WEBVTT

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 Please turn with me, if you're not already there, to Paul's letter to the church at Colossae, chapter 3.

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 Let's see.

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 Their first day of classes is August 17th, which means we'll likely see a lot of that crew come back on the 16th and the week following.

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 So I had every intention of wrapping it up.

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 In fact, originally verses 5 through 17, I had intended to preach in just two weeks.

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 So this is now week 3, and obviously next week, Lord willing, will be week 4, and then we'll move on into verse 18 beyond that.

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 Not the best laid plans of mice and men.

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 This morning for two reasons.

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 I think it's right and proper to just address verses 12, 13, and 14.

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 The first of which being, I am sick and tired, but not in a literal, excuse me, not in a metaphorical sense, but in a literal sense.

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 My little one, three years old, has a head cold, and I think it's coming on me now.

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 I woke up this morning feeling quite under the weather.

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 And we're wrapping up the wedding season.

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 Officiated my fourth wedding since May yesterday.

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 I finished premarital counseling for six couples just this past week.

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 And I'm beat.

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 Weddings are fantastic.

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 They are great and glorious and enjoyable, but they are also exhausting.

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 So I am sick and tired, literally, this morning.

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 Secondly, there is a lot to consider in these texts.

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 Certainly, thematically, they hold together.

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 We can see verses 5-11 being this expression of those things that we should be putting off our old self.

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 These activities that shouldn't exist amongst those who claim the name of Christ.

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 In verses 12-17, those things that we put on, that we exchange instead.

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 So thematically, they hold really well.

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 And we can see the primary exhortation of the text in the last part of verse 9 and the first part of verse 10.

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 Where Paul says,

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 It's seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self.

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 Previously in 3-3, he says,

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 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

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 We have been made new in Christ.

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 And so it's proper that we put off the old self.

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 It's stated in the negative.

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 Stop doing these things.

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 That we put on.

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 We clothe ourselves differently now.

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 Stated in the positive.

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 Rather, we ought to live this way.

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 Sort of put off the old self.

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 Verse 5,

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 Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you.

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 Here, not literally.

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 Which is where I looked in my notes when I said not literally earlier.

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 Not literally, but figuratively.

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 Mortify sin in your life.

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 And verse 8,

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 But now you must put them all away.

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 And Paul gives us these two lists,

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 which are not exhaustive lists of all sin,

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 but they're sins that relate to how we deal with one another.

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 They're sins of unrighteous love and sins of unrighteous hate.

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 Stop functioning together in this way,

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 but rather put on the new self.

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 Verse 10,

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 And have put on the new self,

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 which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

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 I made the case to you last week that our sanctification,

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 our perfection in Christ is a progressive process.

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 It's something that's being accomplished in us.

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 That we have been made new and that we are being made new.

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 So as we look at these kinds of exhortations in the Scripture,

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 if we're really honest with ourselves,

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 none of us live to this standard,

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 but yet we should.

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 Don't deny the fact, the reality,

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 that in Christ we ought to live this way,

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 but we recognize that we are being,

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 by one degree after another,

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 being made into this image.

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 We rightly see these things and recognize what righteous looks like.

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 The right way in which we ought to live in Christ.

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 And we recognize rightly then,

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 sin.

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 You see that in verse 10,

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 he says that we have put on the new self.

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 This is a snapshot of a completed event.

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 It's the aorist verb tense.

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 This is what it means.

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 It's been accomplished.

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 And then just beyond this,

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 he says,

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 which is being renewed.

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 And it's being renewed in this way,

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 by the power of the Spirit,

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 in knowledge.

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 That we know how it is we ought to live.

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 That we meditate on that.

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 That we function out of the realities

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 of who God is to us in Christ

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 in order to accomplish these things.

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 And we're being made into the image of its,

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 and they're referring to the new self creator.

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 We're being made into the image of Jesus Christ.

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 I was thinking a little bit about that today

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 and what that looks like in our lives.

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 And it caused my mind to think about

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 when you have a brand new baby,

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 and so many people,

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 particularly women,

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 try to figure out who that baby looks like.

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 I've heard this.

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 I know, oh, he looks so much like.

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 Babies don't really typically look like anybody.

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 They look like themselves.

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 And I don't understand

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 how my boys look so much like.

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 Maybe that's insulting.

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 I don't know.

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 Maybe it's a compliment.

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 Babies are awfully cute.

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 I'm not sure.

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 Sometimes a baby really looks like

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 their father or mother,

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 but in most cases,

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 they really don't.

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 But as they grow,

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 and as they get older,

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 they do begin to take on

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 more and more of those features.

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 A wonderful example

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 for my five-year-old Cade

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 is that he sadly, unfortunately,

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 inherited my double crown,

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 the two cowl.

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 I don't know if you've ever noticed

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 this about myself.

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 But it's horrible,

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 and it's really hard to comb your hair

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 when your hair's doing that in the back,

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 and the poor boy's hair does the same.

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 But when he was born,

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 he had this cute little fuzzy head.

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 Right?

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 We're to look more and more like Christ,

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 although it's a positive in this case,

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 and Cade and mine,

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 it's a negative thing,

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 but we're to look more like Jesus

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 by degree after degree after degree.

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 This is the work of the Christian life

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 and the way in which the Spirit works in us.

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 And he begins to talk about this new self

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 and the way in which we will be changed

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 in what seems like such a peculiar way

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 in verse 11.

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 He says,

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 here in this new self,

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 there is not Greek and Jew,

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 circumcised, uncircumcised,

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 barbarian, Scythian, slave-free,

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 but Christ is all and in all.

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 And in this culture of this day,

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 there were so many barriers,

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 just like there are today.

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 Maybe even more strictly drawn up in theirs.

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 There were ethnic barriers

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 between the Greeks and the Jews.

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 Religious barriers between those

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 who were circumcised and uncircumcised.

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 And I mean by religious,

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 the outward trappings of religion,

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 not the true devotion to God.

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 There were cultural barriers

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 between the barbarians,

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 the Scythians,

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 and those who were educated.

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 Social barriers between slave and free.

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 And what Paul is saying is that

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 for those who have placed their faith

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 in Jesus Christ,

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 Christ should be everything.

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 Christ is all.

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 It's a reality that we should function out of.

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 And He's in all.

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 So we have this wonderful commonality

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 between us.

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 Apart from our backgrounds,

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 apart from our ethnicity,

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 apart from the culture that we grew up in,

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 we have a wonderful, wonderful commonality

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 in Christ.

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 And so today,

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 our verses will be

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 verses 12 through 14.

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 And I want to read those to us

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 just again to get them on our minds,

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 if only for my benefit.

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 Paul writes,

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 Put on then,

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 as God's chosen ones,

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 holy and beloved,

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 compassionate hearts,

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 kindness,

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 humility,

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 meekness,

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 and patience,

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 bearing with one another,

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 and if one has a complaint against another,

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 forgiving each other

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 as the Lord has forgiven you,

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 so you also must forgive.

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 And above all these,

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 put on love,

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 which binds everything together

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 in perfect harmony.

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 And let me remind you

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 that this is God's Word to us.

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 It has bearing and meaning on our day.

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 It's written for His glory

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 and for our good

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 and that we would all do well

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 to listen to it

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 in order to believe its promises

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 and obey its commands.

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 I, and I hope you appreciate

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 and join with me in this,

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 I am so thankful

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 for the Word of God.

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 This past week,

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 on our family day,

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 which is on Tuesday,

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 I was playing with Judah,

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 our three-year-old,

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 in the woods,

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 and we found a millipede,

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 those big, fat millipedes.

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 They're kind of gray

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 and they've got cool red lines on them.

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 And I've touched them before,

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 but I've never like agitated

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 one of them.

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 But this one kept trying

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 to go into the leaves

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 and I wanted Judah to see it,

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 so I kept pulling it back

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 out of the leaves.

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 Don't agitate a millipede

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 because it secreted

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 this yellow gunk

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 all over my thumb

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 and my pointer finger

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 on this hand,

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 which just smelled horrible.

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 It had a very thick ammonia

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 kind of a smell to it,

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 like burned my nose

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 when I smelled it.

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 And shortly after,

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 I washed my hands,

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 but shortly after,

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 it turned my finger

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 and my thumb maroon.

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 And I showed it to Sam

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 and she was very concerned,

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 like, is it hurt?

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 Like, what's going on

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 with your finger?

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 And I just really wasn't sure.

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 Didn't seem to be any real issue.

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 I don't know if anybody,

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 you can't see my thumb from there.

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 Maybe some of you

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 on the front row.

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 I still have some maroon

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 under my thumbnail

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 from this goo

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 that was on my finger.

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 And this world,

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 the temporal part of our world,

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 doesn't really come

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 with a manual, does it?

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 Certainly if I had

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 done a quick Google search,

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 I would have found out

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 I shouldn't touch the millipede.

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 But these things

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 that have temporal bearing

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 and temporal nature,

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 there's not really a book

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 that we can be handed

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 that tells us

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 how we ought to live

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 in relation to the world

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 in those temporal ways,

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 but we have been given a book

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 that tells us

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 how we ought to live spiritually.

00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:12.519
 In those things

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 that have eternal weight

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 and matter,

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 what a precious,

00:11:16.519 --> 00:11:18.440
 precious thing this is.

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 That if we are to be renewed

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 degree by degree

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 to look more like Christ,

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 that this is the great call

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 on the Christian life

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 for the sake of His name,

00:11:27.340 --> 00:11:28.100
 we've been given a book.

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 It shows us how

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 we ought to do it

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 and we ought to treasure it

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 much more than we do.

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 Main point for today,

00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:36.220
 there's only one,

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 and that is

00:11:36.900 --> 00:11:37.700
 Christian people

00:11:37.700 --> 00:11:39.660
 will be distinguished

00:11:39.660 --> 00:11:41.680
 by the way they live

00:11:41.680 --> 00:11:43.440
 in relation to one another.

00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:45.620
 Christian people

00:11:45.620 --> 00:11:47.000
 will be distinguished.

00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:48.920
 We will look different

00:11:48.920 --> 00:11:51.680
 by the way we live

00:11:51.680 --> 00:11:54.360
 in relation to one another.

00:11:54.980 --> 00:11:56.820
 If the affection of your heart

00:11:56.820 --> 00:12:00.160
 says Christ is all,

00:12:00.920 --> 00:12:02.360
 and oh, I hope that it does.

00:12:02.840 --> 00:12:04.380
 I hope that is the cry

00:12:04.380 --> 00:12:05.540
 and the longing of your heart.

00:12:05.760 --> 00:12:07.220
 Christ is all.

00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:10.380
 Christ is everything to me.

00:12:10.379 --> 00:12:13.019
 Then you will live differently

00:12:13.019 --> 00:12:14.840
 as you relate to other people

00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:17.240
 who say the very same thing.

00:12:17.439 --> 00:12:18.720
 Remember what Paul is saying here.

00:12:18.899 --> 00:12:20.019
 He's saying in relation

00:12:20.019 --> 00:12:20.639
 to one another,

00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:21.340
 we're to put to death

00:12:21.340 --> 00:12:22.259
 those things

00:12:22.259 --> 00:12:24.419
 that cause enmity between us

00:12:24.419 --> 00:12:25.379
 and we're instead

00:12:25.379 --> 00:12:27.740
 meant to live in this way.

00:12:27.980 --> 00:12:29.320
 All of those barriers,

00:12:29.720 --> 00:12:30.600
 all of those cultural,

00:12:30.980 --> 00:12:32.299
 social, ethnic barriers

00:12:32.299 --> 00:12:34.379
 have been torn down in Christ.

00:12:34.379 --> 00:12:38.159
 So live like this.

00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:41.700
 And he begins by rooting that

00:12:41.700 --> 00:12:43.620
 in our very character,

00:12:43.820 --> 00:12:46.439
 who we are now as God's people.

00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:47.340
 Verse 12, he says,

00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:48.279
 put on then,

00:12:48.659 --> 00:12:49.379
 put on then,

00:12:49.700 --> 00:12:52.320
 as God's chosen ones,

00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:54.580
 holy and beloved.

00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:57.679
 In Christ, we are holy.

00:12:57.860 --> 00:12:57.980
 Right?

00:12:58.019 --> 00:12:59.379
 That's that completed act.

00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:02.480
 We have been made perfect in Christ.

00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:03.920
 When God looks at us,

00:13:04.620 --> 00:13:05.360
 He sees Jesus.

00:13:05.500 --> 00:13:06.279
 We have been given,

00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:07.519
 we've been imputed

00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:09.580
 Jesus Christ's righteousness.

00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:10.320
 Right?

00:13:10.779 --> 00:13:12.180
 So we should continue in that.

00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:13.139
 We should stand in that.

00:13:13.220 --> 00:13:14.759
 This is our status in God.

00:13:14.980 --> 00:13:16.080
 We are beloved.

00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:17.800
 We are loved by Him.

00:13:17.920 --> 00:13:20.039
 And we are chosen in Him.

00:13:21.100 --> 00:13:23.120
 This speaks of who we are.

00:13:24.100 --> 00:13:25.420
 Not differing in degree,

00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:26.340
 but in type.

00:13:27.740 --> 00:13:28.860
 It speaks of who we are,

00:13:28.899 --> 00:13:29.680
 but more importantly,

00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:33.799
 it reminds us of who made us

00:13:33.799 --> 00:13:35.199
 who we are.

00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:38.219
 See that we are chosen ones

00:13:38.219 --> 00:13:39.759
 and we're holy and beloved,

00:13:40.500 --> 00:13:41.500
 but so importantly,

00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.639
 we are God's chosen ones.

00:13:45.099 --> 00:13:47.039
 Holy and beloved.

00:13:47.319 --> 00:13:48.599
 If you are in Christ,

00:13:48.699 --> 00:13:50.099
 if you have placed faith in Him,

00:13:50.419 --> 00:13:53.199
 this is a great work of God Almighty.

00:13:53.699 --> 00:13:55.339
 He has birthed this in you.

00:13:55.340 --> 00:13:58.660
 He has caused you to believe

00:13:58.660 --> 00:14:02.019
 in Jesus Christ's person and His work.

00:14:02.100 --> 00:14:03.220
 It is His doing,

00:14:03.340 --> 00:14:03.920
 and therefore,

00:14:04.540 --> 00:14:06.480
 the completion of what He intends

00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:07.720
 to accomplish with you

00:14:07.720 --> 00:14:09.940
 is sure.

00:14:10.200 --> 00:14:11.320
 What a precious promise

00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:13.639
 is found in this little phrase,

00:14:13.899 --> 00:14:15.860
 God's chosen ones.

00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:18.040
 Holy and beloved.

00:14:18.740 --> 00:14:19.400
 Turn with me, if you will,

00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:20.580
 to 1 John 2.

00:14:20.580 --> 00:14:24.639
 See a bit of a parallel text here

00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:26.680
 that drives the point

00:14:26.680 --> 00:14:28.879
 that because of now who we are,

00:14:29.160 --> 00:14:31.460
 we will live in a particular way.

00:14:31.560 --> 00:14:33.320
 Our obedience is a response

00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:35.300
 to the grace of God in Christ

00:14:35.300 --> 00:14:36.500
 on our behalf.

00:14:40.980 --> 00:14:42.200
 1 John 2.

00:14:42.340 --> 00:14:43.960
 And I'm going to begin reading in verse 28.

00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:49.920
 And now, little children,

00:14:50.580 --> 00:14:51.940
 abide in Him,

00:14:52.680 --> 00:14:54.000
 so that when He appears,

00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:55.379
 we may have confidence

00:14:55.379 --> 00:14:56.820
 and not shrink from Him

00:14:56.820 --> 00:14:58.080
 in shame at His coming.

00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:01.259
 If you know that He is righteous,

00:15:01.639 --> 00:15:02.560
 there's His work,

00:15:03.040 --> 00:15:04.560
 you may be sure that everyone

00:15:04.560 --> 00:15:05.980
 who practices righteousness

00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:08.300
 has been born of Him.

00:15:09.100 --> 00:15:10.160
 See what kind of love

00:15:10.160 --> 00:15:11.460
 the Father has given to us,

00:15:11.460 --> 00:15:12.940
 that we should be called

00:15:12.940 --> 00:15:14.620
 children of God,

00:15:14.800 --> 00:15:16.200
 and so we are.

00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:18.040
 The reason why the world

00:15:18.040 --> 00:15:18.740
 does not know us

00:15:18.740 --> 00:15:20.180
 is that it did not know Him.

00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:24.060
 Beloved, we are God's children now.

00:15:24.180 --> 00:15:26.740
 So there's this status change for us.

00:15:26.860 --> 00:15:27.580
 Enemies of God,

00:15:27.660 --> 00:15:29.540
 now children of God.

00:15:29.660 --> 00:15:30.879
 John goes on to write

00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:32.120
 in verse 9 and 10,

00:15:32.500 --> 00:15:34.660
 No one born of God

00:15:34.660 --> 00:15:37.280
 makes a practice of sinning,

00:15:37.720 --> 00:15:39.820
 for God's seed abides in Him,

00:15:39.820 --> 00:15:41.420
 and He cannot keep on sinning,

00:15:41.460 --> 00:15:43.440
 because He has been born of God.

00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:45.180
 By this it is evident

00:15:45.180 --> 00:15:46.660
 who are the children of God

00:15:46.660 --> 00:15:48.540
 and who are the children of the devil.

00:15:49.220 --> 00:15:51.000
 Whoever does not practice righteousness

00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:52.120
 is not of God,

00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:53.220
 nor is the one

00:15:53.220 --> 00:15:55.340
 who does not love

00:15:55.340 --> 00:15:56.620
 his brother.

00:15:57.460 --> 00:15:59.500
 So you see that there's this status change,

00:15:59.660 --> 00:16:01.000
 and it causes us to live

00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:02.320
 in a different way.

00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:03.060
 And if we don't,

00:16:03.100 --> 00:16:04.460
 if we're not about the practice

00:16:04.460 --> 00:16:05.180
 of righteousness,

00:16:05.540 --> 00:16:06.759
 but we're instead about

00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:08.759
 the practice of sinning,

00:16:08.759 --> 00:16:11.799
 it's indicative of who we are.

00:16:13.019 --> 00:16:14.460
 Pears don't grow on apple trees.

00:16:14.939 --> 00:16:17.759
 Only apples grow on apple trees.

00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:20.360
 And as such,

00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:22.559
 when we've had this status change,

00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:26.559
 sin is part of a believer's past.

00:16:26.700 --> 00:16:29.559
 Verse 7 of chapter 3 in Colossians,

00:16:29.960 --> 00:16:30.679
 In these,

00:16:31.240 --> 00:16:32.860
 you too once walked

00:16:32.860 --> 00:16:34.779
 when you were living in them.

00:16:34.779 --> 00:16:38.139
 The last part of verse 9,

00:16:38.259 --> 00:16:39.559
 Seeing that you have put off

00:16:39.559 --> 00:16:40.419
 the old self

00:16:40.419 --> 00:16:42.240
 with its practices.

00:16:42.379 --> 00:16:44.159
 It's once who we were,

00:16:44.279 --> 00:16:45.259
 but it is no longer

00:16:45.259 --> 00:16:47.100
 who we are

00:16:47.100 --> 00:16:48.639
 if we have placed faith

00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:49.799
 in Christ.

00:16:50.179 --> 00:16:51.480
 And Paul is driving this point

00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:52.899
 that this has to do with

00:16:52.899 --> 00:16:53.740
 how we relate

00:16:53.740 --> 00:16:56.179
 to one another.

00:16:57.419 --> 00:16:58.059
 And beloved,

00:16:58.179 --> 00:16:59.839
 we don't do this well.

00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:01.759
 There are so many things

00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:02.379
 about our church

00:17:02.379 --> 00:17:03.039
 that are healthy,

00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:04.579
 and we probably do this

00:17:04.579 --> 00:17:05.500
 better than many.

00:17:06.259 --> 00:17:07.339
 But you need to hear

00:17:07.339 --> 00:17:08.480
 what Paul is trying

00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:09.259
 to communicate

00:17:09.259 --> 00:17:10.500
 about the way in which

00:17:10.500 --> 00:17:11.319
 we should relate

00:17:11.319 --> 00:17:13.379
 to one another.

00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:15.399
 And I think one of the great

00:17:15.399 --> 00:17:17.339
 cultural challenges to this

00:17:17.339 --> 00:17:19.180
 is that so many of us

00:17:19.180 --> 00:17:20.220
 think of the church

00:17:20.220 --> 00:17:21.279
 as something that is

00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:23.359
 outside of us.

00:17:23.539 --> 00:17:24.920
 It is an institution.

00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:27.279
 It is a thing that we attend

00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:30.659
 rather than who we are.

00:17:30.660 --> 00:17:33.300
 If you are in Christ,

00:17:33.779 --> 00:17:36.019
 you are the church.

00:17:37.140 --> 00:17:39.060
 We go on existing

00:17:39.060 --> 00:17:40.700
 apart from this piece of property

00:17:40.700 --> 00:17:42.580
 and from this building,

00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:43.420
 praise God.

00:17:44.080 --> 00:17:45.519
 We continue to exist

00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:46.800
 without a name

00:17:46.800 --> 00:17:48.240
 or a website

00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:50.660
 or any contact info whatsoever.

00:17:51.100 --> 00:17:53.080
 The church is us.

00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:54.960
 It is people.

00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:58.380
 If you have a favorite restaurant,

00:17:59.140 --> 00:18:00.420
 I would not expect you

00:18:00.420 --> 00:18:01.799
 to know everybody

00:18:01.799 --> 00:18:03.799
 who works at that restaurant.

00:18:04.120 --> 00:18:04.740
 I wouldn't expect you

00:18:04.740 --> 00:18:05.360
 to know the owner.

00:18:05.480 --> 00:18:06.240
 It doesn't really matter

00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:07.380
 if you know the owner or not,

00:18:07.420 --> 00:18:08.319
 if you enjoy the food.

00:18:08.620 --> 00:18:09.360
 You don't have to know

00:18:09.360 --> 00:18:10.539
 the chef who cooks

00:18:10.539 --> 00:18:11.620
 the food for you.

00:18:12.180 --> 00:18:13.360
 You never relate

00:18:13.360 --> 00:18:14.539
 to the other patrons.

00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:15.759
 You don't come in and go,

00:18:15.819 --> 00:18:17.340
 isn't this the best restaurant ever?

00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:18.079
 You go in,

00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:19.340
 you enjoy the company

00:18:19.340 --> 00:18:20.160
 that came with you,

00:18:20.380 --> 00:18:21.039
 you get up,

00:18:21.120 --> 00:18:21.920
 and you leave,

00:18:21.980 --> 00:18:23.100
 and that is fine

00:18:23.099 --> 00:18:24.519
 and acceptable.

00:18:25.679 --> 00:18:27.579
 Sam and I went to a restaurant

00:18:27.579 --> 00:18:28.980
 down in Gwinnett

00:18:28.980 --> 00:18:32.279
 close to a large building

00:18:32.279 --> 00:18:33.959
 where a congregation meets.

00:18:35.500 --> 00:18:36.839
 And we ran into

00:18:36.839 --> 00:18:37.480
 while we were eating,

00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:38.819
 there were so many people

00:18:38.819 --> 00:18:40.259
 that we knew from our past.

00:18:40.279 --> 00:18:41.539
 Like I ran into my health teacher

00:18:41.539 --> 00:18:42.480
 from the seventh grade.

00:18:42.959 --> 00:18:44.299
 We're just running into people we knew.

00:18:44.379 --> 00:18:45.199
 It was the weirdest evening.

00:18:46.879 --> 00:18:48.439
 And most of them,

00:18:49.159 --> 00:18:50.039
 Sam would ask,

00:18:50.719 --> 00:18:52.099
 where are you attending church now?

00:18:52.179 --> 00:18:53.019
 Who are you fellowshipping?

00:18:53.099 --> 00:18:54.879
 And they all had the same answer.

00:18:55.579 --> 00:18:56.480
 But as we watched them

00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:58.099
 go to eat their meals,

00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:01.799
 none interacted with one another.

00:19:03.019 --> 00:19:04.980
 All of them professed to be

00:19:04.980 --> 00:19:06.119
 part of a fellowship

00:19:06.119 --> 00:19:08.159
 of Jesus Christ together

00:19:08.159 --> 00:19:10.419
 and yet had no relationship.

00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:12.019
 None whatsoever.

00:19:12.099 --> 00:19:13.079
 Or they all hated each other

00:19:13.079 --> 00:19:14.000
 or were ignoring each other.

00:19:14.139 --> 00:19:15.039
 One of the two.

00:19:15.480 --> 00:19:16.959
 Both sin.

00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:20.679
 This shouldn't be so amongst us.

00:19:20.680 --> 00:19:23.180
 I will fight and fight

00:19:23.180 --> 00:19:24.060
 and fight and fight

00:19:24.060 --> 00:19:26.460
 for that not to be the case

00:19:26.460 --> 00:19:28.180
 amongst us.

00:19:29.019 --> 00:19:30.960
 We are the church

00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:31.960
 and we're meant to live

00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:33.400
 in a very particular way

00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:35.240
 with one another.

00:19:35.240 --> 00:19:37.380
 And this is God's design

00:19:37.380 --> 00:19:39.519
 for the advancement of His gospel.

00:19:39.660 --> 00:19:41.360
 This is a primary way

00:19:41.360 --> 00:19:43.940
 in which His glory is proclaimed

00:19:43.940 --> 00:19:45.200
 in this world.

00:19:45.320 --> 00:19:46.940
 The way we relate

00:19:46.940 --> 00:19:48.660
 to one another.

00:19:48.660 --> 00:19:49.800
 Look at some of the things

00:19:49.800 --> 00:19:50.320
 that He says.

00:19:50.380 --> 00:19:51.140
 And I'm not going to develop

00:19:51.140 --> 00:19:52.000
 all of these out.

00:19:52.120 --> 00:19:53.100
 Each of these could be

00:19:53.100 --> 00:19:54.400
 a week of a sermon.

00:19:54.540 --> 00:19:55.519
 But look what He says

00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:57.860
 that we're meant to be doing together.

00:19:57.960 --> 00:19:59.779
 The things we're meant to put on

00:19:59.779 --> 00:20:01.320
 as God's chosen ones.

00:20:01.380 --> 00:20:02.840
 His holy and His beloved.

00:20:03.840 --> 00:20:05.259
 Compassionate hearts.

00:20:06.320 --> 00:20:06.980
 Compassionate hearts.

00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:10.680
 Love characterized by mercy.

00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:13.019
 That looks at an individual

00:20:13.019 --> 00:20:14.860
 and your heart breaks

00:20:14.860 --> 00:20:15.660
 for them

00:20:15.660 --> 00:20:16.640
 and the situation

00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:17.700
 that they're in.

00:20:17.779 --> 00:20:19.440
 And every single one of us

00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:20.820
 has something happening

00:20:20.820 --> 00:20:21.600
 in our lives

00:20:21.600 --> 00:20:22.759
 that should be causing

00:20:22.759 --> 00:20:23.400
 heartbreak

00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:24.759
 in the life of somebody else.

00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:26.340
 We're all hurting.

00:20:26.620 --> 00:20:28.660
 We're all dealing with stuff.

00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:30.400
 So we're to have

00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:31.539
 compassionate hearts

00:20:31.539 --> 00:20:32.580
 for one another.

00:20:33.019 --> 00:20:34.420
 Merciful hearts.

00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:35.900
 We should put on

00:20:35.900 --> 00:20:36.759
 kindness.

00:20:37.820 --> 00:20:38.420
 Which means

00:20:38.420 --> 00:20:40.700
 gracious acts

00:20:40.700 --> 00:20:41.560
 of goodness.

00:20:42.320 --> 00:20:43.580
 That we care for one another

00:20:43.580 --> 00:20:44.380
 to the degree

00:20:44.380 --> 00:20:46.180
 that we serve one another.

00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:47.519
 That we maybe as

00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:49.120
 Romans 12 suggests

00:20:49.120 --> 00:20:49.920
 that we compete

00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:51.480
 to outdo one another

00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:53.060
 in showing honor

00:20:53.060 --> 00:20:54.140
 and serving each other

00:20:54.140 --> 00:20:55.400
 in this way.

00:20:56.540 --> 00:20:57.600
 We're to put on

00:20:57.600 --> 00:20:58.580
 humility.

00:20:59.940 --> 00:21:01.320
 Which means that we recognize

00:21:01.320 --> 00:21:02.519
 who we are

00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:04.860
 apart from Jesus Christ.

00:21:04.859 --> 00:21:04.979
 Christ.

00:21:05.939 --> 00:21:07.459
 Wretched thing

00:21:07.459 --> 00:21:08.599
 that I am

00:21:08.599 --> 00:21:09.899
 apart from Jesus.

00:21:11.019 --> 00:21:13.099
 I have been given grace

00:21:13.099 --> 00:21:14.740
 in abounding measure.

00:21:14.919 --> 00:21:16.439
 I deserve nothing

00:21:16.439 --> 00:21:17.779
 that I have.

00:21:17.859 --> 00:21:18.059
 And yet,

00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:19.000
 so often we act

00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:19.679
 like we deserve

00:21:19.679 --> 00:21:20.459
 everything

00:21:20.459 --> 00:21:21.519
 that the world

00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:22.419
 has to offer.

00:21:23.219 --> 00:21:23.919
 We are to be

00:21:23.919 --> 00:21:25.159
 humble.

00:21:26.099 --> 00:21:26.579
 Paul writes in

00:21:26.579 --> 00:21:27.659
 Philippians 2

00:21:27.659 --> 00:21:29.019
 verses 3 and 4

00:21:29.019 --> 00:21:30.339
 do nothing

00:21:30.339 --> 00:21:32.279
 from selfish ambition

00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:33.639
 or conceit.

00:21:33.639 --> 00:21:34.439
 So here's the

00:21:34.440 --> 00:21:36.820
 stated in the negative.

00:21:37.360 --> 00:21:38.240
 This is the activity

00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:39.080
 of the person

00:21:39.080 --> 00:21:40.140
 who's not humble.

00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:41.840
 Operating out of

00:21:41.840 --> 00:21:42.740
 selfish ambition

00:21:42.740 --> 00:21:43.440
 and conceit.

00:21:43.860 --> 00:21:44.100
 But,

00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:45.360
 in humility,

00:21:46.180 --> 00:21:47.120
 count others

00:21:47.120 --> 00:21:48.539
 more significant

00:21:48.539 --> 00:21:50.259
 than yourselves.

00:21:51.539 --> 00:21:52.180
 Let each of you

00:21:52.180 --> 00:21:52.880
 look not only

00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:53.820
 to his own interests

00:21:53.820 --> 00:21:54.559
 but also

00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:55.720
 to the interests

00:21:55.720 --> 00:21:57.160
 of others.

00:21:57.860 --> 00:21:58.480
 We're to put on

00:21:58.480 --> 00:21:58.860
 humility.

00:21:59.180 --> 00:21:59.720
 We're to put on

00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:00.980
 meekness.

00:22:00.980 --> 00:22:01.480
 gentleness.

00:22:01.480 --> 00:22:02.620
 A synonym for this

00:22:02.620 --> 00:22:04.140
 kind of

00:22:04.140 --> 00:22:05.039
 is gentleness.

00:22:05.779 --> 00:22:06.680
 But in the Greek

00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:07.279
 it means a bit

00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:08.180
 more than that.

00:22:08.500 --> 00:22:09.799
 It's a person

00:22:09.799 --> 00:22:10.360
 that's not

00:22:10.360 --> 00:22:11.559
 gentle by

00:22:11.559 --> 00:22:14.440
 lack of strength

00:22:14.440 --> 00:22:15.799
 but a person

00:22:15.799 --> 00:22:17.240
 who has strength

00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:18.120
 and bridles

00:22:18.120 --> 00:22:18.940
 that strength

00:22:18.940 --> 00:22:20.180
 appropriately.

00:22:21.160 --> 00:22:21.680
 Jesus Christ

00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:22.099
 is the most

00:22:22.099 --> 00:22:22.779
 wonderful example

00:22:22.779 --> 00:22:23.079
 of this

00:22:23.079 --> 00:22:23.480
 as he is

00:22:23.480 --> 00:22:23.819
 of all

00:22:23.819 --> 00:22:24.799
 righteous

00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:25.440
 characteristics.

00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:27.180
 You see him

00:22:27.180 --> 00:22:27.980
 as we work

00:22:27.980 --> 00:22:28.820
 through Mark

00:22:28.820 --> 00:22:29.360
 recently.

00:22:30.500 --> 00:22:31.840
 Stilling storms

00:22:31.840 --> 00:22:32.980
 by his voice.

00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:34.380
 Commanding the

00:22:34.380 --> 00:22:35.220
 waves and they

00:22:35.220 --> 00:22:36.580
 stop casting

00:22:36.580 --> 00:22:37.700
 out demons.

00:22:38.759 --> 00:22:39.860
 Pulling no

00:22:39.860 --> 00:22:40.440
 punches with

00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:41.279
 the Pharisees.

00:22:41.620 --> 00:22:42.539
 Fierce in the

00:22:42.539 --> 00:22:42.900
 way that he

00:22:42.900 --> 00:22:43.940
 dealt with the

00:22:43.940 --> 00:22:45.160
 world and sin.

00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:45.799
 And then you

00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:46.440
 see him inviting

00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:47.080
 little children

00:22:47.080 --> 00:22:48.240
 to come and

00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:48.900
 sit on his lap.

00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:50.380
 To me there's

00:22:50.380 --> 00:22:51.320
 nothing more

00:22:51.320 --> 00:22:52.400
 precious than

00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:52.920
 some of the

00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:54.680
 big strong men

00:22:54.680 --> 00:22:55.299
 of our church

00:22:55.299 --> 00:22:55.599
 and the way

00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:56.139
 they hold

00:22:56.139 --> 00:22:56.819
 their little

00:22:56.819 --> 00:22:57.279
 babies.

00:22:57.839 --> 00:22:58.659
 Stan Luttrell

00:22:58.659 --> 00:22:59.139
 breaks my

00:22:59.139 --> 00:22:59.940
 heart sometimes

00:22:59.940 --> 00:23:01.680
 as big and

00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:02.279
 strong as he

00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:02.740
 is in the

00:23:02.740 --> 00:23:03.440
 way he's so

00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:04.619
 tender with

00:23:04.619 --> 00:23:05.139
 his youngest

00:23:05.139 --> 00:23:05.899
 daughter.

00:23:06.139 --> 00:23:07.220
 This is a

00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:08.059
 picture of

00:23:08.059 --> 00:23:09.059
 meekness.

00:23:09.899 --> 00:23:10.680
 Jesus Christ

00:23:10.680 --> 00:23:11.559
 on the cross

00:23:11.559 --> 00:23:12.379
 is the highest

00:23:12.379 --> 00:23:13.700
 example of it.

00:23:14.119 --> 00:23:14.779
 Having the

00:23:14.779 --> 00:23:15.480
 power, being

00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:16.539
 God himself,

00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:17.259
 to just go

00:23:17.259 --> 00:23:17.819
 ahead and say

00:23:17.819 --> 00:23:18.399
 you know what

00:23:18.399 --> 00:23:19.000
 we're not doing

00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:19.759
 the cross thing.

00:23:20.279 --> 00:23:20.899
 I'm just going

00:23:20.899 --> 00:23:21.500
 to go ahead

00:23:21.500 --> 00:23:22.259
 and judge and

00:23:22.259 --> 00:23:23.180
 destroy the earth

00:23:23.180 --> 00:23:23.779
 now.

00:23:24.279 --> 00:23:24.639
 And yet he

00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:26.040
 took it for

00:23:26.040 --> 00:23:26.560
 our sake.

00:23:26.660 --> 00:23:27.020
 This is that

00:23:27.020 --> 00:23:27.820
 picture of

00:23:27.820 --> 00:23:28.860
 meekness.

00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:30.240
 We're to put

00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:30.880
 on meekness.

00:23:31.640 --> 00:23:32.340
 We're to put

00:23:32.340 --> 00:23:33.880
 on patience.

00:23:35.460 --> 00:23:36.160
 Not to be

00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:36.980
 quick tempered.

00:23:37.420 --> 00:23:37.800
 We're to be

00:23:37.800 --> 00:23:38.800
 patient with

00:23:38.800 --> 00:23:40.720
 one another.

00:23:40.940 --> 00:23:41.780
 Because God

00:23:41.780 --> 00:23:43.200
 bears with

00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:43.540
 us.

00:23:43.660 --> 00:23:44.259
 Just consider

00:23:44.259 --> 00:23:44.820
 that for a

00:23:44.820 --> 00:23:45.060
 moment.

00:23:45.800 --> 00:23:46.140
 Think about

00:23:46.140 --> 00:23:46.700
 the people that

00:23:46.700 --> 00:23:47.520
 tend to annoy

00:23:47.520 --> 00:23:48.300
 you, that you

00:23:48.300 --> 00:23:48.800
 have a hard

00:23:48.800 --> 00:23:49.400
 time being

00:23:49.400 --> 00:23:50.080
 patient with,

00:23:50.259 --> 00:23:50.940
 and then take

00:23:50.940 --> 00:23:51.400
 on their

00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:52.160
 characteristic.

00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:53.860
 Am I ever

00:23:53.860 --> 00:23:54.519
 that way

00:23:54.519 --> 00:23:55.200
 toward God?

00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:55.779
 And the answer

00:23:55.779 --> 00:23:56.519
 is a resounding

00:23:56.519 --> 00:23:57.759
 yes, you are

00:23:57.759 --> 00:23:58.620
 that way

00:23:58.620 --> 00:23:59.300
 toward God.

00:23:59.360 --> 00:24:00.200
 And yet, he

00:24:00.200 --> 00:24:00.800
 is patient

00:24:00.800 --> 00:24:01.380
 with us.

00:24:01.560 --> 00:24:02.320
 Ever loving.

00:24:03.980 --> 00:24:04.740
 Verse 13

00:24:04.740 --> 00:24:05.560
 goes on to

00:24:05.560 --> 00:24:07.060
 kind of work

00:24:07.060 --> 00:24:07.620
 some of this

00:24:07.620 --> 00:24:07.880
 out.

00:24:07.960 --> 00:24:08.320
 So what is that

00:24:08.320 --> 00:24:08.759
 going to look

00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:09.000
 like?

00:24:09.080 --> 00:24:09.380
 If we're going

00:24:09.380 --> 00:24:09.720
 to have these

00:24:09.720 --> 00:24:10.019
 kinds of

00:24:10.019 --> 00:24:10.580
 qualities and

00:24:10.580 --> 00:24:11.180
 characteristics,

00:24:11.540 --> 00:24:11.900
 what is this

00:24:11.900 --> 00:24:12.279
 going to look

00:24:12.279 --> 00:24:12.700
 like in our

00:24:12.700 --> 00:24:13.160
 dealing with

00:24:13.160 --> 00:24:13.660
 one another?

00:24:14.460 --> 00:24:14.779
 And Paul

00:24:14.779 --> 00:24:15.259
 says we are

00:24:15.259 --> 00:24:16.759
 to bear with

00:24:16.759 --> 00:24:17.259
 one another.

00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:18.759
 And if we have

00:24:18.759 --> 00:24:19.600
 a complaint against

00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:20.139
 another, that

00:24:20.139 --> 00:24:20.399
 we're to

00:24:20.399 --> 00:24:22.439
 forgive one

00:24:22.439 --> 00:24:22.779
 another.

00:24:23.919 --> 00:24:24.419
 We're to

00:24:24.419 --> 00:24:24.740
 bear with

00:24:24.740 --> 00:24:25.159
 one another.

00:24:25.319 --> 00:24:25.779
 And this

00:24:25.779 --> 00:24:27.279
 means that

00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:27.899
 it's going to

00:24:27.899 --> 00:24:28.719
 be challenging

00:24:28.719 --> 00:24:29.619
 to do this.

00:24:30.659 --> 00:24:31.179
 Paul's not

00:24:31.179 --> 00:24:31.779
 here promising

00:24:31.779 --> 00:24:32.359
 that you just

00:24:32.359 --> 00:24:32.859
 join a church

00:24:32.859 --> 00:24:33.519
 and it's easy.

00:24:33.740 --> 00:24:34.139
 It's all

00:24:34.139 --> 00:24:34.879
 wonderful and

00:24:34.879 --> 00:24:35.819
 everything is

00:24:35.819 --> 00:24:36.119
 slick.

00:24:36.339 --> 00:24:36.579
 That you're

00:24:36.579 --> 00:24:36.879
 never going

00:24:36.879 --> 00:24:37.299
 to have any

00:24:37.299 --> 00:24:37.879
 personality

00:24:37.879 --> 00:24:38.519
 conflict with

00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:39.159
 somebody else.

00:24:39.959 --> 00:24:40.179
 That you're

00:24:40.179 --> 00:24:40.500
 not going to

00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:41.139
 butt heads

00:24:41.139 --> 00:24:41.859
 over some

00:24:41.859 --> 00:24:42.959
 issue in

00:24:42.959 --> 00:24:43.559
 the church.

00:24:44.199 --> 00:24:44.599
 But here

00:24:44.599 --> 00:24:44.939
 we're to

00:24:44.939 --> 00:24:46.219
 bear with

00:24:46.219 --> 00:24:47.159
 one another.

00:24:47.679 --> 00:24:47.939
 And this is

00:24:47.939 --> 00:24:48.579
 a great

00:24:48.579 --> 00:24:49.119
 English

00:24:49.119 --> 00:24:49.879
 translation.

00:24:50.059 --> 00:24:50.459
 That idea

00:24:50.459 --> 00:24:50.819
 that comes

00:24:50.819 --> 00:24:51.039
 up in

00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:51.459
 our minds

00:24:51.459 --> 00:24:51.879
 of just

00:24:51.879 --> 00:24:52.599
 dealing with

00:24:52.599 --> 00:24:53.859
 somebody is

00:24:53.859 --> 00:24:54.519
 exactly what's

00:24:54.519 --> 00:24:55.199
 being communicated

00:24:55.199 --> 00:24:55.599
 here.

00:24:55.859 --> 00:24:57.000
 Because Christ

00:24:57.000 --> 00:24:57.659
 is all.

00:24:57.939 --> 00:24:58.399
 Because He's

00:24:58.399 --> 00:24:59.179
 redeemed the

00:24:59.179 --> 00:24:59.719
 souls of His

00:24:59.719 --> 00:25:00.779
 people, we

00:25:00.779 --> 00:25:02.039
 are to bear

00:25:02.039 --> 00:25:02.639
 with one

00:25:02.639 --> 00:25:02.939
 another.

00:25:03.699 --> 00:25:04.139
 We're to

00:25:04.139 --> 00:25:04.919
 work through

00:25:04.919 --> 00:25:05.959
 those challenges

00:25:05.959 --> 00:25:06.459
 of our

00:25:06.459 --> 00:25:07.119
 relationship

00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:09.839
 because Christ

00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:10.599
 is all.

00:25:10.879 --> 00:25:11.779
 Because He

00:25:11.779 --> 00:25:12.739
 loves His

00:25:12.739 --> 00:25:13.079
 church.

00:25:13.219 --> 00:25:13.699
 And as

00:25:13.699 --> 00:25:14.799
 such, so

00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:16.859
 are we.

00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:18.579
 Far too

00:25:18.579 --> 00:25:19.139
 many people

00:25:19.139 --> 00:25:19.720
 are looking

00:25:19.720 --> 00:25:20.859
 for the

00:25:20.859 --> 00:25:21.259
 peaceful

00:25:21.259 --> 00:25:22.279
 place to

00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:22.579
 go.

00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:23.759
 I have

00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:24.319
 been to

00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:24.859
 churches and

00:25:24.859 --> 00:25:25.119
 it just

00:25:25.119 --> 00:25:25.579
 makes me

00:25:25.579 --> 00:25:26.259
 sick the

00:25:26.259 --> 00:25:27.240
 false

00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:28.639
 kindness that

00:25:28.639 --> 00:25:29.199
 goes around

00:25:29.199 --> 00:25:29.799
 in those

00:25:29.799 --> 00:25:30.139
 churches.

00:25:30.500 --> 00:25:31.019
 It's just

00:25:31.019 --> 00:25:31.779
 fake and you

00:25:31.779 --> 00:25:32.559
 can feel the

00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:33.460
 tension in

00:25:33.460 --> 00:25:33.939
 the church.

00:25:34.379 --> 00:25:35.019
 The good

00:25:35.019 --> 00:25:35.500
 morning brother,

00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:36.139
 how are you?

00:25:36.379 --> 00:25:36.980
 And behind

00:25:36.980 --> 00:25:37.539
 the scenes a

00:25:37.539 --> 00:25:37.919
 person is

00:25:37.919 --> 00:25:38.220
 saying I

00:25:38.220 --> 00:25:38.859
 don't care

00:25:38.859 --> 00:25:39.439
 at all.

00:25:39.740 --> 00:25:39.980
 In fact,

00:25:40.019 --> 00:25:40.099
 it would

00:25:40.099 --> 00:25:40.559
 be okay with

00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:41.079
 me if you

00:25:41.079 --> 00:25:42.159
 went someplace

00:25:42.159 --> 00:25:43.159
 else.

00:25:43.160 --> 00:25:44.800
 There's a

00:25:44.800 --> 00:25:45.820
 bitterness that

00:25:45.820 --> 00:25:47.100
 broods in

00:25:47.100 --> 00:25:47.960
 a lot of

00:25:47.960 --> 00:25:48.540
 churches because

00:25:48.540 --> 00:25:49.340
 people just

00:25:49.340 --> 00:25:50.220
 don't like

00:25:50.220 --> 00:25:51.279
 one another.

00:25:51.940 --> 00:25:52.360
 And this is

00:25:52.360 --> 00:25:52.620
 not the

00:25:52.620 --> 00:25:53.220
 activity of a

00:25:53.220 --> 00:25:53.700
 person who

00:25:53.700 --> 00:25:54.560
 believes that

00:25:54.560 --> 00:25:56.000
 Christ is

00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:57.080
 all and

00:25:57.080 --> 00:25:57.519
 that He is

00:25:57.519 --> 00:25:58.680
 in all.

00:25:59.400 --> 00:25:59.960
 We're to

00:25:59.960 --> 00:26:01.180
 bear with

00:26:01.180 --> 00:26:01.700
 one another.

00:26:02.920 --> 00:26:03.279
 Turn to

00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:03.740
 Ephesians

00:26:03.740 --> 00:26:04.519
 chapter 4.

00:26:04.519 --> 00:26:13.279
 Beginning in

00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:13.819
 verse 1.

00:26:16.460 --> 00:26:16.980
 I

00:26:16.980 --> 00:26:17.259
 therefore,

00:26:17.460 --> 00:26:18.019
 a prisoner for

00:26:18.019 --> 00:26:18.460
 the Lord,

00:26:19.539 --> 00:26:20.200
 urge you to

00:26:20.200 --> 00:26:20.960
 walk in a

00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:22.079
 manner worthy

00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:22.779
 of the calling

00:26:22.779 --> 00:26:23.579
 to which you

00:26:23.579 --> 00:26:24.819
 have been

00:26:24.819 --> 00:26:25.440
 called because

00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:26.319
 of who you

00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:27.079
 are in

00:26:27.079 --> 00:26:27.779
 Christ.

00:26:27.879 --> 00:26:28.420
 Verse 2.

00:26:28.759 --> 00:26:29.240
 With all

00:26:29.240 --> 00:26:31.039
 humility and

00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:31.779
 gentleness,

00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:33.379
 with patience,

00:26:33.500 --> 00:26:33.799
 this sounds

00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:34.079
 familiar,

00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:34.480
 doesn't it?

00:26:34.519 --> 00:26:35.879
 Bearing with

00:26:35.879 --> 00:26:36.619
 one another

00:26:36.619 --> 00:26:38.220
 in love.

00:26:39.180 --> 00:26:40.559
 Eager to

00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:41.619
 maintain the

00:26:41.619 --> 00:26:42.240
 unity of the

00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:43.619
 Spirit in

00:26:43.619 --> 00:26:44.119
 the bond of

00:26:44.119 --> 00:26:44.559
 peace.

00:26:45.160 --> 00:26:45.720
 Catch what

00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:46.220
 Paul is saying

00:26:46.220 --> 00:26:46.660
 to us there,

00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:47.559
 that we have

00:26:47.559 --> 00:26:48.099
 a unity.

00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:49.259
 We have the

00:26:49.259 --> 00:26:49.680
 unity of the

00:26:49.680 --> 00:26:50.180
 Spirit because

00:26:50.180 --> 00:26:51.180
 Christ is all

00:26:51.180 --> 00:26:52.240
 and He is in

00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:52.940
 all.

00:26:53.059 --> 00:26:53.259
 Therefore,

00:26:53.400 --> 00:26:54.539
 we have a

00:26:54.539 --> 00:26:54.799
 unity.

00:26:55.079 --> 00:26:55.859
 This wonderful

00:26:55.859 --> 00:26:57.220
 commonality that

00:26:57.220 --> 00:26:58.000
 we all possess.

00:26:58.440 --> 00:26:58.980
 And yet,

00:27:00.099 --> 00:27:00.680
 we're to work.

00:27:00.819 --> 00:27:01.139
 We're supposed

00:27:01.139 --> 00:27:01.940
 to work that out.

00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:02.160
 We're supposed

00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:02.720
 to bear with

00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:03.180
 one another in

00:27:03.180 --> 00:27:03.379
 love.

00:27:03.559 --> 00:27:03.859
 We're supposed

00:27:03.859 --> 00:27:04.459
 to be eager

00:27:04.459 --> 00:27:05.199
 to maintain

00:27:05.199 --> 00:27:06.879
 that because

00:27:06.879 --> 00:27:07.359
 of what Christ

00:27:07.359 --> 00:27:07.779
 has done

00:27:07.779 --> 00:27:09.039
 for us.

00:27:09.740 --> 00:27:10.259
 So we're to

00:27:10.259 --> 00:27:10.639
 bear with one

00:27:10.639 --> 00:27:10.979
 another.

00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:12.699
 And if one

00:27:12.699 --> 00:27:13.779
 has a complaint

00:27:13.779 --> 00:27:14.659
 against another,

00:27:15.459 --> 00:27:16.319
 we're to forgive

00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:16.819
 each other.

00:27:19.319 --> 00:27:20.240
 You all don't

00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:20.899
 know that I

00:27:20.899 --> 00:27:22.119
 know most of

00:27:22.119 --> 00:27:22.659
 the things that

00:27:22.659 --> 00:27:23.519
 go on in our

00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:24.099
 church and

00:27:24.099 --> 00:27:24.579
 amongst our

00:27:24.579 --> 00:27:25.179
 people.

00:27:25.180 --> 00:27:25.220
 people.

00:27:26.500 --> 00:27:27.360
 I don't step

00:27:27.360 --> 00:27:27.799
 into the middle

00:27:27.799 --> 00:27:28.140
 of many

00:27:28.140 --> 00:27:29.039
 situations because

00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:29.539
 it's honestly

00:27:29.539 --> 00:27:30.380
 just not my

00:27:30.380 --> 00:27:30.920
 place.

00:27:31.240 --> 00:27:31.740
 I like to let

00:27:31.740 --> 00:27:32.420
 you guys work

00:27:32.420 --> 00:27:33.259
 your stuff out

00:27:33.259 --> 00:27:34.240
 on your own.

00:27:35.460 --> 00:27:36.580
 I have heard

00:27:36.580 --> 00:27:37.340
 on many

00:27:37.340 --> 00:27:38.640
 occasions little

00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:39.380
 comments like,

00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:39.900
 oh, well,

00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:40.259
 he doesn't

00:27:40.259 --> 00:27:40.799
 really like

00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:41.080
 him.

00:27:41.880 --> 00:27:42.980
 That is not

00:27:42.980 --> 00:27:45.320
 okay in our

00:27:45.320 --> 00:27:45.880
 congregation.

00:27:47.140 --> 00:27:47.740
 Hear me

00:27:47.740 --> 00:27:48.680
 clearly saying to

00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:49.560
 you, it's not

00:27:49.560 --> 00:27:50.960
 okay for you

00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:51.519
 to live that

00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:51.860
 way.

00:27:52.079 --> 00:27:52.659
 When we have

00:27:52.659 --> 00:27:53.339
 sign-ups for

00:27:53.339 --> 00:27:55.919
 things, I know

00:27:55.919 --> 00:27:56.439
 that some of

00:27:56.439 --> 00:27:57.659
 you wait to

00:27:57.659 --> 00:27:58.399
 sign up to go

00:27:58.399 --> 00:27:58.959
 do something

00:27:58.959 --> 00:27:59.259
 because you

00:27:59.259 --> 00:27:59.619
 want to see

00:27:59.619 --> 00:28:00.139
 who else is

00:28:00.139 --> 00:28:00.559
 going to sign

00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:01.019
 up and whether

00:28:01.019 --> 00:28:01.459
 or not it's a

00:28:01.459 --> 00:28:01.979
 group of people

00:28:01.979 --> 00:28:02.659
 you really want

00:28:02.659 --> 00:28:03.079
 to hang out

00:28:03.079 --> 00:28:03.379
 with.

00:28:03.899 --> 00:28:04.719
 Not okay.

00:28:05.679 --> 00:28:06.379
 If you should

00:28:06.379 --> 00:28:07.119
 serve in a

00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:07.859
 particular way,

00:28:08.439 --> 00:28:09.259
 sign up and

00:28:09.259 --> 00:28:10.519
 show up and

00:28:10.519 --> 00:28:11.919
 figure it out.

00:28:13.399 --> 00:28:14.379
 Learn to get

00:28:14.379 --> 00:28:15.559
 along and to

00:28:15.559 --> 00:28:16.719
 love each other.

00:28:16.779 --> 00:28:17.379
 It'll be a work

00:28:17.379 --> 00:28:18.199
 I promise, but a

00:28:18.199 --> 00:28:19.539
 work worthwhile.

00:28:20.259 --> 00:28:20.740
 If someone has

00:28:20.740 --> 00:28:21.579
 offended you,

00:28:21.859 --> 00:28:22.799
 forgive them.

00:28:23.279 --> 00:28:23.859
 They may owe

00:28:23.859 --> 00:28:24.519
 you an apology,

00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:25.939
 but either way,

00:28:26.500 --> 00:28:27.159
 forgive them.

00:28:27.579 --> 00:28:28.279
 And why?

00:28:29.659 --> 00:28:30.319
 Because the

00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:30.599
 Lord has

00:28:30.599 --> 00:28:31.219
 forgiven us.

00:28:31.759 --> 00:28:32.139
 Paul gives

00:28:32.139 --> 00:28:32.599
 that to us as

00:28:32.599 --> 00:28:33.079
 the example

00:28:33.079 --> 00:28:33.599
 for why.

00:28:33.959 --> 00:28:34.479
 Forgiving each

00:28:34.479 --> 00:28:35.500
 other as the

00:28:35.500 --> 00:28:35.899
 Lord has

00:28:35.899 --> 00:28:36.579
 forgiven you,

00:28:37.000 --> 00:28:37.879
 so you also

00:28:37.879 --> 00:28:38.919
 must, and

00:28:38.919 --> 00:28:39.639
 that's imperative,

00:28:40.339 --> 00:28:40.619
 forgive.

00:28:41.319 --> 00:28:41.779
 Apparel to

00:28:41.779 --> 00:28:42.379
 this is Ephesians

00:28:42.379 --> 00:28:43.079
 4.32.

00:28:43.319 --> 00:28:44.119
 Be kind to

00:28:44.119 --> 00:28:44.599
 one another,

00:28:45.219 --> 00:28:45.939
 tenderhearted,

00:28:46.579 --> 00:28:47.219
 forgiving one

00:28:47.219 --> 00:28:48.159
 another as God

00:28:48.159 --> 00:28:49.139
 in Christ

00:28:49.139 --> 00:28:50.579
 forgave you.

00:28:50.579 --> 00:28:52.099
 You have

00:28:52.099 --> 00:28:53.000
 been forgiven

00:28:53.000 --> 00:28:54.099
 the highest

00:28:54.099 --> 00:28:55.119
 of offenses.

00:28:55.879 --> 00:28:56.519
 Eternal

00:28:56.519 --> 00:28:57.480
 offense.

00:28:57.799 --> 00:28:58.699
 A massive

00:28:58.699 --> 00:28:59.399
 weight.

00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:00.299
 An unpayable

00:29:00.299 --> 00:29:01.079
 debt has

00:29:01.079 --> 00:29:01.639
 been stricken

00:29:01.639 --> 00:29:02.099
 from your

00:29:02.099 --> 00:29:03.039
 record in

00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:03.500
 Christ.

00:29:03.779 --> 00:29:04.319
 You can

00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:05.299
 forgive somebody

00:29:05.299 --> 00:29:06.240
 the little

00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:06.899
 offense they

00:29:06.899 --> 00:29:07.759
 delivered in

00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:08.619
 the tone in

00:29:08.619 --> 00:29:08.939
 which they

00:29:08.939 --> 00:29:09.579
 said something.

00:29:11.659 --> 00:29:13.799
 Luke 7.47.

00:29:13.799 --> 00:29:15.839
 Jesus is

00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:16.579
 talking of the

00:29:16.579 --> 00:29:17.119
 woman who

00:29:17.119 --> 00:29:18.000
 comes in

00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:19.859
 and cries,

00:29:20.299 --> 00:29:20.899
 washes his

00:29:20.899 --> 00:29:22.180
 feet with

00:29:22.180 --> 00:29:22.879
 her tears,

00:29:23.539 --> 00:29:24.399
 and he

00:29:24.399 --> 00:29:24.659
 says,

00:29:24.779 --> 00:29:25.319
 but he

00:29:25.319 --> 00:29:26.579
 who has

00:29:26.579 --> 00:29:27.039
 forgiven

00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:27.559
 little

00:29:27.559 --> 00:29:28.720
 loves

00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:29.940
 little.

00:29:31.079 --> 00:29:31.559
 Beloved,

00:29:31.619 --> 00:29:32.139
 if you are

00:29:32.139 --> 00:29:32.799
 in Christ,

00:29:33.480 --> 00:29:33.859
 you have

00:29:33.859 --> 00:29:34.500
 been forgiven

00:29:34.500 --> 00:29:35.539
 much,

00:29:35.700 --> 00:29:36.519
 and therefore,

00:29:37.180 --> 00:29:38.059
 stating this

00:29:38.059 --> 00:29:38.319
 in the

00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:38.779
 positive,

00:29:39.319 --> 00:29:39.960
 we should,

00:29:40.079 --> 00:29:41.039
 it necessitates

00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:41.399
 that we

00:29:41.399 --> 00:29:43.339
 love much.

00:29:44.779 --> 00:29:45.440
 I want you

00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:45.940
 to hear me.

00:29:47.180 --> 00:29:47.859
 You're not

00:29:47.859 --> 00:29:48.420
 all easy

00:29:48.420 --> 00:29:48.799
 for me to

00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:49.099
 love.

00:29:51.180 --> 00:29:51.700
 I'm not

00:29:51.700 --> 00:29:51.799
 going to

00:29:51.799 --> 00:29:52.000
 tell you

00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:52.259
 who you

00:29:52.259 --> 00:29:52.579
 are,

00:29:53.099 --> 00:29:55.639
 but it's

00:29:55.639 --> 00:29:55.899
 just a

00:29:55.899 --> 00:29:56.440
 personality

00:29:56.440 --> 00:29:57.399
 thing sometimes.

00:29:58.039 --> 00:29:58.680
 Sometimes our

00:29:58.680 --> 00:29:59.579
 personalities rub

00:29:59.579 --> 00:30:00.039
 up against

00:30:00.039 --> 00:30:00.519
 each other.

00:30:00.920 --> 00:30:01.559
 I sometimes

00:30:01.559 --> 00:30:02.019
 don't have a

00:30:02.019 --> 00:30:02.639
 clue what to

00:30:02.639 --> 00:30:02.899
 say to

00:30:02.899 --> 00:30:03.019
 somebody.

00:30:03.059 --> 00:30:03.220
 I have

00:30:03.220 --> 00:30:04.000
 nothing to

00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:04.259
 say.

00:30:05.500 --> 00:30:06.200
 I fear

00:30:06.200 --> 00:30:06.759
 sometimes I

00:30:06.759 --> 00:30:07.180
 walk away

00:30:07.180 --> 00:30:07.740
 awkwardly

00:30:07.740 --> 00:30:08.180
 because I

00:30:08.180 --> 00:30:08.379
 don't know

00:30:08.379 --> 00:30:08.639
 what else

00:30:08.639 --> 00:30:08.879
 to say.

00:30:08.920 --> 00:30:09.079
 I'm just

00:30:09.079 --> 00:30:09.720
 talking and

00:30:09.720 --> 00:30:09.839
 then I

00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:10.119
 just go

00:30:10.119 --> 00:30:10.579
 and walk

00:30:10.579 --> 00:30:10.859
 away.

00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:14.920
 You're

00:30:14.920 --> 00:30:15.359
 not easy

00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:15.659
 to love,

00:30:15.740 --> 00:30:15.940
 but I

00:30:15.940 --> 00:30:16.980
 do love

00:30:16.980 --> 00:30:17.220
 you.

00:30:17.920 --> 00:30:18.220
 And I

00:30:18.220 --> 00:30:18.500
 do that

00:30:18.500 --> 00:30:19.240
 because it's

00:30:19.240 --> 00:30:19.599
 rooted in

00:30:19.599 --> 00:30:19.980
 the great

00:30:19.980 --> 00:30:20.480
 love that

00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:21.220
 God has

00:30:21.220 --> 00:30:22.240
 for me.

00:30:22.799 --> 00:30:23.319
 You are

00:30:23.319 --> 00:30:24.019
 His people.

00:30:24.680 --> 00:30:24.960
 And I

00:30:24.960 --> 00:30:25.680
 love the

00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:26.220
 things that

00:30:26.220 --> 00:30:27.859
 Jesus loves.

00:30:28.899 --> 00:30:29.379
 You are

00:30:29.379 --> 00:30:30.180
 all precious

00:30:30.180 --> 00:30:30.759
 to me

00:30:30.759 --> 00:30:32.319
 because you

00:30:32.319 --> 00:30:32.899
 are His.

00:30:34.159 --> 00:30:34.659
 In our

00:30:34.659 --> 00:30:34.920
 community

00:30:34.920 --> 00:30:35.539
 outreach groups,

00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:35.899
 we've been

00:30:35.899 --> 00:30:36.440
 studying through

00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:36.960
 the book of

00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:37.539
 Philippians

00:30:37.539 --> 00:30:37.940
 together.

00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:39.579
 And just

00:30:39.579 --> 00:30:40.759
 depending on

00:30:40.759 --> 00:30:42.180
 which evening

00:30:42.180 --> 00:30:42.819
 you meet.

00:30:43.379 --> 00:30:44.039
 Two weeks

00:30:44.039 --> 00:30:44.660
 ago for

00:30:44.660 --> 00:30:45.200
 some of

00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:45.359
 you,

00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:45.819
 just a

00:30:45.819 --> 00:30:46.259
 week ago

00:30:46.259 --> 00:30:47.599
 for others,

00:30:48.460 --> 00:30:49.099
 we looked at

00:30:49.099 --> 00:30:51.099
 Philippians 4,

00:30:51.259 --> 00:30:52.460
 verses 1-3.

00:30:52.900 --> 00:30:53.339
 I want you to

00:30:53.339 --> 00:30:53.859
 turn there real

00:30:53.859 --> 00:30:54.079
 quick.

00:30:54.160 --> 00:30:54.599
 I know a lot

00:30:54.599 --> 00:30:55.339
 of you are

00:30:55.339 --> 00:30:56.440
 familiar with

00:30:56.440 --> 00:30:56.960
 the text,

00:30:57.119 --> 00:30:57.480
 but I want you

00:30:57.480 --> 00:30:58.099
 to see it

00:30:58.099 --> 00:30:58.740
 just in case

00:30:58.740 --> 00:30:59.299
 you're not.

00:31:01.700 --> 00:31:02.519
 Maybe a little

00:31:02.519 --> 00:31:03.680
 obscure it seems.

00:31:03.759 --> 00:31:04.519
 You read past

00:31:04.519 --> 00:31:04.799
 it.

00:31:05.259 --> 00:31:06.099
 How many times

00:31:06.099 --> 00:31:06.879
 I've read right

00:31:06.879 --> 00:31:07.839
 through the book

00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:08.659
 of Philippians?

00:31:09.079 --> 00:31:09.819
 I read right

00:31:09.819 --> 00:31:10.519
 past verses

00:31:10.519 --> 00:31:11.659
 1-3.

00:31:12.199 --> 00:31:13.079
 Something very

00:31:13.079 --> 00:31:13.859
 important that

00:31:13.859 --> 00:31:14.500
 Paul is doing

00:31:14.500 --> 00:31:14.779
 here.

00:31:16.339 --> 00:31:17.039
 He writes,

00:31:17.119 --> 00:31:17.279
 Therefore,

00:31:17.399 --> 00:31:17.859
 my brothers,

00:31:18.819 --> 00:31:19.500
 whom I love

00:31:19.500 --> 00:31:20.179
 and long for,

00:31:20.220 --> 00:31:20.959
 my joy and

00:31:20.959 --> 00:31:21.339
 crown,

00:31:21.939 --> 00:31:22.759
 stand firm

00:31:22.759 --> 00:31:23.619
 thus in the

00:31:23.619 --> 00:31:23.939
 Lord,

00:31:24.359 --> 00:31:25.139
 my beloved.

00:31:26.199 --> 00:31:27.119
 I entreat

00:31:27.119 --> 00:31:28.759
 Euodia and

00:31:28.759 --> 00:31:29.259
 I entreat

00:31:29.259 --> 00:31:30.019
 Cintiq to

00:31:30.019 --> 00:31:31.279
 agree in the

00:31:31.279 --> 00:31:31.559
 Lord.

00:31:31.879 --> 00:31:32.179
 Yes,

00:31:32.220 --> 00:31:32.779
 I ask you

00:31:32.779 --> 00:31:33.179
 also,

00:31:33.299 --> 00:31:34.019
 true companion,

00:31:34.220 --> 00:31:34.659
 help these

00:31:34.659 --> 00:31:35.439
 women who

00:31:35.439 --> 00:31:35.899
 have labored

00:31:35.899 --> 00:31:36.500
 side by side

00:31:36.500 --> 00:31:36.839
 with me in

00:31:36.839 --> 00:31:37.200
 the gospel

00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:37.859
 together with

00:31:37.859 --> 00:31:38.759
 Clement and

00:31:38.759 --> 00:31:39.240
 the rest of

00:31:39.240 --> 00:31:39.579
 my fellow

00:31:39.579 --> 00:31:40.480
 workers whose

00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:41.539
 names are in

00:31:41.539 --> 00:31:41.859
 the book of

00:31:41.859 --> 00:31:42.160
 life.

00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:43.539
 And that was

00:31:43.539 --> 00:31:44.160
 our text for

00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:44.819
 that evening

00:31:44.819 --> 00:31:45.920
 to discuss

00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:46.660
 together.

00:31:47.259 --> 00:31:48.299
 And I got

00:31:48.299 --> 00:31:48.940
 the treat of

00:31:48.940 --> 00:31:49.259
 getting to

00:31:49.259 --> 00:31:50.079
 fill in and

00:31:50.079 --> 00:31:51.039
 lead a group.

00:31:52.059 --> 00:31:52.339
 And the

00:31:52.339 --> 00:31:53.000
 question I led

00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:54.380
 with was,

00:31:54.740 --> 00:31:55.200
 how would you

00:31:55.200 --> 00:31:56.160
 feel if on a

00:31:56.160 --> 00:31:56.740
 Sunday morning

00:31:56.740 --> 00:31:58.259
 I got up and

00:31:58.259 --> 00:31:59.019
 I called out

00:31:59.019 --> 00:31:59.640
 two of you

00:31:59.640 --> 00:32:00.680
 who I've heard

00:32:00.680 --> 00:32:01.440
 weren't getting

00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:02.339
 along too

00:32:02.339 --> 00:32:02.640
 well?

00:32:03.180 --> 00:32:03.779
 I just pointed

00:32:03.779 --> 00:32:04.220
 you out and

00:32:04.220 --> 00:32:04.619
 I said,

00:32:05.480 --> 00:32:05.859
 oh, and while

00:32:05.859 --> 00:32:06.440
 we're at it,

00:32:06.500 --> 00:32:08.099
 I encourage

00:32:08.099 --> 00:32:08.539
 the two of

00:32:08.539 --> 00:32:09.799
 you, work

00:32:09.799 --> 00:32:10.180
 it out.

00:32:10.299 --> 00:32:10.900
 Come on.

00:32:11.460 --> 00:32:11.940
 Quit causing

00:32:11.940 --> 00:32:12.299
 so many

00:32:12.299 --> 00:32:12.859
 problems.

00:32:14.140 --> 00:32:14.519
 And how that

00:32:14.519 --> 00:32:14.920
 would make you

00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:15.359
 feel.

00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:16.019
 This is what

00:32:16.019 --> 00:32:17.059
 Paul does.

00:32:18.019 --> 00:32:18.619
 Paul wrote a

00:32:18.619 --> 00:32:19.180
 letter to the

00:32:19.180 --> 00:32:19.799
 church at

00:32:19.799 --> 00:32:20.319
 Philippi.

00:32:20.619 --> 00:32:21.380
 It was meant

00:32:21.380 --> 00:32:21.920
 to be read

00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:22.539
 out loud.

00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:23.240
 It's exactly

00:32:23.240 --> 00:32:23.960
 what he does

00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:24.680
 here.

00:32:25.420 --> 00:32:26.660
 As he seems

00:32:26.660 --> 00:32:27.460
 to pause,

00:32:28.119 --> 00:32:28.680
 for some

00:32:28.680 --> 00:32:29.019
 reason,

00:32:29.099 --> 00:32:29.400
 why does

00:32:29.400 --> 00:32:29.700
 he do

00:32:29.700 --> 00:32:30.200
 this?

00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:32.660
 It must

00:32:32.660 --> 00:32:32.920
 have been

00:32:32.920 --> 00:32:33.700
 really important.

00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:35.259
 It must

00:32:35.259 --> 00:32:35.500
 have been

00:32:35.500 --> 00:32:36.080
 of great,

00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:37.480
 great importance.

00:32:37.660 --> 00:32:37.940
 And here's

00:32:37.940 --> 00:32:38.380
 the thing

00:32:38.380 --> 00:32:39.140
 that I want

00:32:39.140 --> 00:32:39.819
 you to see

00:32:39.819 --> 00:32:40.779
 is that he

00:32:40.779 --> 00:32:41.380
 gives this

00:32:41.380 --> 00:32:42.420
 exhortation to

00:32:42.420 --> 00:32:43.440
 stand firm

00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:44.039
 in the Lord

00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:44.660
 and then he

00:32:44.660 --> 00:32:45.240
 turns right

00:32:45.240 --> 00:32:45.640
 from that

00:32:45.640 --> 00:32:46.360
 and he says

00:32:46.360 --> 00:32:47.140
 of these two

00:32:47.140 --> 00:32:47.880
 Christian women,

00:32:48.019 --> 00:32:48.920
 he affirms that,

00:32:48.960 --> 00:32:49.420
 they've labored

00:32:49.420 --> 00:32:50.299
 alongside me,

00:32:50.500 --> 00:32:51.299
 these are good

00:32:51.299 --> 00:32:52.259
 people who

00:32:52.259 --> 00:32:52.900
 something is

00:32:52.900 --> 00:32:53.580
 causing this

00:32:53.580 --> 00:32:54.580
 rift between

00:32:54.580 --> 00:32:54.980
 them.

00:32:55.559 --> 00:32:56.059
 And he gives

00:32:56.059 --> 00:32:58.539
 this treatise,

00:32:58.660 --> 00:32:59.440
 this encouragement

00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:00.559
 to get along,

00:33:00.660 --> 00:33:01.100
 you two get

00:33:01.099 --> 00:33:02.159
 along because

00:33:02.159 --> 00:33:03.319
 this type

00:33:03.319 --> 00:33:04.159
 of disunity

00:33:04.159 --> 00:33:05.980
 is a danger

00:33:05.980 --> 00:33:07.519
 to the church

00:33:07.519 --> 00:33:08.839
 standing firm

00:33:08.839 --> 00:33:09.699
 together.

00:33:12.219 --> 00:33:13.779
 Do we as a

00:33:13.779 --> 00:33:14.399
 congregation

00:33:14.399 --> 00:33:15.699
 stand firm

00:33:15.699 --> 00:33:16.240
 the way we

00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:18.279
 should and

00:33:18.279 --> 00:33:18.859
 is it possible

00:33:18.859 --> 00:33:19.679
 that we don't

00:33:19.679 --> 00:33:20.899
 because there

00:33:20.899 --> 00:33:21.219
 are these

00:33:21.219 --> 00:33:22.659
 divisions amongst

00:33:22.659 --> 00:33:23.079
 us?

00:33:24.319 --> 00:33:25.259
 It's very

00:33:25.259 --> 00:33:25.679
 possible.

00:33:26.879 --> 00:33:27.659
 If you look

00:33:27.659 --> 00:33:28.019
 up in

00:33:28.019 --> 00:33:28.519
 Philippians

00:33:28.519 --> 00:33:29.679
 chapter 3,

00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:30.480
 Paul is

00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:31.000
 talking about

00:33:31.000 --> 00:33:31.779
 enemies of

00:33:31.779 --> 00:33:32.160
 the cross

00:33:32.160 --> 00:33:32.640
 of Christ

00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:33.019
 in verse

00:33:33.019 --> 00:33:33.420
 19,

00:33:33.599 --> 00:33:33.880
 he says

00:33:33.880 --> 00:33:34.539
 their end

00:33:34.539 --> 00:33:35.279
 is destruction.

00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:37.019
 Their God

00:33:37.019 --> 00:33:37.740
 is their belly

00:33:37.740 --> 00:33:38.660
 and they glory

00:33:38.660 --> 00:33:39.539
 in their shame

00:33:39.539 --> 00:33:40.180
 with minds

00:33:40.180 --> 00:33:41.160
 set on

00:33:41.160 --> 00:33:42.700
 earthly things.

00:33:43.160 --> 00:33:43.900
 Who they

00:33:43.900 --> 00:33:44.859
 are.

00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:45.819
 These people

00:33:45.819 --> 00:33:46.279
 over there,

00:33:46.380 --> 00:33:47.019
 but our

00:33:47.019 --> 00:33:47.460
 citizenship

00:33:47.460 --> 00:33:48.819
 is in heaven

00:33:48.819 --> 00:33:49.420
 and from it

00:33:49.420 --> 00:33:49.960
 we await

00:33:49.960 --> 00:33:50.660
 a Savior,

00:33:50.940 --> 00:33:51.480
 the Lord

00:33:51.480 --> 00:33:53.079
 Jesus Christ.

00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:54.359
 Christ is

00:33:54.359 --> 00:33:55.500
 all

00:33:55.500 --> 00:33:56.960
 to those

00:33:56.960 --> 00:33:57.180
 who have

00:33:57.180 --> 00:33:57.799
 placed faith

00:33:57.799 --> 00:33:58.779
 in Him.

00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:00.059
 And when we

00:34:00.059 --> 00:34:00.619
 properly

00:34:00.619 --> 00:34:01.399
 function out

00:34:01.399 --> 00:34:01.700
 of that

00:34:01.700 --> 00:34:02.379
 reality,

00:34:03.379 --> 00:34:04.339
 we ought

00:34:04.339 --> 00:34:04.679
 not have

00:34:04.679 --> 00:34:05.079
 division

00:34:05.079 --> 00:34:06.039
 amongst us.

00:34:06.539 --> 00:34:06.859
 We ought

00:34:06.859 --> 00:34:07.859
 to love

00:34:07.859 --> 00:34:08.360
 one another

00:34:08.360 --> 00:34:09.480
 the way we

00:34:09.480 --> 00:34:09.719
 should.

00:34:09.840 --> 00:34:10.460
 Verse 14

00:34:10.460 --> 00:34:11.259
 presses that

00:34:11.259 --> 00:34:11.579
 point.

00:34:11.659 --> 00:34:12.099
 And above

00:34:12.099 --> 00:34:12.840
 all these,

00:34:13.779 --> 00:34:14.239
 put on

00:34:14.239 --> 00:34:14.739
 love,

00:34:15.079 --> 00:34:16.159
 which binds

00:34:16.159 --> 00:34:17.500
 everything together

00:34:17.500 --> 00:34:18.679
 in perfect

00:34:18.679 --> 00:34:19.500
 harmony.

00:34:20.500 --> 00:34:21.400
 Our culture

00:34:21.400 --> 00:34:22.239
 says that love

00:34:22.239 --> 00:34:23.000
 is an intense

00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:23.840
 feeling of

00:34:23.840 --> 00:34:24.940
 deep affection.

00:34:24.940 --> 00:34:24.980
 affection.

00:34:25.139 --> 00:34:25.880
 It's primarily

00:34:25.880 --> 00:34:26.500
 about the

00:34:26.500 --> 00:34:26.880
 way we

00:34:26.880 --> 00:34:27.920
 feel towards

00:34:27.920 --> 00:34:28.500
 a person

00:34:28.500 --> 00:34:29.700
 or towards

00:34:29.700 --> 00:34:30.200
 a thing.

00:34:31.059 --> 00:34:31.700
 Christian love

00:34:31.700 --> 00:34:32.500
 certainly is a

00:34:32.500 --> 00:34:33.079
 deep affection,

00:34:33.740 --> 00:34:34.539
 but it's rooted

00:34:34.539 --> 00:34:35.619
 and sustained

00:34:35.619 --> 00:34:36.599
 by God's

00:34:36.599 --> 00:34:37.340
 unchanging

00:34:37.340 --> 00:34:38.139
 affection for

00:34:38.139 --> 00:34:38.619
 His people.

00:34:38.720 --> 00:34:39.740
 We love

00:34:39.740 --> 00:34:40.380
 the church,

00:34:40.539 --> 00:34:41.480
 we love each

00:34:41.480 --> 00:34:42.260
 other because

00:34:42.260 --> 00:34:42.860
 we love

00:34:42.860 --> 00:34:43.559
 Christ,

00:34:43.659 --> 00:34:44.240
 and this is

00:34:44.240 --> 00:34:44.840
 what Christ

00:34:44.840 --> 00:34:45.940
 loves.

00:34:46.760 --> 00:34:47.139
 And that

00:34:47.139 --> 00:34:48.119
 affection seeks

00:34:48.119 --> 00:34:48.900
 the highest

00:34:48.900 --> 00:34:50.200
 good of the

00:34:50.200 --> 00:34:50.780
 object of that

00:34:50.780 --> 00:34:51.159
 affection.

00:34:51.940 --> 00:34:52.440
 So let me

00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:53.260
 read that to

00:34:53.260 --> 00:34:53.980
 you without

00:34:53.980 --> 00:34:54.680
 my interruptions.

00:34:55.360 --> 00:34:55.920
 Christian love

00:34:55.920 --> 00:34:56.380
 is a deep

00:34:56.380 --> 00:34:57.660
 affection which

00:34:57.660 --> 00:34:58.500
 is rooted and

00:34:58.500 --> 00:34:59.280
 sustained by

00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:00.240
 God's unchanging

00:35:00.240 --> 00:35:00.940
 affection for

00:35:00.940 --> 00:35:02.120
 His people that

00:35:02.120 --> 00:35:02.740
 seeks the

00:35:02.740 --> 00:35:04.340
 highest good of

00:35:04.340 --> 00:35:06.240
 the object of

00:35:06.240 --> 00:35:06.740
 that affection.

00:35:07.040 --> 00:35:07.400
 This is

00:35:07.400 --> 00:35:08.460
 Christian love.

00:35:08.680 --> 00:35:09.360
 Doing so many

00:35:09.360 --> 00:35:11.800
 weddings really

00:35:11.800 --> 00:35:12.720
 has kept present

00:35:12.720 --> 00:35:13.920
 on my mind what

00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:14.820
 marriage is meant

00:35:14.820 --> 00:35:15.380
 to represent,

00:35:15.480 --> 00:35:16.000
 this relationship

00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:16.700
 between Christ

00:35:16.700 --> 00:35:17.520
 and His church

00:35:17.520 --> 00:35:18.280
 that someday

00:35:18.280 --> 00:35:19.180
 we'll be reunited

00:35:19.180 --> 00:35:19.800
 with Him.

00:35:20.060 --> 00:35:20.640
 And this is the

00:35:20.640 --> 00:35:21.500
 metaphor that's

00:35:21.500 --> 00:35:22.060
 used, right,

00:35:22.080 --> 00:35:22.400
 that we would

00:35:22.400 --> 00:35:23.240
 better understand

00:35:23.239 --> 00:35:23.739
 what it means

00:35:23.739 --> 00:35:24.639
 for His bride,

00:35:25.019 --> 00:35:25.699
 the church,

00:35:25.819 --> 00:35:26.779
 to be reunited

00:35:26.779 --> 00:35:27.839
 with Christ.

00:35:28.339 --> 00:35:28.500
 Right?

00:35:28.979 --> 00:35:29.739
 Not an

00:35:29.739 --> 00:35:30.259
 individual,

00:35:31.439 --> 00:35:32.479
 but the church.

00:35:33.279 --> 00:35:34.019
 You are a part

00:35:34.019 --> 00:35:34.719
 of the church.

00:35:35.019 --> 00:35:35.779
 Your salvation

00:35:35.779 --> 00:35:36.819
 is corporate.

00:35:37.179 --> 00:35:38.179
 Jesus died for

00:35:38.179 --> 00:35:39.379
 the sins of

00:35:39.379 --> 00:35:40.639
 the church.

00:35:41.899 --> 00:35:42.299
 And beloved,

00:35:42.419 --> 00:35:42.899
 language is

00:35:42.899 --> 00:35:44.139
 powerful and it

00:35:44.139 --> 00:35:44.959
 works its way

00:35:44.959 --> 00:35:45.919
 into our minds

00:35:45.919 --> 00:35:46.439
 and there's a

00:35:46.439 --> 00:35:47.259
 phrase that's

00:35:47.259 --> 00:35:47.859
 found nowhere

00:35:47.859 --> 00:35:48.599
 in the Scriptures

00:35:48.599 --> 00:35:49.739
 which is used

00:35:49.739 --> 00:35:51.519
 constantly and

00:35:51.519 --> 00:35:52.119
 commonly in

00:35:52.119 --> 00:35:52.579
 churches of these

00:35:52.579 --> 00:35:53.179
 days and that

00:35:53.179 --> 00:35:54.279
 is personal

00:35:54.279 --> 00:35:55.519
 relationship

00:35:55.519 --> 00:35:56.779
 with Jesus

00:35:56.779 --> 00:35:57.219
 Christ.

00:35:57.360 --> 00:35:57.679
 This is the

00:35:57.679 --> 00:35:58.559
 question asked

00:35:58.559 --> 00:35:59.319
 in an invitation.

00:35:59.579 --> 00:36:00.480
 Do you have

00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:01.500
 a personal

00:36:01.500 --> 00:36:02.940
 relationship with

00:36:02.940 --> 00:36:03.380
 Jesus Christ?

00:36:03.460 --> 00:36:03.840
 And there is an

00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:04.380
 element to that

00:36:04.380 --> 00:36:05.259
 certainly that I

00:36:05.259 --> 00:36:06.279
 must place faith

00:36:06.279 --> 00:36:07.059
 in Jesus.

00:36:08.119 --> 00:36:08.940
 That if He died

00:36:08.940 --> 00:36:09.460
 for the sins of

00:36:09.460 --> 00:36:10.019
 the church,

00:36:10.259 --> 00:36:10.699
 He certainly

00:36:10.699 --> 00:36:11.940
 died as dying

00:36:11.940 --> 00:36:12.420
 for the greater

00:36:12.420 --> 00:36:12.960
 for the lesser

00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:13.500
 as well.

00:36:13.599 --> 00:36:14.519
 For me as an

00:36:14.519 --> 00:36:14.980
 individual,

00:36:15.299 --> 00:36:15.539
 right?

00:36:16.039 --> 00:36:16.960
 I pray to Him.

00:36:17.079 --> 00:36:17.799
 His Spirit lives

00:36:17.799 --> 00:36:18.259
 within me.

00:36:18.319 --> 00:36:18.940
 There is a personal

00:36:18.940 --> 00:36:19.759
 element to it,

00:36:19.960 --> 00:36:20.500
 but the Scriptures

00:36:20.500 --> 00:36:22.019
 way further,

00:36:22.199 --> 00:36:23.719
 like in greater

00:36:23.719 --> 00:36:24.219
 balance,

00:36:24.460 --> 00:36:25.679
 talk about how

00:36:25.679 --> 00:36:26.280
 it is that we're

00:36:26.280 --> 00:36:27.300
 saved together.

00:36:27.880 --> 00:36:29.420
 A people set

00:36:29.420 --> 00:36:29.800
 apart.

00:36:31.079 --> 00:36:32.239
 We have to begin

00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:33.179
 thinking rightly

00:36:33.179 --> 00:36:34.159
 and properly

00:36:34.159 --> 00:36:35.179
 about that.

00:36:35.760 --> 00:36:36.719
 We have to love

00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:38.780
 what Jesus loves.

00:36:40.300 --> 00:36:41.000
 Turn with me

00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:42.500
 finally to 1 Corinthians

00:36:42.500 --> 00:36:43.219
 chapter 12.

00:36:43.420 --> 00:36:44.000
 We're almost done.

00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:44.059
 Amen.

00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:44.059


00:36:44.059 --> 00:36:45.139
 Amen.

00:36:45.139 --> 00:36:45.139


00:36:45.139 --> 00:36:45.139


00:36:45.139 --> 00:36:45.139


00:36:45.139 --> 00:36:45.139


00:36:45.139 --> 00:36:45.139


00:36:45.139 --> 00:36:45.139


00:36:45.139 --> 00:36:45.139


00:36:50.500 --> 00:37:06.019
 If you love someone, to walk our text backwards.

00:37:06.179 --> 00:37:07.840
 If you love someone, you forgive them.

00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:10.219
 If you love them, you will bear with them.

00:37:10.880 --> 00:37:17.039
 Love generates in us compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:22.179
 This is why Paul says, above all else, put on love.

00:37:23.559 --> 00:37:26.159
 Classic 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

00:37:27.179 --> 00:37:28.480
 I'm sorry that I didn't get you there before.

00:37:29.039 --> 00:37:31.340
 Let me start reading to you in verse 27.

00:37:31.539 --> 00:37:36.519
 The Corinthian church had a lot of conflict in it concerning gifts, concerning spiritual gifts.

00:37:36.599 --> 00:37:40.360
 And much of Paul's first letter to them addresses this issue.

00:37:41.880 --> 00:37:46.800
 Verse 27, now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

00:37:47.420 --> 00:37:57.000
 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.

00:37:57.420 --> 00:38:07.219
 So these gifts that God has given to the church are all apostles, are all prophets, are all teachers, do all work miracles, do all possess gifts of healing, do all speak with tongues, do all interpret,

00:38:07.219 --> 00:38:09.940
 but earnestly desire the higher gifts.

00:38:10.559 --> 00:38:14.340
 And I will show you a still more excellent way.

00:38:14.340 --> 00:38:17.260
 So there's these gifts that are in operation.

00:38:17.420 --> 00:38:20.539
 And we won't get into the theology of that today.

00:38:21.480 --> 00:38:24.300
 Not worth it right now, because that's not ultimately the point.

00:38:24.600 --> 00:38:26.240
 He's saying we don't all have the same giftedness.

00:38:26.720 --> 00:38:27.640
 Seek the higher gifts.

00:38:27.920 --> 00:38:33.980
 But, and this phrase is so fascinating, and I will show you a still more excellent way.

00:38:34.160 --> 00:38:40.920
 I'm going to show you something better, greater, than the higher gifts that he's been referring to in the previous chapters.

00:38:40.920 --> 00:38:44.980
 This is not just a kitschy text to read at a wedding.

00:38:46.380 --> 00:38:46.880
 Verse 1,

00:38:46.880 --> 00:38:55.019
 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, I have a gift to speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love.

00:38:55.519 --> 00:38:58.599
 I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:04.500
 And if I have prophetic powers that understand all mysteries and all knowledge.

00:39:04.519 --> 00:39:05.840
 Just huge phrases, right?

00:39:05.840 --> 00:39:12.019
 And if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

00:39:12.960 --> 00:39:20.579
 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

00:39:21.840 --> 00:39:23.300
 Here's this beautiful expression.

00:39:23.400 --> 00:39:25.840
 I couldn't explain it better than Paul does here.

00:39:26.120 --> 00:39:26.900
 Beginning in verse 4,

00:39:26.900 --> 00:39:29.039
 Love is patient and kind.

00:39:29.820 --> 00:39:31.180
 Love does not envy or boast.

00:39:31.300 --> 00:39:33.480
 It is not arrogant or rude.

00:39:33.980 --> 00:39:36.000
 It does not insist on its own way.

00:39:36.180 --> 00:39:38.420
 It is not irritable or resentful.

00:39:38.639 --> 00:39:41.820
 It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

00:39:42.740 --> 00:39:48.920
 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

00:39:49.200 --> 00:39:51.160
 Love never ends.

00:39:52.019 --> 00:39:53.579
 As for prophecies, they will pass away.

00:39:53.660 --> 00:39:54.800
 As for tongues, they will cease.

00:39:54.800 --> 00:39:56.800
 As for knowledge, it will pass away.

00:39:57.240 --> 00:40:02.780
 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

00:40:03.400 --> 00:40:06.059
 When I was a child, I spoke like a child.

00:40:06.160 --> 00:40:07.200
 I thought like a child.

00:40:07.300 --> 00:40:08.579
 I reasoned like a child.

00:40:08.800 --> 00:40:11.960
 When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

00:40:12.860 --> 00:40:15.960
 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.

00:40:16.320 --> 00:40:22.160
 Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

00:40:22.160 --> 00:40:25.240
 What he's saying is that all of these things, the operation of the church is a shadow.

00:40:25.360 --> 00:40:26.280
 It's pointing to Christ.

00:40:26.280 --> 00:40:28.460
 So when Christ comes, we'll fully get it.

00:40:28.480 --> 00:40:30.980
 So that stuff will no longer be of great necessity.

00:40:31.160 --> 00:40:34.140
 Verse 13, so now faith, hope, and love abide.

00:40:34.340 --> 00:40:34.900
 These three.

00:40:35.280 --> 00:40:38.220
 But the greatest of these is love.

00:40:38.219 --> 00:40:49.079
 So our main point today is that Christian people will be distinguished by the way they live in relation to one another.

00:40:49.439 --> 00:40:53.679
 And the defining characteristic will be love.

00:40:53.679 --> 00:41:02.719
 Jesus says in John 13, 35, by this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.

00:41:03.339 --> 00:41:08.859
 How do we show the world a primary way that we show the world that we treasure Christ?

00:41:08.860 --> 00:41:10.599
 First, we love each other.

00:41:11.120 --> 00:41:16.340
 We look different in that way from the rest of the world in the way we relate to one another.

00:41:16.340 --> 00:41:23.880
 In closing, I want to read to you a quote by a contemporary pastor named Arturo Azzerdia.

00:41:24.400 --> 00:41:27.820
 I call him Pastor Art because Azzerdia is hard to say.

00:41:28.519 --> 00:41:30.620
 He's the pastor of Trinity Church of Portland, Oregon.

00:41:30.760 --> 00:41:31.860
 I commend him to you.

00:41:32.240 --> 00:41:34.380
 Listen to Pastor Art's sermons.

00:41:34.480 --> 00:41:34.960
 They're wonderful.

00:41:34.960 --> 00:41:37.059
 He said this.

00:41:37.059 --> 00:41:42.840
 Let's suppose that a kite could come to life and develop its own personality.

00:41:43.880 --> 00:41:49.039
 On the one hand, it would feel the exhilaration that comes from the surges of wind that direct it through the sky.

00:41:49.639 --> 00:41:53.820
 On the other hand, it would almost immediately take notice of something annoying.

00:41:54.519 --> 00:41:56.500
 The tugging of the string at its center.

00:41:56.900 --> 00:41:58.539
 A feeling of constraint.

00:41:59.159 --> 00:41:59.900
 A resistance.

00:42:01.300 --> 00:42:03.559
 Consumed, the kite begins to think to itself,

00:42:03.559 --> 00:42:05.480
 If only I could detach.

00:42:05.699 --> 00:42:07.539
 Then I could really fly.

00:42:08.440 --> 00:42:13.159
 To the kite you see, it seems that the string is limiting its full experience of freedom.

00:42:13.739 --> 00:42:16.380
 But as any boy or girl who has ever flown a kite knows,

00:42:16.719 --> 00:42:21.139
 Were that string to suddenly snap, the kite wouldn't soar freely for very long.

00:42:21.880 --> 00:42:25.360
 It would dart to and fro for a minute, maybe two,

00:42:25.599 --> 00:42:30.659
 But very soon thereafter would end up on the ground in a pile of broken sticks and torn paper,

00:42:30.659 --> 00:42:32.779
 Never ever to fly again.

00:42:33.559 --> 00:42:40.199
 Rather, you see, it is the taut line between the kite and the one holding it that enables the kite to fly,

00:42:40.400 --> 00:42:43.699
 That allows all the principles of aerodynamics to come into play,

00:42:43.820 --> 00:42:47.159
 So that the kite might achieve its full purpose.

00:42:48.279 --> 00:42:52.380
 Christian love performs the very same function as a kite string.

00:42:52.380 --> 00:42:55.460
 You take away the stabilizing force of Christian love,

00:42:55.559 --> 00:42:59.079
 And every towering gift, every supernatural power,

00:42:59.519 --> 00:43:01.280
 Every sacrificial act,

00:43:01.480 --> 00:43:03.619
 Every musical performance,

00:43:03.980 --> 00:43:05.240
 You name it, friends,

00:43:05.300 --> 00:43:11.740
 It will all end up on the ash heap of eternal insignificance without love.

00:43:11.739 --> 00:43:13.259
 Let's pray together.

00:43:13.259 --> 00:43:13.259