated strive, where Paul's talking about striving to see the gospel preached. That's a pretty powerful desire and ambition.

[23:33] It's like, man, I want people to hear about Jesus. He says, just as much as I want people to hear about Jesus, I want to live a quiet life. So then, what's a quiet life? Well, it'd be a life that is peaceful, that is unhurried, that is uncontentious, that is not driven by loud things.

[23:51] You know, there's people that maybe you know or you've seen on TV that they have a frantic life. They have a life that just, it's like it latches onto drama and gossip.

[24:07] And whatever the latest controversy is, and it's like, I got to go over here and hear something. And I got to go over there and hear something. And I got to go take you over here and tell somebody. That was some of the things that were addressed in 2 Thessalonians chapter number 3 because apparently they didn't get the message the first time to study, to live a quiet life.

[24:25] And so we had to redo it. Let's turn over there actually because this will fill in some of the blanks of like, what do you mean by a quiet life? 2 Thessalonians chapter number 3 and when you get down to verse number 10, he's going to take a much longer portion of scripture, a number of verses to say, listen, you didn't get the message.

[24:47] Let me clear some things up for you. And it gets even a little bit more bold. Look at this with me. It says, for even when we were with you, this we commanded you that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

[24:59] That comes from what happened in 1 Thessalonians chapter number 4 because he's going to say that you study to be quiet, to do your own business, to work with your own hands.

[25:10] Those are all the things that are contained in that verse. And he says, we told you that if you don't work, you should not eat. Verse number 11. And here's the opposite of a quiet life.

[25:21] For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busy bodies. Now, that word busybody, that's not a nice thing. I haven't heard anybody use that like in everyday speech.

[25:35] Like, man, you know, Sister So-and-So, she's just such a busybody. Or that guy. Oh boy. You better watch out when he comes around. He's such a busybody. Okay, what is that? A busybody is, there's my definition.

[25:46] I thought this was a good definition. One who meddles intrusively and unprofitably in the affairs of others. Someone who's just going around, stirring up trouble, getting into everybody's business.

[25:59] And the problem is, and what he says here is, the problem is, is that you don't have anything profitable to do, so you're going to go mess with somebody else. Right? You don't have any responsibilities that you're taking care of, so you're just going and trying to find something to occupy your boredom.

[26:14] And they didn't have Facebook, so they couldn't go and scroll and be busybodies on Facebook. They had to like actually walk, you know, to somebody's house and like, oh, what's going on with you today? And then go over here.

[26:24] It's like, you won't believe what I just heard from so-and-so, right? That's busybody behavior. It's real. Oh, man. What does this all come down to?

[26:37] These people were selfish. They were selfish. They wanted others to take care of them. They want others to entertain them. Think about it. They want others to take care of them.

[26:47] They're not laboring. They want others to entertain them with their gossip and whatever they can go around and say. And look at what Paul says in verse number 12. Now them that are such, we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread.

[27:05] Look at what he says. It's like, you've got way too much time on your hands. Go find something to do. Do your work. Do your business. Take care of your responsibilities and eat your own bread.

[27:15] Don't go trying to get something from somebody else living a selfish life. That's what he says. Because to live a selfish life, is that not the opposite of love?

[27:27] Is that not to go around and to take advantage of others and to use their business for your own entertainment and to use their resources for your own sustenance?

[27:39] Like, that is like the exact opposite of love. Because what does love look like when it comes to working? When it comes to working is taking care of your responsibilities, in Ephesians, it says this.

[27:53] Ephesians 4.28 talks about how that there were those that stole. Listen to what it says. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good that he may have to give to him that needeth.

[28:07] That sounds a lot more like love, doesn't it? Right? Working so you can take care of your own business so that you can even bless and be of benefit to others who truly do need help.

[28:17] They do need sustenance. The quiet life is set in contrast with laziness, is set in contrast with expecting others to provide for you, with stealing, with being a busy body like we talked about, with being needlessly talkative.

[28:35] It's almost like, because what's the opposite of quiet, loud, just going around, jattering here and there and all these things. And there is a way of life that's like that that is dishonoring to God.

[28:46] Now, what comes of a quiet life? The fruit of a quiet life? And we've got to get down to the end here and we'll close out. An honest reputation. An honest reputation. You see, for the Christian, anything less than love, it taints our reputation as believers.

[29:04] You say that you serve a God who is love and a God who loved us and gave himself for us, but if we are to live in anything other than love, then our reputation with those that are without, those that are not part of the faith, not part of the body, like, they look at that and say, you say you know a God who is love and you say that you love God and you say that you love others, but you don't know how to take care of the basic things of life.

[29:31] You don't know how to love. An honest reputation. The second thing is sufficiency. And this is really cool. Let's go back there to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. When we get down to verse number 13, excuse me, not verse 13, 12.

[29:46] This is the last verse. We'll close out here with 12. That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, that's what we just talked about, and that ye may have lack of nothing. And this is why I say sufficiency.

[29:58] Think about that. He says, listen, you Christians, there are some Christians that were in need and they had, you know, misused the truth about Christ's return as a reason, rationalizing their behavior to not work.

[30:14] He says, you know what? You have a bad reputation with unbelievers around you and you still don't even have what you need. So what's the solution? Strive to live a quiet life.

[30:27] Do your work. Work with your hands. This reminds us that, you know, honest labor, no matter what your title is, no matter what your job is, honest labor is honorable.

[30:39] Honest labor is honorable. And to engage in honest labor is to honor God. And what happens when we live this quiet life, not going about, involved in those businesses, not frantic, not hurried, not craziness, sufficiency.

[30:54] And this really breaks down to a couple things. And I call these like the ideal, you know, when the Bible talks about money and possessions, what does it tell us? What are the core tenets of how we should think about money and possessions?

[31:08] Listen to this. Trust. Trust is the first one. God will provide for me, right? We walk in trust before God because ultimately He's the one who provides for us. We still have a job to do and that's where number two is. Diligence.

[31:19] Diligence. Where we have to take what God gave us, the skills, the strength, the time, the abilities, the resources. We take all the things that God gave us and we work with Him and we use them.

[31:29] We labor with Him. Contentment. Contentment is the next one. His provision is enough. You know, there's another part of this that I just want to give you a thought to maybe chew on. If we are to be ambitious for a quiet life, ambitious for an honest, responsible, take care of your own business, provide for yourself kind of life, what other ambitions does that mean we need to say no to?

[31:55] Right? What other ambitions does that mean we need to say no to? Because there's lots of ambitions that we might grab a hold of, we might even believe that the world pushes where it's like, hey, there's things that you should strive for and you should obtain those things at all costs.

[32:09] He says, no, no, no. Study for a quiet life. Contentment. And finally, generosity. I give out of love for others. I don't know if there's two words that you could put together that are more, you know, linked up.

[32:25] Loving and giving. They go right together, right? For God so loved the world that He gave. He gave His only begotten Son. And we show love to those around us by the way that we live out our day-to-day lives.

[32:38] You know, isn't it amazing that when God, in His Word, talks to us about love, He relates it to work. The small, everyday things of life like, those are where we show love to people.

[32:52] That's where we show the love of Christ with an honest way of life, a diligence in our work, a care for others, right? Not seeking to gain for ourselves, but living for God and living for others.

[33:04] So, what do we need to do? We might need to realign our ambition, right? If there's an ambition that you have of like, man, I really want to obtain this thing. I'm really going after this goal in life.

[33:14] And it doesn't look like a quiet, well-ordered, honest, responsible kind of life, you might need to realign your ambition. You might need to lean into your responsibilities tonight.

[33:26] Whatever God has put in your hands, that is what He's given you to do. And we ought to do it with everything within us. We ought to tend to our own business. We might need to get rid of hypocrisy.

[33:38] You know, and this kind of goes back up to the top where we talked about their deficiency, right? They weren't deficient in love. They knew about love. They just needed growing it. Their deficiency was they misused truth for selfish means.

[33:52] And there was a hypocrisy there. You know, there might be those that would, you know, debate in theology, in eschatology, in soteriology, in ecclesiology, and it's like, you've grabbed a hold of some topic, but you don't know how to love your family well.

[34:13] And you don't know how to do your job well. That's a hypocritical matter. To grab hold of some topic and like, I'm ready to debate, I'm ready to find these things. Now, hear me right, this is not to say that those things don't matter, right?

[34:26] God's word, God's doctrine, God's truth, the faith, it matters. But to hold on to those things and to exclude the daily way that we live in honor to God and love to those around us, that's a hypocritical thing.

[34:41] And we ought to be real careful with that when we get into that. Will you be an example of loving Jesus and loving others? Will you refrain from engaging in any type of busybodiness?

[34:52] Right? We don't often come across this in scripture. And it's not like I have in my mind, like, oh, we really got to get somebody and get them fixed on busybodiness. I don't know who's busybodying. I hope nobody's busybodying.

[35:03] But if you are, quit. And that's what scripture says. Do your work. Get engaged with what God's put in front of you and mind your own business because that is not something that should be happening in God's house.

[35:20] Let's pray and we'll close this evening. Father, we come to you. Lord, I thank you for your word. Thank you for how you do teach us to love. Lord, you show us love better than any book, better than any lesson, better than any message.

[35:34] just the words that Christ died for us. Unworthy people. That is the greatest message, the greatest lesson in love. God, I pray if there's someone here tonight that doesn't know your love, they don't know you as their savior, that perhaps tonight they would turn to you in faith, believing in Jesus, the son of God who came and died on the cross for their sins, who was buried and rose again.

[36:00] God, I pray you'd help Christians in here tonight that we would live in love and in every aspect of our lives and every day in the big things and the small things, but that we'd be ambitious to live a well-ordered life that honors you and glorifies you.

[36:15] I pray all these things in Christ's name. Amen.