Thank you for that special from our Christmas program.
They do a wonderful job.
How many of y'all like seeing the young people up there with them in the choir?
Isn't that awesome?
Yeah.
Let's make that a regular thing.
That is great.
Ephesians, we are continuing on in our series.
We will break next Sunday for Christmas Eve and do a more Christmas-themed sermon next
Sunday.
But we are continuing on in our series in Ephesians chapter 4.
All right.
And this is a big Sunday in our series in Ephesians.
We go from part 1 to part 2.
All right.
So the first chapter, the first three chapters of Ephesians talks about who we are in Christ,
our identity in Christ as believers.
And then we get practical.
We go from the theology to the practicality.
All right.
Understanding our standing in God in that first section and then moving on to how should we
then live.
So much of our study and teaching from this series comes from the Christ-centered exposition
series on Ephesians.
And Tony Merida is the author of that particular volume.
The background of the book of Ephesians written by the Apostle Paul around the date 8 AD 62.
The setting was his Roman imprisonment.
He was under house arrest in Rome.
And so they had to deliver this letter from Paul all the way back to the church in Ephesus.
Would be a few weeks journey probably.
And he was very familiar with this church.
He had been their pastor for three years himself before he had left someone else there in his
place to pastor them.
You can read all about that in Acts chapter 19.
So that's the background, the breakdown of the book.
Again, first three chapters, who we are in Christ.
And then beginning in chapter 4 through chapter 6, how we live for Christ.
So that's what we're doing today.
We're talking about how we then live for Christ.
The very first part of Ephesians chapter 4.
Would you mind standing with me if you're able to?
And let's read the word of God together.
Ephesians chapter 4.
I want to welcome once again all of those joining with us this morning.
Whether you're a member, a regular attender, or visiting with us this morning.
Or if you're joining us online.
We know there's some that weekly have to tune in online and join us that way.
And there's some who maybe would ordinarily be there, but due to health reasons or other
things they're having to watch online right now, I want to make sure they know that we're
grateful for their attendance with us this morning.
Let's look at Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 1.
Therefore, I, the prisoner in the Lord.
You know, when we see the word therefore, what does that mean to us?
We want to know what it's there for, right?
So you go back and you read Ephesians 1, 2, and 3, and you see what it's there for.
So therefore, because of our standing in Christ, because of our identity in Christ, because
we have learned who Christ sees us as, therefore, Paul writes, I, the prisoner in the Lord,
urge you to live worthy of the calling you have received.
Live worthy of the calling you have received.
With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every
effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Verse 4.
For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope at your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through
all and in all.
Now, grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.
For it says, here's a quote from the Old Testament, when he ascended on high, he took the captives
captive, but he gave and gave gifts to people.
But what does he ascended mean except that he also descended to the lower parts of the
earth?
The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens to fill all things.
And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and
teachers, equipping the saints for the work of the ministry to build up the body of Christ.
Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God's Son, growing into maturity
with a stature measured by Christ's fullness, then we will no longer be little children.
Tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness
and the techniques of deceit.
But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ.
From him, the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth
of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.
Thanks for standing.
You may be seated.
God, I pray that you would speak to us through your word.
Give us your eyes of understanding.
Reveal your truth to us, Lord.
Help us to learn how we can walk worthy of your gospel, worthy of you.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
So, our theme for today is walking worthy of the gospel.
We take this directly from this passage right here in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 1.
Live worthy of the calling you have received.
So, number one.
Taking notes this morning, we've got some blanks for you to fill out in the bulletin.
gospel unity.
Gospel unity.
That is our first principle that I hope we can take away that will enable us to walk worthy
of our God, walk worthy of the gospel that we have received and in which we have placed
our faith, and walk worthy of the calling that God has given to us.
Gospel unity.
What do we mean by this?
Go over to Matthew.
You can look on the screen if you'd like.
Matthew chapter 11, verse 28.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will
find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
What are we talking about?
I thought we were talking about unity.
Well, let's look back at Ephesians 4 and understand why we're tying in this passage with
what we're reading about a call to unity in Ephesians 4.
So he says in, Paul writes in Ephesians 4, 1, I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to
live worthy of the calling you have received.
How do we do that?
With all humility and gentleness.
With patience.
Bearing with one another in love.
Verse 3, watch this, ready?
Making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Then he goes on and talks about how there's one body, there's one Spirit, there's one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one hope, one God, and one Father of all through and in us all.
So the theme of how to achieve unity is through meekness, through gentleness, through bearing
with one another in love, humility, making every effort to keep this unity.
Well, how do we achieve that?
How do you and I set aside, number one, set aside ourselves, the big number one, and instead
prioritize or prefer one another?
Well, Jesus gives us a picture of that.
He says, be like me.
Live how I lived.
I gave you the ingredients to make this recipe for life here.
He said, come to me, all who are weary and burdened.
I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you.
Learn from me.
I am lowly.
Watch that word.
I am lowly and humble in heart.
And then you'll find rest for your souls.
Jesus is not proud.
Jesus does not lord himself over us, even though he is the Lord.
Jesus does not brag and boast about all his greatness, even though he has more than any
of us could ever hope to achieve by which to brag.
And so we see that Jesus is gentle and lowly in heart.
A man named Dane Ortland wrote this book that you see a picture of here called Gentle and Lowly
several years ago, and it kind of took Christianity by storm.
And I'm really glad it did, because the entire emphasis of this book, and people asked him,
why did you write this book in particular at this moment?
And he said, it's because in this era, this age of American Christianity, where we look around
us and we see a country constantly pitted at each other's throats, like few times in our
nation's history, we are at odds with each other.
There's one side against the other side.
Regardless of what the issue is, more than likely, we're pitted fiercely against each other.
He said, in the midst of this day, in the midst of this moment, we must interject the true
spirit of Jesus Christ.
And if we read in the Bible, we read all kinds of attributes of God.
He is mighty.
He is powerful.
He is all-knowing.
He is all-seeing.
He is everywhere.
He is the creator of all that is.
There are so many amazing, incredible attributes of God of which we stand in awe.
However, when Jesus described himself, he said, I am gentle and lowly in heart.
He could have used so many other descriptors, but that's what he wanted us to focus on.
That's his true nature.
We have a quote from Dan Ortlund in this book.
He says, in the one place in the Bible, Matthew 11, 28 through 30, where the Son of God pulls
back the veil and lets us peer way down into the core of who he is, we are not told that
he is austere and demanding in heart.
We're not told that he is exalted and dignified in heart.
We're not even told that he is joyful and generous in heart, though we know that he is.
Letting Jesus set the tone, his surprising claim is that he is gentle and lowly in heart.
So, before we move on, how like Jesus are you and I?
Are we gentle and lowly?
That's the question I've got to look in the mirror and ask myself.
Am I gentle and lowly?
Or do I much prefer some of the attributes, some of the other attributes of God to model
myself after?
God is God and we must let God be God.
But when he says, come and be like me, learn from me, Matthew 11, we read specifically what
we are supposed to learn from him.
And that is that he is gentle and lowly.
What do we mean by that?
We're gentle in our interactions with each other.
We're gentle in our dealings with each other.
Whether someone agrees with us or someone disagrees with us, I must be gentle in my dealings with
others.
Man, that's a learning curve.
That's a work in progress.
That's not natural to us.
Many of us, you know, your type A personalities, your alphas in the room, we're not talking about
generation alpha, that's the little kids.
But your, you know, alpha personalities and take the lead, I'm the main guy, you need to
listen to what I say.
We don't want to be gentle.
And we sure don't want to be lowly.
We don't want to debase ourselves.
We want to be ranked at the top.
We want to strive for the top.
You know, I didn't get valedictorian in my graduating class in seminary, but I did have
a pretty good GPA, all right?
And I'm pretty happy about it.
And if you knew me in undergraduate school, you'd be amazed at the GPA that I had in graduate
school.
We want to strive to be best.
We want to strive, come out ranked on top.
But Jesus says, be lowly.
It doesn't mean don't do your best.
In fact, the Bible says if you're going to do something, do it with all your might.
Do it with all your heart.
Do it to the glory of God.
But did you catch that last part?
Do it to the glory of God, not the glory of me.
That's where the difference comes in.
He must increase.
Some of you were tracking with me.
Harlan's right there.
That's right.
But I must decrease.
Harlan taught all the BBS kids that back this summer.
He would say, what time is it?
And then they would have to say, kids, you're with me?
What time is it?
There you go.
We got a few of them.
John 3.30.
He must increase.
I must decrease.
Isn't that great?
That is a truth that will help us be lowly in heart.
Just like Jesus.
If we keep that spirit that as we, as he increases, we decrease.
So then it doesn't matter my opinion.
It doesn't matter if I win.
It doesn't matter if I get the credit.
None of those things matter as long as God is glorified.
Then he increases as I decrease.
And then I am gentle and I am lowly like Jesus.
So gospel unity, that's how we achieve it.
That's how we achieve gospel unity.
We are gentle with one another.
We are lowly in heart.
And then according to Ephesians 4, we can remember that we are all with one body.
We're all with one spirit.
We're all serving the same God.
The same God is working through us patiently, step by step, reforming us into his image.
And so then we can be unified.
And as we are unified together, we recognize that we are different.
There is gospel diversity.
Why do we call it gospel diversity?
Why do we call it gospel unity?
Because the gospel is what unifies us.
There is one Lord.
There is one faith.
There is salvation.
So that brings us together with a common bond.
So what is gospel diversity?
It means that God just didn't all save one type of person.
He saved all kinds of people with all kinds of backgrounds and all kinds of strengths and all kinds of weaknesses.
And so the unity must come first.
The gentleness and the lowliness must come first.
Otherwise, this diversity will cause problems.
Otherwise, we won't like the differences among our body of believers.
Otherwise, we won't like how somebody else thinks something ought to be done differently than we do.
So gospel diversity can actually help unify us.
Galatians chapter 3 teaches this principle.
There is no Jew.
There is no Greek.
No slave or free.
No male and female since you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Do you see that?
The world teaches us this principle of intersectionality.
Anybody know what intersectionality is?
Yeah.
I didn't either until I had to study it out.
But intersectionality is the highlighting the differences between us.
Whether it's a race gender.
Whether it's, I'm sorry, race or gender or background or financial condition.
Whatever it is, the differences between us.
Now, it kind of builds on the concept that there is a mainstream of each category.
There is a majority of each category.
And so they are kind of at the top.
And then there's all these other underprivileged sectors of each one of those categories.
Whether it's race or gender or background or, you know, the country you're born in or whatever it is.
Whether you have one parent at home or two parents or et cetera, et cetera.
So there's all these different categories that we like to disunify ourselves, right?
Separate ourselves into all these different categories.
And this intersectionality teaches that the more underprivileged categories you're in,
the more they intersect and make you, you know, living a hard life and in need of help.
So just because you're Hispanic and you're female and you came from a single parent home,
then you're at a disadvantage and you should be helped.
Now, there is certainly some truth in some of those things that oftentimes,
because of different backgrounds, et cetera, it can help set you up for disadvantages.
But you know what the interesting thing is?
God can overcome anything.
The cross is the one unifier.
The cross is the one X factor that man can't understand.
The power of Jesus Christ is the one thing that can overcome all the failings of the world,
all the failures of the world, all the disadvantages that we find ourselves with.
You know, if you were born in America, then you're part of that majority, you know, ruling class, so to speak.
And if you're born in another, maybe third world country, then there's another intersection of underprivileged, et cetera.
But God is saying, look, you give all that up in Jesus.
There is no Jew or Greek.
There is no slave or free, male and female.
All these identifiers that separate us, God says, look, none of that matters anymore,
because now we are all one in Christ Jesus.
So, though we are diverse, we are together.
But we don't ignore the diversity.
We highlight the diversity and say, wow, God has done something special
in bringing all these different people from different backgrounds
who would probably never hang out in any other setting, right?
I know we would all just totally get along if there was no church
and we all just lived around the same area, right?
We'd all be over at each other's houses all the time.
Probably not, right?
We probably wouldn't.
But we all gather together weekly.
Why?
Because we love God.
We have the same God.
We have the same faith.
And so even though we share this common bond,
we recognize that God has equipped us with different, diverse abilities.
how God has uniquely equipped me for life and ministry.
We celebrate that.
If everyone had my giftings from God,
that'd be a weird church, wouldn't it?
We just got a bunch of pastors and everybody wants to preach on Sunday
and everybody wants to visit and study the Bible
and do the sermon preparation and help lead the church, etc.
If everyone was gifted in that way,
well, what good would that church be?
But instead,
so many people in this room have different gifts than the rest of us.
And we thank God for that.
He has uniquely equipped you
and then uniquely equipped me for life and ministry.
And then he gives us responsibilities.
Because of our diverse abilities,
he gives us diverse responsibilities.
So we're not all called to do the same thing.
Because he's equipped us to do different things,
he calls us to different things at different points in our lives.
So when you were 25,
God probably had a different calling for you then
than when you're 65.
Maybe there was a translate that, you know,
that could translate from one stage of life to the other.
But more than likely,
your calling from God has changed as you go through life.
Because he has equipped you differently for different stages of your life.
But each work that God calls you to is a worthy work.
Whether it's singing in the choir,
or rocking the babies in the nursery,
or working in the children's church,
or cooking the meals,
or helping out in the kindness ministries,
we try to show the love of Christ around town,
or praying for those who are in desperate need of prayer throughout each week,
or preaching the sermon,
or leading the music,
or playing the piano,
or whatever it is,
whatever it is,
it is a worthy work.
And God has uniquely called you to that.
So that's what they're teaching us,
Paul is teaching us here in Ephesians.
Would you turn with me over to 1 Corinthians chapter 12?
We'll spend just a couple of minutes here.
1 Corinthians chapter 12.
Excuse me.
Beginning in verse 4.
1 Corinthians 12 and verse 4.
Now there are different gifts,
but the same Spirit.
There are different ministries,
but the same Lord.
I want to read this passage to you
because the Bible generally says it a whole lot better than I do.
So you can hear it straight from God.
It's the same principle.
Verse 6.
There are different activities,
but the same God produces each gift in each person.
A manifestation of the Spirit
is given to each person for the common good.
To one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit.
To another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit.
To another, faith by the same Spirit.
To another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit.
To another, the performing of miracles.
To another, prophecy.
To another, distinguishing between spirits.
To another, different kinds of tongues.
To another, interpretation of tongues.
One and the same Spirit is active in all these,
distributing to each person as he wills.
Don't get caught up in the listing of gifts here.
Get caught up in the understanding
that God equipses each of us differently.
He gives each of us different gifts.
The gifts of the Spirit are too numerous
to list in this passage.
So this isn't an exhaustive listing
of the gifts of the Spirit,
but what it is,
is a point that Paul is making
to the church in Corinth that says,
each one of you is going to be gifted differently
from the Spirit,
but they're all valuable.
They're all unique.
They're all a worthy work.
So verse 12,
for just as the body is one
and has many parts
and all the parts of that body,
though many are still one body,
so also is Christ.
For we were all baptized by one Spirit
into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks,
slaves or free,
we were all given one Spirit to drink.
Indeed, the body is not one part,
but many.
We know that.
If the foot should say,
because I'm not a hand,
I don't belong to the body,
it's not for that reason
any less a part of the body.
If the ear says,
I'm not an eye,
so I don't belong to the body,
it's not for that reason
any less a part of the body.
If the whole body were an eye,
where would the hearing be?
If the whole body were an ear,
where would the sense of smell be?
But as it is,
God has arranged each one of the parts
in the body just as He wanted.
If they were all the same parts,
where would the whole body be?
So, many parts,
one body.
Verse 21.
One, the eye can't say to the hand,
I don't need you.
The hand can't say to the feet,
I don't need you.
On the contrary,
those parts of the body
that are weaker or smaller,
more fragile,
they're indispensable.
Can't do away with those.
The parts of the body
that we consider less honorable,
we clothe these with greater honor.
Our unrespectable parts
are treated with greater respect,
which our respectable parts don't need.
Instead, God put the body together,
giving greater honor
to the less honorable.
Verse 25.
Watch this.
Ready?
Last one.
So that there would be
no division in the body,
but that the members
would have the same concern
for each other.
Don't miss this.
That there would be no division
in the body.
God's design is diversity.
Satan's distraction is division.
God designed differences.
He designed a diverse group
so we would be complete
when we're together.
Satan wants to take God's design
and distort it
into this horrible,
destructive concept
of division.
He wants to divide us.
He wants to take this diversity
and get us worked up about it.
He wants to take this diversity
and sow seeds of strife,
seeds of discord,
and divide this body
that God wants to unite.
Don't let that happen.
The holidays should be a great time.
Christmas should be a great time
to come together as a church,
to unite around our faith in Christ,
around the celebration of Jesus
and His nativity,
on the celebration of Jesus
that He came,
was sent down by the Father
to be our Redeemer,
to save us.
to be the sacrifice
for the penalty
for our sin
that we committed.
He could be our salvation.
So all those years ago,
we celebrate that baby.
We celebrate the gospel story
that you and I are sinners
in need of a Savior.
And Jesus willingly
became that Savior.
That should unite us.
That He hung on the cross.
That He bled and died.
And three days later,
He arose from the grave.
And He is alive today.
And He says,
if you call on Me,
if you put your faith in Me,
and say,
God, forgive me of my sins,
cleanse me,
make me your child,
then He will do that.
And He will save you
from the penalty of your sin.
That should be what unites us.
And my friend,
if you have not done that this morning,
if there's not been a time
in your life
when you've prayed
that prayer to Jesus
for the forgiveness of your sin,
to put all your faith in Him,
turn from your sin,
repent of it,
and turn to Jesus,
then please don't leave this house today
without doing that.
Please don't walk out of this building
without making that
one most important decision.
That is what unites us together.
But man,
Satan wants to get in there
and mess it up.
He wants to say,
yeah, but
what about how he dresses?
What about his job?
He makes more money than you.
What about how he
has this boat
and you always wanted a boat
and how come he got one
before you did?
We can get mad
about the silliest things sometimes.
You know,
there might come a day
in the next several months
of building and grounds
and business meetings
and talking about
maybe doing something
with the carpet
and trying to update that.
You know,
there's a great opportunity
to divide the church.
Well, I think it ought to be this color.
I think it ought to be
this kind of carpet.
And God's sitting here
thinking,
what in the world?
Be thankful you have a building,
right?
And come together
remembering
that gentle
and lowly spirit
that can unite us.
Don't let Satan distract
with division.
And then thirdly,
gospel maturity.
Quickly,
our last point here,
gospel maturity.
Look down at verse 13.
Back in Ephesians chapter 4,
verse 13.
Until we all reach unity
in the faith
and in the knowledge
of God's Son.
So remember,
He equipped us differently.
He calls us to unity.
And then He says,
let's grow in gospel maturity.
Understanding that the gospel of Jesus,
the message that saved you
from your sins,
is not the end of its effectiveness.
The gospel is there
to propel us through this life.
The gospel is there
to help us wake up
and meet each new day.
And the more familiar
we get with the gospel
and the more we apply
the gospel directly
to our days,
we grow in maturity
as a believer.
This doesn't mean
length of being
a follower of Jesus.
There are people
who are
decades long followers of Jesus.
who are still immature
in their understanding
and application
of the gospel.
Coming to church
for a long time,
maybe a Sunday school teacher,
maybe a deacon,
doesn't matter
what role they play
or how long
they've been coming to church,
it matters
how much you've
internalized
the gospel of Jesus
and made it
an actual,
real part
of your life.
So,
gospel maturity
is what we're talking about
back in verse 13.
We reach this unity
and faith
and knowledge
of God's Son
growing into maturity
with a stature
measured by Christ's fullness.
Man,
the fullness of God
is what we measure
ourselves against.
Well,
we're never going to
measure up,
are we?
We're never going to
totally measure up
to the fullness of God.
But my goodness,
God wants to take us
a little bit closer to Him,
a little bit more like Him
every day.
And sometimes
we jump five steps ahead
and sometimes
we'll slide back
a little bit.
But every day
is another step
in that journey
with Jesus
in this maturing process.
So don't get distracted.
Don't get off the path.
So you've got to get back
and keep walking
with the Lord
as He calls us
to maturity.
I love this quote
by Warren Wearsby.
If you find something
written by Warren Wearsby,
take a chance
and read it
because it's probably
pretty good.
Truth without love
is brutality
and love without truth
is hypocrisy.
So becoming mature
as a believer
is learning how to balance
this truth and love.
How do we know that?
Well,
Ephesians chapter 4.
Ephesians chapter 4,
we left off
in verse 13.
So pick it up in 14.
Then we will no longer,
when we grow in maturity,
into this stature
measured by Christfulness,
then we will no longer
be little children.
How many little children
Christians do you know?
I know a few.
We're not pointing fingers,
y'all.
You can raise your hand.
It's okay.
How many little children
Christians do you know?
Anybody know some?
I do.
Absolutely.
I know some little children
Christians.
Doesn't mean they're
little children in age.
It means they haven't
developed into maturity
as a follower of Jesus.
So,
it says,
then we won't be
little children any longer,
tossed around by the waves
and every wind of teaching,
human cunning and cleverness
and techniques of deceit.
Man,
just a reminder,
the devil is out there
trying to mess you up.
He will use whatever it takes.
He'll use the internet.
He'll use other people.
He'll use your own flesh.
He'll use your own mind
against you.
The devil will use
whatever it takes
to mess you up.
There is real spiritual warfare
happening.
And that's why
the Holy Spirit of God
is already the victor.
He's already won.
We can already be
firmly planted
on the winning side
with Jesus.
But,
it takes walking with Him.
It takes growing
past that little children's stage
into maturity.
So,
verse 15.
Here's the big concept
and we'll be done.
Speaking the truth
in love.
This is how
we're not little children
anymore as Christians.
How we grow in maturity.
Speaking the truth
in love.
Let us grow
in every way
into Him
who is the head.
Christ.
Okay?
Speaking the truth
in love.
So,
that's why I like that
Warren Wears.
the quote.
Truth without love
is brutal.
Love without truth
is deceit.
False.
You've got to have
a balance
of truth
and love.
Another way
to put it.
Another,
one of my favorite writers,
John Stott.
Ruth,
truth without love
is too hard.
Love without truth
is too soft.
Maybe just a little
simpler, right?
A little easier
to understand.
Truth without love
is too hard.
Love without truth
is too soft.
What do we mean by that?
Gospel maturity.
So,
back in verse 15.
Listen,
I don't go to the Greek
very much,
but I just graduated
with my master's degree.
So,
in celebration of that,
we're going to bust out
a Greek word this morning,
okay?
Alephuontis.
It literally means,
we got that from
Ephesians 4,
verse 15.
Speaking the truth.
Speaking the truth
literally means
truthing.
I didn't know
that was a thing.
I don't think it is.
But in the Greek,
it was,
okay?
So,
when they wrote this
in the original languages,
Alephuontis,
Alephuontis is the root verb.
It means,
to truth.
We don't have a word
like that in English,
right?
Let me,
let me truth you
for a minute.
So,
when you add on this
on test,
it's like the progressive,
you know,
participle at the end here.
It says,
truthing.
So,
truthing
in love.
We do need to
truth with one another.
We need to be truthful.
We need to speak the truth.
But we gotta do it
in love.
So,
do you find yourself
more often
truthing harshly
or truthing lovingly?
There's a question
that you and I
gotta ask ourselves.
When you correct someone,
when you point out
their wrong,
point out their wrongdoing,
point out their failures,
do you truth lovingly
or do you truth
harshly?
When you deal
with your kids,
parents,
do we truth lovingly
or harshly
with our kids?
We've got to be
a people
who are
regularly
truthing
in love.
All right?
John 1, 14,
the word became flesh.
Notice that capitalize
on the capitalization
on the word there.
That's how we know
it's talking about Jesus.
The living word
of God.
The word became flesh
and dwelt among us.
We beheld his glory.
The glory is of the only
begotten of the Father.
Of course,
it's Jesus.
Full of grace
and truth.
Jesus lived
that balance.
He was that balance
of truth
and love.
He wasn't too far
over one way.
And you just tell everybody
it's okay.
God loves you.
Your sin's not a big deal.
Well, that's hypocrisy,
isn't it?
That's deceit.
Sin is a big deal.
It separates us from God.
But he wasn't so far
the other way
into truth
that he spoke it
without any love.
He wasn't saying,
you're all a bunch
of evil, wicked sinners
and you're going to hell
and rightfully so.
And that's the end
of the story.
I've heard preachers
preach like that before.
I don't know what Bible
they're preaching from
because that's not
who Jesus was.
Jesus spoke
the truth
in love.
He was full
of both truth
and grace.
2 John
in verse 3
Grace, mercy
and peace
will be with us
from God
the Father
from Jesus Christ
the Son of the Father
in truth
and love.
This
is what
Christianity
looks like.
The more
that you and I
balance
truth and love
the more
we are like Jesus
and the more
effective
our witness
is.
The more
effective
our church
will be.
The more
effective
our ministry
will be.
The more
we balance
truth
and love.
Usually
Christians
get a bad rap
because we're
out of balance
one way
or another.
Many churches
across church
history
have been guilty
of going
too far
toward love
and away
from truth
or going
too far
toward truth
and away
from love.
But when
we strike
that balance
God
can use it.
God
can bless
it
because that's
who he is.
He is gentle
and lowly
in heart.
So here's
our takeaway
for today.
When we walk
worthy before
God
we apply
the gospel
directly.
You and I
can walk
worthy
of God
by applying
the gospel
directly.
What does that
look like?
How do we
apply the gospel
directly to
our lives?
Maybe for you
it means
putting your
faith in Jesus
for salvation.
Maybe you need
to do that
today.
Maybe you've been
putting off
for a long time
and you need
to do that
before you
walk out
these doors
today.
We'll pray
in a moment
and you'll
have an
opportunity.
I'll give
you one
before we
leave today.
Maybe
it means
you need
to ask
these questions.
One,
am I
gentle
and lowly
in heart?
Am I
gentle
and lowly
in heart?
Or am I
self-absorbed?
Am I
harsh?
How am I
in my
heart?
Out of the
abundance of
the heart
the mouth
speaks.
Number two,
do I embrace
differences in
our church?
Do I embrace
the differences
in our church
or do I
resist it?
Do I buck
against it?
Do I only
go and socialize
with those
who are kind
of like me
and ignore
everybody else
in our church
because I
don't really
like them
all that much?
Do I embrace
the differences
that God
has brought
together
in this
gospel
diversity?
That's how
we apply
the gospel
directly
in our
days,
in our
lives.
And then
finally,
do I
find myself
truthing,
cut off the
end of it
there,
that's my
bad,
do I
find myself
truthing
in love?
Truthing
in love.
I guarantee
you,
this week,
some spouse,
you know,
husband and wife
are going to be
going at it
with each
other,
and then the
wife is going
to say,
or the husband
might say,
sweetie,
you're not
truthing in
love right
now.
And you
know what
the Greek
says,
it says,
we need
the truth
in love.
It's true,
y'all,
we really
do.
We've got
the truth
in love.
The community
around us,
Henrietta,
Clay County,
even the folks
up in Wichita,
okay,
we need to
love them
too.
We need
the truth
in love,
speak the
truth,
but do it
like Jesus
did,
with that
gentle
and lowly
heart,
embracing the
differences
that we're
going to
encounter,
asking God
to exhibit
his spirit
in us
so that people
will see
Jesus,
and we can
walk worthy
of his gospel.
Let's pray
together.
Lord Jesus,
we thank you
so much
for your
gospel.
Man,
it changes
us.
It changes
us from
separated from
you to
united with
you for
all of
eternity.
It changes
us from
sinful to
righteous.
it changes
us from
lost to
found,
from darkness
to light.
And God,
it can keep
doing that
every moment
of every
day.
The more
we revisit
it,
the more
we internalize
it,
the more
we celebrate
gospel unity,
gospel diversity,
and we try
to grow in
gospel maturity.
God,
help us to
give up to
you and say,
I'm going to
stop running
from you,
I'm going to
stop fighting
from you,
I'm going to
stop bucking
against your
Holy Spirit,
I'm going to
say,
God,
work through
me,
change me,
let me walk
worthy of
you by the
Holy Spirit's
power,
and it's in
Jesus' name
we pray.
Amen.
Church,
before we
begin our
invitation,
let me ask
you this,
if you'd like
to come
forward and
talk about
becoming a
child of
God for
the first
time,
please meet
me right
down here.
If you'd
like to come
forward and
talk about
joining this
church and
putting your
membership here,
please meet
me right down
here.
If you'd like
to come
forward for
prayer about
anything,
something in
the message
this morning
or something
God's been
working with
you about,
please take a
moment and
meet me right
down here.
Let's pray
together.
Would you
stand and
join Brother
Greg as he
leads us?