WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.520 1 Peter chapter 4 verses 7 to 11 00:00:06.520 --> 00:00:21.280 The end of all things is at hand. 00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:28.060 Therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:37.079 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:41.700 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:50.939 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:55.659 Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God. 00:00:55.659 --> 00:01:00.679 Whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies. 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:05.799 In order that in everything, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. 00:01:06.819 --> 00:01:12.819 To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 00:01:12.819 --> 00:01:12.899 Amen. 00:01:19.459 --> 00:01:24.000 I've been looking forward to preaching this message. 00:01:24.539 --> 00:01:27.639 We've been going through this book of 1 Peter. 00:01:27.780 --> 00:01:29.599 A lot of messages on suffering. 00:01:30.139 --> 00:01:34.259 And here are very directly speaking to our love for one another. 00:01:34.260 --> 00:01:47.400 There's a legend that has it that Apostle John, who outlived all the other apostles that were sent by Jesus Christ. 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:51.020 He's at his old age. 00:01:51.180 --> 00:01:52.240 He's all wrinkly. 00:01:52.500 --> 00:01:54.960 His faith is deep with character. 00:01:55.719 --> 00:01:59.700 You could see much suffering that he has suffered for the sake of Christ in his life. 00:01:59.700 --> 00:02:03.799 And in a local church setting, he goes up to preach. 00:02:04.960 --> 00:02:06.700 And it takes him a little while to get up there. 00:02:07.079 --> 00:02:08.580 He's old. 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:13.980 But people know that this could perhaps be his last message. 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:15.879 So they're wrapped with attention. 00:02:16.659 --> 00:02:17.719 They're listening. 00:02:18.180 --> 00:02:19.340 Hanging on his every word. 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:22.240 So once he gets up there, he says simply, 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:24.340 Love one another. 00:02:26.939 --> 00:02:29.140 And he doesn't say much else. 00:02:29.699 --> 00:02:31.979 He can't manage a long sermon at that point. 00:02:32.339 --> 00:02:34.099 But after that, he steps down. 00:02:35.239 --> 00:02:39.079 But in that short while, with that short message, 00:02:39.459 --> 00:02:43.399 people at the place just streaming down with tears. 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:46.899 Because they have seen his life. 00:02:47.399 --> 00:02:50.079 How much he has suffered for the sake of Christ. 00:02:50.219 --> 00:02:52.819 How when people reviled him and cursed him, he blessed them. 00:02:53.379 --> 00:02:56.120 How he sacrificially gave to those people. 00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:59.900 And forgave those who had wronged him and offended him. 00:03:00.300 --> 00:03:02.219 And so when they knew him and had seen all that. 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:03.819 So when he said, Love one another. 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:04.640 Very simply. 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:07.439 That just landed on them with such power. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:08.680 By the Spirit's power. 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:14.920 And that command really encapsulates so much of what we are to be as a church. 00:03:15.640 --> 00:03:16.439 Love one another. 00:03:16.640 --> 00:03:19.740 And Apostle Peter also understood that. 00:03:20.480 --> 00:03:23.580 And so this passage is really about that. 00:03:23.580 --> 00:03:30.560 And if you look at church history, just as many, if not more, churches break down or dissolve. 00:03:30.900 --> 00:03:34.360 Not because of external pressures like wars and persecution. 00:03:34.900 --> 00:03:36.960 But because of implosion. 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:38.700 Because of internal division. 00:03:39.140 --> 00:03:40.340 Because of disunity. 00:03:40.340 --> 00:03:47.460 And so because Peter understood that the church that he's writing to is under external pressure. 00:03:48.039 --> 00:03:51.740 And all the more, all the more important, they had to maintain internal unity. 00:03:51.939 --> 00:03:52.860 They had to love one another. 00:03:52.900 --> 00:03:54.659 Because otherwise the church could fold. 00:03:55.939 --> 00:04:00.319 And so he says, Above all, keep loving one another earnestly. 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:08.780 So I think Peter's teaching us here that we ought to love one another as stewards of God's very grace. 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:14.319 And first he teaches us that by looking at the end times. 00:04:15.060 --> 00:04:18.819 Looking at the fact that God's plan, salvation plan, is at its end. 00:04:18.980 --> 00:04:20.360 That's going to enable us to pray. 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:21.620 And it's going to enable us to love. 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:27.000 And that, the purpose of that is to the glory of God the Father through Jesus Christ. 00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:35.819 So I'm going to use that kind of as an outline and speak to you about how having the end in view enables us to pray and love as God intends us to. 00:04:35.819 --> 00:04:38.660 So look with me to, at verse 7. 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:44.939 Where Peter begins by saying, reminding us once again, 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:48.819 The end of all things is at hand. 00:04:48.819 --> 00:04:55.819 And when you hear that sentence, the first thing that comes to your mind probably is a lot of these end time movies. 00:04:56.860 --> 00:04:58.360 Nowadays everything has to be epic. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:00.279 So almost every single movie is about the end of the world. 00:05:00.659 --> 00:05:02.680 So something epic is at stake. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:05.579 If this isn't fixed in time, the world is going to end. 00:05:06.039 --> 00:05:09.159 And all these doomsday scenarios come to mind when you hear the word end. 00:05:09.160 --> 00:05:15.040 But in Greek, just as, in the same way as in English, the word end can have two different senses. 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:17.900 It could refer to a temporal end, right? 00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:20.900 Like the end of a time in succession. 00:05:21.260 --> 00:05:24.720 It could also mean an end, like a goal or a purpose. 00:05:24.860 --> 00:05:25.879 The end of something. 00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:29.980 So we often say as Christians, the end of humanity is to glorify God, right? 00:05:29.980 --> 00:05:35.800 So I think Peter here, and I think there's a contextual clues to this, 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:43.819 is referring not so much to a termination of time, but to a culmination of a purpose. 00:05:44.280 --> 00:05:46.360 So that's what Peter is focusing on. 00:05:46.400 --> 00:05:50.980 So not so much to a termination of a time, but to a culmination of a purpose. 00:05:51.520 --> 00:05:56.480 So the Bible gives us categories of God's redemptive plan, salvation plan. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:02.960 So it began with creation, and then it kind of was, it seemed to be, appeared to be ruined with the fall. 00:06:03.340 --> 00:06:05.780 And then God sends his son to redeem, that's redemption. 00:06:06.080 --> 00:06:09.180 And then at the end times, everything will be consummated, right? 00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:13.960 So that's kind of the salvation categories that God gives us, the arc of salvation history. 00:06:14.379 --> 00:06:19.480 So with that in mind, and the Bible uniformly speaks of Christ's revelation, 00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:24.040 Christ coming to earth and redeeming humanity as the beginning of the end times. 00:06:24.040 --> 00:06:29.700 So we're now in that final stage of the consummation of the world, consummation of God's salvation plan. 00:06:30.060 --> 00:06:31.900 And that's what I think Peter's referring to. 00:06:31.939 --> 00:06:38.340 And we see this in chapter 1, verse 20 to 21, which we looked at several weeks ago. 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:39.340 It says, 00:06:39.339 --> 00:06:57.759 So again, Christ, who was foreknown before the foundation of the world, now being revealed to us, 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:00.539 that's the sign that we are now in the last times, right? 00:07:00.540 --> 00:07:06.900 So when he says end times, he doesn't, I don't think it so much means, okay, so the world is about to end right now. 00:07:07.340 --> 00:07:12.240 That's what Peter's saying, because that's what the disciples believed at the time as well. 00:07:12.340 --> 00:07:17.080 So they're saying it's not so much a temporal termination, but it's a teleological, it's a purpose. 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:18.620 It's a culmination of the purpose. 00:07:19.020 --> 00:07:24.540 That God's salvation plan is coming to its intended course, coming to its intended end. 00:07:24.540 --> 00:07:28.900 And now we're at that final stage, which Christ has come, he's been revealed, 00:07:29.020 --> 00:07:33.520 now he's redeeming humanity and bringing all creation, consummating God's redemption. 00:07:35.220 --> 00:07:40.020 So, and it says, it says that end of all things is at hand. 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:43.800 And in the actual, the original language, the word all is in the front. 00:07:43.939 --> 00:07:45.759 It's the very first word of this verse. 00:07:45.939 --> 00:07:46.939 It's there for emphasis. 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:50.080 All things, the end of them is at hand, right? 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:55.579 So that's to emphasize the fact that nothing is, you know, outside of this grand plan of God. 00:07:56.180 --> 00:07:59.800 Everything, no one and no thing is exempt from this. 00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:01.859 It's the fact, end of all things at hand. 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:06.019 So whatever you're dealing with, whatever you're suffering, whatever you're going through in your life, 00:08:06.339 --> 00:08:11.000 you have to recognize that it's all going to be under, come under God's ultimate judgment and vindication. 00:08:11.479 --> 00:08:15.180 So that's why he says, therefore, at the second part of verse seven, 00:08:15.259 --> 00:08:18.579 be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 00:08:18.579 --> 00:08:23.740 So this is where I get that original sentence I started with, 00:08:23.800 --> 00:08:26.439 that keeping the end in view enables us to pray. 00:08:27.240 --> 00:08:32.000 Because Christian prayer is, if you think about it, it's at the very heart, it's future-oriented. 00:08:32.259 --> 00:08:36.460 It's about, it has the end in view, the God's purpose and end in view. 00:08:36.539 --> 00:08:39.439 That's why in the Lord's prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray, 00:08:39.699 --> 00:08:43.899 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:08:43.899 --> 00:08:49.360 And it's because our hope is in heaven and we see that the earth is not what it should be, 00:08:49.539 --> 00:08:50.939 that's why we pray, right? 00:08:51.319 --> 00:08:57.240 And it's because we are not defined by and characterized by the heavenly realities as we ought to be, 00:08:57.419 --> 00:08:58.299 that's why we pray. 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:02.699 So when we pray, our orientation is always toward that end that God has in mind for us. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:06.179 It has, it has, the prayer has an end time in view. 00:09:06.179 --> 00:09:13.019 And in order to pray, then we must be self-controlled, it says, and be sober-minded. 00:09:13.979 --> 00:09:17.379 This kind of harkens back to chapter 1, verse 13, where it says, 00:09:17.879 --> 00:09:22.179 therefore preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, 00:09:22.319 --> 00:09:27.000 set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:35.200 I was just having a conversation with someone about a co-worker who did some really foolish things. 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:38.799 And then, and I asked, was that person drunk? 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:41.980 And of course, he was drunk when that happened. 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:45.179 And I mean, being, that's often the case, right? 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:49.240 It's, an inebriated person is the perfect picture of a lack of self-control. 00:09:49.779 --> 00:09:53.600 Their speech, they have lack of control of tongue, they can't, their speech is slurred, 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:59.120 they have lack of control over their vision, bodily coordination, so they can't drive or walk in a straight line, right? 00:09:59.320 --> 00:10:02.980 There's, that's the opposite of what Peter's calling us. 00:10:03.019 --> 00:10:04.519 He says, be sober-minded. 00:10:05.399 --> 00:10:07.779 Set your hope fully on the grace that we've brought to you. 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:12.159 And if we're not sober-minded or self-controlled, we will not be able to pray. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:20.040 And, but it's curious because you would think that when someone says, 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:22.019 be self-controlled and sober-minded, 00:10:22.019 --> 00:10:24.360 you would think that he would continue by saying something like, 00:10:24.460 --> 00:10:27.120 well, be sober-minded so that you can give a defense for your faith. 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:30.759 Or, be sober-minded so that you could do these rigorous things. 00:10:31.059 --> 00:10:34.439 But instead, he says, be sober-minded, self-controlled so that you could pray. 00:10:38.659 --> 00:10:43.120 Peter's first order of business for believers is prayer. 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:50.179 And it's, you'd think that, I mean, this is something that I really hope we get as a church, 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:54.840 and that's why we do monthly prayers and fasting, and to emphasize prayer. 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:59.799 It's, it's, some people think that if God ultimately controls everything, right, 00:10:59.860 --> 00:11:04.100 if God is bringing his salvation plan to its end, then why pray at all? 00:11:04.500 --> 00:11:06.200 Doesn't that make prayer unnecessary? 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:09.020 If God's sovereign over all things, he's doing all this. 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:16.460 But the truth is that scripture never sets God's sovereignty against human responsibility, right? 00:11:16.500 --> 00:11:18.220 They're always juxtaposed together. 00:11:18.560 --> 00:11:19.879 We're squarely next to each other. 00:11:19.980 --> 00:11:25.240 And in fact, it is God's sovereign will that he works through and responds to our prayers. 00:11:25.860 --> 00:11:27.259 That's his intention. 00:11:27.259 --> 00:11:37.019 And in fact, I'd go as far to say that if, and only if, if we believe that God is in full control of everything 00:11:37.019 --> 00:11:41.939 and is bringing the salvation course of history to its end, that we can truly pray, right? 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:46.939 Because if you think about it, when we pray, we are acknowledging our helplessness, right? 00:11:46.980 --> 00:11:49.179 And saying, Lord, I can't do this in my own strength. 00:11:49.220 --> 00:11:50.100 I need you to move. 00:11:50.220 --> 00:11:51.159 I need you to act. 00:11:51.500 --> 00:11:56.159 We're saying, we're saying that we're not the ultimate end of all things. 00:11:56.159 --> 00:11:58.079 We're saying that God is the ultimate end of all things. 00:11:58.139 --> 00:12:00.100 We're seeking his will, not ours, right? 00:12:00.100 --> 00:12:01.899 That's what prayer is as an exercise. 00:12:02.719 --> 00:12:12.059 And so if that's the case, but when we don't pray, it's precisely when we think that what we do is much more important than what God can and does, right? 00:12:12.459 --> 00:12:18.179 When we don't pray, when we believe that we can accomplish so much on our own and we don't need God's help, right? 00:12:18.419 --> 00:12:19.379 That's when we don't pray. 00:12:19.539 --> 00:12:25.139 So prayer, when we believe in God's sovereignty, when we don't believe in God's sovereignty, we don't pray, right? 00:12:25.139 --> 00:12:27.340 Because God can't answer our prayers. 00:12:27.480 --> 00:12:29.220 He's not powerful enough to answer our prayers. 00:12:29.639 --> 00:12:37.439 But when we believe that he is sovereign and in control of everything, that's when we can fall to our knees and in faith pray and ask for big things, right? 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:43.360 And that's why I think J.I. Packer writes in his book, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:51.279 He writes, and this is a paraphrase, that on our feet, we might argue and philosophize about the sovereignty of God. 00:12:52.580 --> 00:13:00.620 But on our knees, we are all agreed because in prayer we acknowledge that we cannot control the world, but that God can and does. 00:13:00.620 --> 00:13:13.139 So if we pray as Christians, then we recognize God's sovereignty because we don't pray, oh, Lord, make these circumstances happen so that this person will do this and this. 00:13:13.539 --> 00:13:15.379 No, we pray, God, change this person. 00:13:15.620 --> 00:13:17.279 God, bring this person from death to life. 00:13:17.419 --> 00:13:18.899 God, do this mighty work. 00:13:19.019 --> 00:13:20.080 God, heal this person. 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:23.500 The prayers that we pray are not, they all recognize God. 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:25.840 They presuppose God's sovereignty. 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:33.220 And that's why Peter grounds his exhortation to pray in the truth that the end of all things are at hand. 00:13:33.300 --> 00:13:34.660 The end of all things is at hand. 00:13:35.259 --> 00:13:40.980 The reality that God's sovereignly bringing salvation history to its end, it doesn't obviate prayer. 00:13:41.160 --> 00:13:43.220 It rather enables our prayer. 00:13:43.800 --> 00:13:52.460 Because we recognize it's God, not we who save people, as we do evangelism, as we do ministry, we pray to God that God would bring people to faith. 00:13:52.460 --> 00:14:01.740 And my hope as a church for us is that really we might not do everything well. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:04.200 We might not do everything correctly. 00:14:04.379 --> 00:14:06.940 We might make several mistakes before we get some things right. 00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:15.540 But that in everything that we do, people who look at us from the outside will say, well, they're not perfect, but everything they do is birthed by prayer. 00:14:16.100 --> 00:14:17.300 It's bathed in prayer. 00:14:17.860 --> 00:14:20.720 That they depend on God in everything they do. 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:25.080 That would bring so much glory to God if we as a church were characterized by that. 00:14:26.680 --> 00:14:29.379 So keeping the end in view enables us to pray. 00:14:29.940 --> 00:14:32.639 But keeping the end in view also enables us to love one another. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:35.080 If you look at verse 8, Peter continues. 00:14:35.899 --> 00:14:41.500 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 00:14:41.500 --> 00:14:50.980 I think Peter has in mind Jesus' warning in Matthew 24 that because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. 00:14:51.620 --> 00:14:55.100 But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 00:14:55.980 --> 00:14:59.720 So Jesus warned that our love for one another will grow cold. 00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:02.440 But that we must love to the end. 00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:04.120 We must persevere. 00:15:04.120 --> 00:15:11.259 And so Peter is saying here, no, keep loving one another earnestly, especially with the end in view. 00:15:12.779 --> 00:15:21.039 So keeping, knowing that we're at the end times, knowing that we're in the final stage of God's salvation plan helps us to keep loving. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:23.079 Because loving can be discouraging. 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:24.779 Loving can be difficult. 00:15:25.219 --> 00:15:28.839 But when we recognize that we're in that final stage of God's plan, we know that the end is near. 00:15:28.919 --> 00:15:30.579 We know that the vindication is near. 00:15:30.839 --> 00:15:33.199 We know that God's eternal rewards are near. 00:15:33.659 --> 00:15:36.079 Then we can say, yes, we can keep loving. 00:15:36.199 --> 00:15:37.179 We can persist in love. 00:15:38.860 --> 00:15:39.719 And it's a love. 00:15:39.819 --> 00:15:44.539 And the reason why Peter emphasizes love is that because love is going to hold the church together. 00:15:44.839 --> 00:15:48.500 And the reason is that since love covers a multitude of sins, he says. 00:15:48.500 --> 00:15:52.399 What does it mean that a love covers a multitude of sins? 00:15:52.779 --> 00:15:55.360 There's two important aspects to a covering love. 00:15:56.019 --> 00:16:02.879 And the first is that this part of the verse is a paraphrase of Proverbs 10, 12, which says, 00:16:03.580 --> 00:16:07.820 Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs. 00:16:08.039 --> 00:16:16.440 So if you look at the poetic structure, hatred stirring up conflict is opposed to, is contrasted from love covering over all wrongs. 00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:16.620 Right? 00:16:17.400 --> 00:16:24.740 So that means covering over wrongs is not so much about, you know, denying something or covering up something, 00:16:24.860 --> 00:16:28.660 but rather it's the opposite of stirring up conflict, stirring up hatred. 00:16:29.140 --> 00:16:29.260 Right? 00:16:29.259 --> 00:16:33.860 So then this is kind of, this is what I might call a forbearing love. 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:36.620 A love that covers is a forbearing love. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:36.879 Right? 00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:43.580 So when someone wrongs us, someone in the church offends us, right, says something offensive to us, 00:16:43.659 --> 00:16:51.379 or hurts us in some way or another, we can easily let that offense spiral out of control. 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:51.860 Right? 00:16:51.860 --> 00:17:00.800 But when we decide instead of retaliating to forbear, right, then we halt that downward process. 00:17:01.340 --> 00:17:01.440 Right? 00:17:01.639 --> 00:17:03.779 And we cover one another, right, in love. 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:03.940 Right? 00:17:03.940 --> 00:17:06.319 That's what he's referring to is a forbearing love. 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:10.980 But secondly, it's not just a forbearing love. 00:17:11.059 --> 00:17:13.819 I think the love that covers is also a forgiving love. 00:17:14.019 --> 00:17:14.140 Right? 00:17:14.539 --> 00:17:19.779 And I get that from a parallel in Psalm 32, 1-2, which is quoted in Romans 4. 00:17:19.779 --> 00:17:25.980 It says, blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 00:17:26.539 --> 00:17:26.619 Right? 00:17:28.279 --> 00:17:35.639 So here, the parallel structure, it emphasizes the fact that being forgiven is alike to sin being covered. 00:17:35.899 --> 00:17:36.000 Right? 00:17:36.259 --> 00:17:41.539 So when it says that love covers a multitude of sins, our love for one another is going to cover a multitude of sins. 00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:43.240 It's calling us to forgiveness. 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:43.740 Right? 00:17:44.740 --> 00:17:49.819 So if we, like, we might be offended and we might not act out or retaliate right away. 00:17:49.940 --> 00:17:51.380 So let's say we forbear one another. 00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:58.980 But if we nevertheless still hold a grudge and have resentment toward one another, it'll be like the embers of coal. 00:17:59.099 --> 00:17:59.220 Right? 00:17:59.299 --> 00:18:03.880 That at the slightest wind, the provocation just, you know, comes right back into flame. 00:18:04.420 --> 00:18:09.660 It will have resentment and grudge that becomes a full-fledged hatred. 00:18:09.660 --> 00:18:14.060 So a love that covers has to involve not just forbearance but also forgiveness. 00:18:14.360 --> 00:18:21.100 We have to forgive one another so that we don't let our anger, resentments simmer and continue. 00:18:21.099 --> 00:18:34.240 And this is all the more important because as you guys all have families, and if you have families, you know that conflicts are more common in families. 00:18:34.879 --> 00:18:34.959 Right? 00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:41.279 As he is wailing. 00:18:41.939 --> 00:18:47.000 So we, and the reason why is because you guys kind of, we let our guards down. 00:18:47.179 --> 00:18:47.259 Right? 00:18:47.319 --> 00:18:48.699 We're more intimate with one another. 00:18:48.700 --> 00:18:52.220 We know each other better and we expect more of one another. 00:18:52.380 --> 00:18:52.500 Right? 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:57.380 So we, we, we are more easily angered and we're less, more selfish even. 00:18:57.900 --> 00:19:01.759 We get into fights more with people that we're close to than with people that we're not close to. 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:02.059 Right? 00:19:02.340 --> 00:19:08.740 So in the same way, the church calls us to, the God's community calls us to a great degree of intimacy and commitment. 00:19:09.380 --> 00:19:11.799 And for that reason, there's going to be conflict. 00:19:11.980 --> 00:19:14.240 Just like you fight with your family, there's going to be conflict. 00:19:14.940 --> 00:19:17.240 And we shouldn't be surprised by that. 00:19:17.340 --> 00:19:17.500 Right? 00:19:17.500 --> 00:19:20.420 That's something that we should expect and will happen. 00:19:20.420 --> 00:19:26.240 But when they do happen, when there are opportunities for us to sin against one another, we have to remember this. 00:19:26.660 --> 00:19:29.799 That above all, keep loving one another earnestly. 00:19:30.579 --> 00:19:34.640 Keep loving since love covers a multitude of sins. 00:19:34.839 --> 00:19:36.039 Forbear with one another. 00:19:36.220 --> 00:19:37.640 Forgive one another's sins. 00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:50.300 And the following injunctions in the verses 9 to 11 are really, I think, further expressions of love or the illustrations of love that Peter's calling us to. 00:19:50.299 --> 00:19:53.559 Sorry for distraction, guys. 00:19:53.639 --> 00:19:54.319 But try to focus. 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:56.659 So I'm in verse 9. 00:19:56.779 --> 00:19:58.099 So if you turn with me to verse 9. 00:19:59.659 --> 00:20:03.539 It says, show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 00:20:03.539 --> 00:20:10.259 I think this is one illustration or expression of the love that Peter's calling us to. 00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:12.480 And this is not a trivial commandment. 00:20:12.740 --> 00:20:16.460 I mean, it's so easy for us to overlook hospitality because, like, oh, that's so ordinary. 00:20:16.659 --> 00:20:18.480 That's just something anybody can do. 00:20:18.700 --> 00:20:20.200 Or we think of it that way. 00:20:20.200 --> 00:20:24.180 But hospitality is physically, emotionally, and economically costly. 00:20:24.500 --> 00:20:24.600 Right? 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.680 It's physically taxing to prepare everything and then to, after people leave, to clean up things. 00:20:29.840 --> 00:20:38.640 And it's economically costly to buy more things, buy more food, utensils, whatever else that you need to be hospitable toward people. 00:20:39.140 --> 00:20:43.120 It's emotionally probably even more so draining and taxing. 00:20:43.180 --> 00:20:47.539 Especially when you're trying to be hospitable toward someone that you don't have a natural liking to. 00:20:47.539 --> 00:20:47.980 Right? 00:20:48.279 --> 00:20:51.299 Maybe someone that you find difficult to be hospitable toward. 00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:51.599 Right? 00:20:52.259 --> 00:20:54.720 So hospitality is not an easy thing to do. 00:20:54.839 --> 00:20:58.539 Yet we are to do this for one another without grumbling, he says. 00:21:00.339 --> 00:21:07.220 And when we are regularly, and this is significant because if we're regularly in our homes, if we're regularly hospitable toward one another, 00:21:07.319 --> 00:21:12.920 there's going to be far less opportunities for us to hold bitterness or resentment toward one another. 00:21:13.379 --> 00:21:13.539 Right? 00:21:13.879 --> 00:21:16.859 Because in isolation, you can imagine all kinds of things about people. 00:21:16.859 --> 00:21:17.279 Right? 00:21:17.539 --> 00:21:21.000 But when you're interacting with them daily, there's opportunities for reconciliation. 00:21:21.379 --> 00:21:23.700 Opportunities to see one another and to love one another. 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:24.279 Right? 00:21:24.359 --> 00:21:27.839 And that's, I think, and to speak the truth in love to one another. 00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:32.559 And this kind of hospitality is so important. 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:39.220 In fact, that in 1 Timothy 3.2, the qualification for elder, right? 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:43.579 The office in the church, the leaders in the church, is that they must be hospitable. 00:21:43.579 --> 00:21:44.019 Right? 00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:47.939 Alongside things like they have to be able to teach. 00:21:48.159 --> 00:21:49.679 They have to be not greedy. 00:21:49.779 --> 00:21:51.240 They have to be a husband of one wife. 00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:54.759 Alongside of all these qualifications, it says they must be hospitable. 00:21:55.339 --> 00:21:58.119 That's how important hospitality is in the eyes of God. 00:21:58.119 --> 00:21:58.419 Right? 00:21:58.779 --> 00:22:05.639 And in Matthew 25, it actually even suggests that hospitality will be one of the criteria for the final judgment of God. 00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:10.599 He says, God's going to judge us on the final day on the basis of our hospitality. 00:22:10.759 --> 00:22:13.879 That's going to be, he's going to use that as a standard. 00:22:13.880 --> 00:22:17.780 So when we're being hospitable toward one another, we're not just being nice people. 00:22:18.380 --> 00:22:18.460 Right? 00:22:18.560 --> 00:22:23.240 We're exemplifying what it means to be fundamentally a Christian. 00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:27.220 Because we are those who have been shown hospitality by God himself. 00:22:27.840 --> 00:22:31.800 When we were his enemies, when we were aliens, he was hospitable toward us. 00:22:32.100 --> 00:22:36.140 And that's why we are now hospitable toward one another as the family of God. 00:22:36.320 --> 00:22:40.020 Because we have been adopted into his family, that's why we're now hospitable toward one another. 00:22:40.019 --> 00:22:46.460 And as we know, Peter's been emphasizing throughout his letter how we're aliens in this world. 00:22:46.740 --> 00:22:46.799 Right? 00:22:46.859 --> 00:22:48.599 We're foreigners, strangers in this world. 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:53.799 And if that's the case, and that is true, then all the more we have to be hospitable toward one another. 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:56.460 Because if we're not hospitable toward one another, who will? 00:22:56.920 --> 00:22:58.619 We're strangers and aliens in this world. 00:22:58.879 --> 00:23:00.119 We only have each other. 00:23:00.539 --> 00:23:06.339 So that's why Peter's saying, above all things, show love to one another and be hospitable toward one another without grumbling. 00:23:06.339 --> 00:23:06.819 He says. 00:23:06.819 --> 00:23:14.960 And I think this is particularly helpful for us as a church in East Cambridge, too. 00:23:15.399 --> 00:23:26.179 Because just a generation ago, all the Portuguese and Italian and Irish neighbors that we have, they had a great sense of community. 00:23:26.180 --> 00:23:33.700 Like, for example, they all used to sit out on a nice evening, bring lawn chairs out and sit out on the streets. 00:23:38.140 --> 00:23:38.460 Yeah. 00:23:45.180 --> 00:23:50.480 It's, unfortunately, she takes after her father in that way. 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:54.680 Hannah was like an angel baby. 00:23:55.460 --> 00:24:00.200 So, and I lost my place. 00:24:00.620 --> 00:24:03.220 It's, we're talking about our neighbors in East Cambridge. 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:03.620 Yeah. 00:24:03.799 --> 00:24:09.720 And so people used to sit out with lawn chairs, you know, just talk, like whole blocks of people. 00:24:09.819 --> 00:24:12.779 The whole streets would be filled with people sitting out just talking on nice days. 00:24:12.779 --> 00:24:18.440 And they used to let their kids just roam the streets of East Cambridge because they knew that everybody else was watching after them, right? 00:24:18.879 --> 00:24:20.879 No, that doesn't happen now, right? 00:24:20.879 --> 00:24:22.299 I mean, there's no way that happens now. 00:24:23.500 --> 00:24:23.799 Yeah. 00:24:24.099 --> 00:24:33.980 In fact, people, especially the new population that's moving in, the urban professionals and students and postdocs, they're so busy and live such isolated lives. 00:24:34.740 --> 00:24:35.099 Yeah. 00:24:35.220 --> 00:24:35.940 And a lot less kids, too. 00:24:35.940 --> 00:24:39.080 So we see things like website meetup.com come up, right? 00:24:39.400 --> 00:24:43.519 It's trying to fill a vacuum of people lacking community, people looking for community. 00:24:43.640 --> 00:24:48.960 They're willing to get together with complete strangers to do something that they're, you know, vaguely interested in, right? 00:24:48.980 --> 00:24:51.019 I mean, that's the kind of culture we live in. 00:24:51.340 --> 00:24:58.380 So if we as a church exemplify this kind of radical hospitality, sacrificial love and showing love to one another, 00:24:58.580 --> 00:25:03.799 I guarantee you that this will be an irresistible community to the outside watching world. 00:25:03.799 --> 00:25:07.180 And that's exactly what Jesus had in mind in John 13, 35. 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:12.319 By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another, right? 00:25:13.720 --> 00:25:18.059 So love is expressed in hospitality and also in serving. 00:25:18.599 --> 00:25:20.680 So Peter continues in verse 10 to 11. 00:25:20.779 --> 00:25:21.440 Look with me there. 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:28.759 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. 00:25:28.759 --> 00:25:35.799 Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies, 00:25:36.200 --> 00:25:39.400 in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. 00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:48.180 So we have been privileged to receive God's grace, God's very grace that we may serve one another, right? 00:25:48.700 --> 00:25:52.039 And it doesn't leave anybody out, right? 00:25:52.240 --> 00:25:55.200 Verse 10 says, each has received a gift, right? 00:25:55.200 --> 00:25:58.960 And I have real faith for this. 00:25:59.259 --> 00:26:04.340 I am confident in this truth that each of us has a gift that God has given, 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:07.920 measured His grace that He has given to build up this church. 00:26:08.440 --> 00:26:10.980 I believe this very firmly and strongly. 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:16.539 That means every single one of us has a role and purpose to fulfill in the life of this church. 00:26:17.620 --> 00:26:21.120 It's not, this verse isn't just referring to the leaders, the elders or the deacons. 00:26:21.220 --> 00:26:23.180 It's referring to every one of us. 00:26:23.180 --> 00:26:30.799 And what's really cool about here is that he says that we are good stewards of God's very grace, right? 00:26:31.140 --> 00:26:35.920 And the word varied is the same word that was used in chapter 1 verse 6 where Peter says, 00:26:36.360 --> 00:26:42.660 In this you rejoice, though not for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. 00:26:43.180 --> 00:26:44.640 So it's the exact same word. 00:26:44.740 --> 00:26:48.940 So he's saying, you've been grieved as a church by various trials, right? 00:26:48.940 --> 00:26:55.539 And correspondingly, God has given us a varied grace to sustain us, right? 00:26:55.620 --> 00:26:56.779 Through those times, right? 00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:01.100 And Christians are afflicted in the world by various trials. 00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:03.980 Some of us are going to be deceived, right? 00:27:04.080 --> 00:27:05.840 By the lies of this world, right? 00:27:06.740 --> 00:27:10.279 We're going to be afflicted by the lies of this world, right? 00:27:10.279 --> 00:27:18.399 In that very trial, there's going to be those of us who are gifted with the very gifts of speaking the oracles of God 00:27:18.399 --> 00:27:23.859 to bring that person, that bring that brother or sister back to truth and to lead them in the right way, right? 00:27:24.220 --> 00:27:30.700 In a similar way, there's going to be some of us who will fall ill in the life of the church and infirm, right? 00:27:30.879 --> 00:27:31.839 And need care. 00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:37.740 And according to that varied affliction, there will be a varied grace that God's given us 00:27:37.740 --> 00:27:42.639 of those of us who are called to provide and care for someone and to love those who are in need. 00:27:43.819 --> 00:27:47.599 And at some point in the life of the church, some of us will become impoverished. 00:27:50.519 --> 00:27:58.939 And in those times also, God has given a varied grace, a gift of generosity to provide for, to supply that need. 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:00.619 Isn't that a beautiful picture? 00:28:00.619 --> 00:28:06.199 We as a church are afflicted by varied sufferings, various trials. 00:28:06.639 --> 00:28:10.879 But correspondingly, God has given us a varied grace to sustain us as a church. 00:28:11.739 --> 00:28:16.819 So the love that we are to show one another, it expresses itself in hospitality and is serving one another. 00:28:18.439 --> 00:28:20.179 And what is the purpose of all of this? 00:28:20.399 --> 00:28:21.899 Why does God do this? 00:28:22.159 --> 00:28:24.039 Why does He work in this way through the church? 00:28:24.419 --> 00:28:28.439 It's to, so that it may be to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, right? 00:28:28.439 --> 00:28:28.779 It says. 00:28:28.779 --> 00:28:33.859 We pray and love one another in the strength that God provides. 00:28:34.599 --> 00:28:38.539 And we show hospitality to one another with strength that God provides. 00:28:38.920 --> 00:28:46.019 We speak to one another as those who speak the oracles of God, not our own words, not worldly wisdom, but as oracles of God. 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:46.700 Right? 00:28:46.700 --> 00:28:50.160 So we do all of this as stewards, right? 00:28:50.220 --> 00:28:53.100 It says we are stewards of God's very grace and not owners. 00:28:53.720 --> 00:28:56.019 Like, these are not intrinsic to us. 00:28:56.080 --> 00:28:57.700 We don't own these things that we do. 00:28:57.819 --> 00:28:59.779 We don't own our acts of service or love. 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:01.259 We're stewards of God's grace. 00:29:01.340 --> 00:29:05.840 And the reason why God works in that way is so that He receives all the glory. 00:29:05.980 --> 00:29:06.220 Right? 00:29:06.779 --> 00:29:07.019 Right? 00:29:07.019 --> 00:29:10.819 Because if we are responsible for it ultimately, then we deserve the glory for it. 00:29:11.579 --> 00:29:13.559 I'm a nice person, so that's why I'm nice. 00:29:13.680 --> 00:29:15.859 I'm a generous person, so I'm generous to this person. 00:29:16.019 --> 00:29:17.920 Then I get all the glory for everything that I do. 00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:21.279 If I'm a good teacher, then I teach everybody. 00:29:21.379 --> 00:29:22.819 Then I get all the glory for what I do. 00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:26.500 But if we do all these things because God gives us that gift, 00:29:26.500 --> 00:29:29.039 if God works through us and we're just stewards, 00:29:29.420 --> 00:29:32.319 we're just vessels, conduits of the work that God is doing, 00:29:32.700 --> 00:29:35.380 then when great things happen, God gets all the glory. 00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:39.339 That's exactly why He works in this precise way. 00:29:40.380 --> 00:29:44.039 And it's so true because everything that we do, we do it by God's strength. 00:29:44.200 --> 00:29:44.240 Right? 00:29:44.299 --> 00:29:46.920 Acts 17 is in Him we live and move and have our being. 00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:48.160 We can't breathe. 00:29:48.279 --> 00:29:50.240 We can't do anything apart from God's grace. 00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:50.539 That's great. 00:29:52.839 --> 00:29:57.599 There's an exhibit at the Museum of Science that I really like. 00:29:58.500 --> 00:30:00.380 I think it's a permanent exhibit. 00:30:00.620 --> 00:30:05.880 If you go, it challenges you to try to push a cube that weighs literally a ton. 00:30:06.779 --> 00:30:10.200 So a ton is about half the weight of a small elephant. 00:30:10.380 --> 00:30:12.039 So, I mean, there's no way you can push that thing. 00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:13.420 But it challenges you to do it. 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:14.559 So you try it and you can't do it, 00:30:14.620 --> 00:30:16.640 but then you notice that there's a little button on the side. 00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:20.720 And if you press that button, it releases air from the bottom 00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:25.759 to just raise, to lift the cubes just slightly so that there's no friction. 00:30:26.340 --> 00:30:29.060 And it's friction that makes it so hard to push heavy things. 00:30:29.320 --> 00:30:31.480 So when there's no friction and you push it, 00:30:31.580 --> 00:30:34.960 you could literally push a ton, a cube that weighs a ton. 00:30:35.500 --> 00:30:36.840 And I think about that. 00:30:36.900 --> 00:30:40.680 I think it's a great illustration of how we work as a church, 00:30:40.780 --> 00:30:42.120 as stewards of God's grace. 00:30:42.560 --> 00:30:45.140 We can't move something like that in our own strength. 00:30:45.140 --> 00:30:45.180 Right? 00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:47.020 It's God's work. 00:30:47.120 --> 00:30:50.220 It's God's grace that enables everything that we do. 00:30:50.660 --> 00:30:53.480 And when we do that, it's not we that deserve the glory, 00:30:53.580 --> 00:30:55.940 but God who receives all the glory. 00:30:57.840 --> 00:31:06.160 And everything that we do is done through Jesus Christ, 00:31:06.780 --> 00:31:08.040 as it says in this verse. 00:31:08.039 --> 00:31:11.659 The glory that redounds ultimately to God the Father 00:31:11.659 --> 00:31:13.759 is mediated through His Son, Jesus Christ. 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:16.339 And the reason is that every gift that we receive, 00:31:16.460 --> 00:31:17.599 every good thing that we have, 00:31:17.659 --> 00:31:19.379 every grace that we experience of God, 00:31:19.639 --> 00:31:20.940 comes through Jesus Christ. 00:31:21.259 --> 00:31:22.940 As in Ephesians 4, 7, it says, 00:31:23.059 --> 00:31:25.279 But grace was given to each one of us 00:31:25.279 --> 00:31:28.259 according to the measure of Christ's gift. 00:31:28.639 --> 00:31:28.779 Right? 00:31:29.619 --> 00:31:31.019 It's everything that we have, 00:31:31.099 --> 00:31:31.740 the grace of God, 00:31:31.839 --> 00:31:32.599 the gifts of God, 00:31:32.599 --> 00:31:35.619 it's a measure of what Christ has given to us. 00:31:36.619 --> 00:31:40.579 And the ultimate gift that we have from Christ 00:31:40.579 --> 00:31:42.579 through our reconciliation to God the Father 00:31:42.579 --> 00:31:43.599 is the Spirit of God. 00:31:43.799 --> 00:31:45.679 It's the very presence of God in us. 00:31:46.099 --> 00:31:48.399 And it is He who sovereignly distributes the gifts, 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:50.179 it says in 1 Corinthians 12. 00:31:51.219 --> 00:31:53.559 So this is important to keep in mind 00:31:53.559 --> 00:31:56.519 because we don't deserve glory as human beings. 00:31:56.639 --> 00:31:58.879 Ultimately, if we get glory for ourselves, 00:31:58.980 --> 00:31:59.859 we're glory thieves. 00:32:00.219 --> 00:32:00.319 Right? 00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:02.339 Because God alone deserves glory. 00:32:03.079 --> 00:32:05.679 But if we don't keep this commandment in mind 00:32:05.679 --> 00:32:10.179 to love and to serve out of strength that God provides, 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:11.679 one of two things will happen. 00:32:11.960 --> 00:32:12.039 Right? 00:32:12.500 --> 00:32:13.480 We will be, 00:32:13.720 --> 00:32:15.460 appear to be, 00:32:15.679 --> 00:32:16.720 very successful. 00:32:17.079 --> 00:32:17.200 Right? 00:32:18.279 --> 00:32:19.799 When in reality, 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:21.939 we only have a semblance of godliness, 00:32:22.539 --> 00:32:24.659 we're going to mistake that for true godliness. 00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:29.419 When we really have just a superficial effectiveness and success, 00:32:29.420 --> 00:32:31.840 we're going to confuse that with lasting, 00:32:32.019 --> 00:32:34.680 eternal influence and impact. 00:32:35.360 --> 00:32:35.460 Right? 00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:37.860 And because we think that we're successful, 00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:39.860 we become legalistic and prideful. 00:32:39.860 --> 00:32:40.180 Right? 00:32:40.680 --> 00:32:43.580 That will happen if we don't keep this truth in mind 00:32:43.580 --> 00:32:45.300 that we are to serve and to love and pray 00:32:45.300 --> 00:32:47.039 with the strength that God provides. 00:32:48.200 --> 00:32:49.220 If that doesn't happen, 00:32:49.300 --> 00:32:51.620 the second thing will happen is that we will fail miserably. 00:32:51.700 --> 00:32:52.060 Right? 00:32:52.059 --> 00:32:54.579 And we'll become despondent. 00:32:55.579 --> 00:32:57.379 And we'll be plagued by doubts. 00:32:57.539 --> 00:32:59.139 Oh, I thought I was supposed to do this. 00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:00.119 I thought God gave me. 00:33:01.220 --> 00:33:02.759 But I can't do it. 00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:03.720 Maybe I'm not a Christian. 00:33:03.960 --> 00:33:05.319 Maybe I'm not a, 00:33:05.359 --> 00:33:06.700 maybe Christianity is not true at all. 00:33:06.859 --> 00:33:09.299 Like, we will fail miserably as we try to serve. 00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:11.639 Because the commands that God gives us, 00:33:11.799 --> 00:33:14.720 the demands of the Bible for the love and service 00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:15.619 that He calls us to, 00:33:15.679 --> 00:33:17.039 we can't do that in our own strength. 00:33:17.480 --> 00:33:17.619 Right? 00:33:17.619 --> 00:33:21.039 So when you find it then hard to pray, 00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:21.599 right, 00:33:22.299 --> 00:33:24.799 you have to remember God's sovereignty at work. 00:33:25.099 --> 00:33:28.419 That He has brought the course of human history 00:33:28.419 --> 00:33:29.619 to its intended end. 00:33:30.119 --> 00:33:32.119 And when we find ourselves burdened 00:33:32.119 --> 00:33:34.359 by responsibilities of service 00:33:34.359 --> 00:33:36.039 and loving one another, 00:33:36.139 --> 00:33:37.719 being hospitable toward one another, 00:33:38.199 --> 00:33:41.559 we have to pull and look not inside of ourselves 00:33:41.559 --> 00:33:42.539 for that resource. 00:33:42.539 --> 00:33:45.359 Okay, well, but I have the strength to do that. 00:33:45.419 --> 00:33:46.839 No, but we look instead to, 00:33:46.839 --> 00:33:48.179 God's grace 00:33:48.179 --> 00:33:50.439 that He has shown us through Christ. 00:33:51.019 --> 00:33:53.259 How He showed us mercy and grace 00:33:53.259 --> 00:33:55.199 when we did not deserve it, 00:33:55.220 --> 00:33:56.299 when we were His enemies. 00:33:56.980 --> 00:33:58.959 And that is an infinite pool of, 00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:00.379 a reservoir of grace 00:34:00.379 --> 00:34:01.359 that we can pull from. 00:34:01.599 --> 00:34:01.679 Right? 00:34:02.039 --> 00:34:03.519 That's how we are able to serve 00:34:03.519 --> 00:34:04.779 and we're sustained to serve. 00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:05.159 Right? 00:34:07.359 --> 00:34:10.460 And I was really struck, 00:34:10.659 --> 00:34:12.119 and I'll close with this, 00:34:12.119 --> 00:34:14.980 as we were singing this morning, 00:34:14.980 --> 00:34:21.599 and I think this hymn really encapsulates 00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:22.599 what I'm trying to get at, 00:34:23.059 --> 00:34:24.599 how deep the Father's love for us. 00:34:24.639 --> 00:34:25.400 In verse 3, it says, 00:34:25.900 --> 00:34:28.000 I will not boast in anything, 00:34:28.780 --> 00:34:30.980 no gifts, no power, no wisdom, 00:34:31.659 --> 00:34:33.880 but I will boast in Jesus Christ, 00:34:34.019 --> 00:34:35.400 His death and resurrection. 00:34:35.400 --> 00:34:35.880 Right? 00:34:37.320 --> 00:34:38.900 Let's be a church 00:34:38.900 --> 00:34:41.300 that is jealous for God's glory. 00:34:41.960 --> 00:34:42.880 That is not to, 00:34:42.920 --> 00:34:45.280 and careful not to take any glory for ourselves, 00:34:45.619 --> 00:34:47.579 but to point in every way to God 00:34:47.579 --> 00:34:47.880 and say, 00:34:47.960 --> 00:34:48.519 He deserves, 00:34:48.680 --> 00:34:49.760 alone deserves glory, 00:34:50.119 --> 00:34:51.000 because I'm serving, 00:34:51.139 --> 00:34:51.660 I'm loving, 00:34:51.820 --> 00:34:52.420 I'm praying 00:34:52.420 --> 00:34:54.300 in the strength that God supplies. 00:34:55.460 --> 00:34:56.400 Let me pray for us. 00:34:56.400 --> 00:35:18.360 God, we really can't do nothing apart from You. 00:35:18.360 --> 00:35:22.700 And we acknowledge that You have accomplished 00:35:22.700 --> 00:35:26.519 all for us, 00:35:26.579 --> 00:35:27.220 our salvation. 00:35:32.780 --> 00:35:35.340 We recognize that we are just a small part 00:35:35.340 --> 00:35:40.380 of the cosmic salvation history 00:35:40.380 --> 00:35:41.620 that You have been bringing about. 00:35:41.619 --> 00:35:47.799 We ask, Lord, 00:35:47.839 --> 00:35:50.420 that You help us to keep this end in view, 00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:54.719 so that we may be humble, 00:35:55.779 --> 00:35:57.679 so that we may be dependent on You, 00:35:59.699 --> 00:36:02.539 so that we may abound in love for one another, 00:36:03.500 --> 00:36:06.739 to Your glory, 00:36:07.359 --> 00:36:08.639 through Your Son, Jesus Christ. 00:36:11.619 --> 00:36:13.500 And it's in His name we pray. 00:36:14.179 --> 00:36:14.420 Amen.