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5 episodes with genuine christians
3 episodes with genuine christians
5 episodes with genuine christians
2 episodes with genuine christians
3 episodes with genuine christians
3 episodes with genuine christians
2 episodes with genuine christians
2 episodes with genuine christians
2 episodes with genuine christians
People of this world get enamored with the rich, powerful, and celebrity. Often these people are preferred and pedestaled. Even as Christians, it can be easy to fall into playing favorites with those who carry a high social standing in this world. James warns us in this passage that doers of the word don't live like this. Marked by gospel shaped hearts, and motivated by Great Commandment love, genuine doers of the word shun a life of partiality and favoritism, and seek to love the hearts of people regardless of external appearance and socio-economic status. To cut it straight: Genuine Christians don't play favorites.
"Persecution" not only includes severe forms, like torture and martyrdom, but also milder forms, like reviling and slander. Genuine Christians will experience persecution because of our commitment to Jesus Christ and righteousness. The temptation is to deny Christ in order to escape persecution. While this is a serious sin, Peter's denial and restoration shows that God's grace abounds even above such sin.
John continues in his writing to Christians to urge them to a life of holy obedience to God's commands, especially as displayed in their love for one another. The post 1, 2 & 3 John Episode 2: Genuine Christians Obey and Love appeared first on Two Journeys.
John encourages believers to fight against sin but also trust in Christ as our advocate with the Father when we stumble. He explains that God is love incarnate in Jesus. The post 1, 2 & 3 John Episode 2: Genuine Christians Obey and Love appeared first on Two Journeys.
John encourages believers to fight against sin but also trust in Christ as our advocate with the Father when we stumble. He explains that God is love incarnate in Jesus. The post 1, 2 & 3 John Episode 2: Genuine Christians Obey and Love appeared first on Two Journeys.
John encourages believers to fight against sin but also trust in Christ as our advocate with the Father when we stumble. He explains that God is love incarnate in Jesus. The post 1, 2 & 3 John Episode 2: Genuine Christians Obey and Love appeared first on Two Journeys.
Associate Pastor Devin Warfield continues our series "Righteous Rewards” encompassing almsgiving, prayer, fasting, and giving to the church. Genuine Christians pray to God not to receive the praise of men but out of love and devotion for our Father. Scripture provides us with examples of how to pray and how not to pray. January 12, 2025
The passage emphasizes that true believers resist sin, strive for holiness, and grow in Christliness while recognizing the clear distinction between good and evil. The post Class in 1 John: Genuine Christians Will Be at War with Sin appeared first on Two Journeys.
The passage emphasizes that true believers resist sin, strive for holiness, and grow in Christliness while recognizing the clear distinction between good and evil. The post Class in 1 John: Genuine Christians Will Be at War with Sin appeared first on Two Journeys.
The passage emphasizes that true believers resist sin, strive for holiness, and grow in Christliness while recognizing the clear distinction between good and evil. The post Class in 1 John: Genuine Christians Will Be at War with Sin appeared first on Two Journeys.
The passage emphasizes that true believers resist sin, strive for holiness, and grow in Christliness while recognizing the clear distinction between good and evil. The post Class in 1 John: Genuine Christians Will Be at War with Sin appeared first on Two Journeys.
Hebrews 10:19-22 — Genuine Christians may lack joy in Christ if they lack certainty of their relationship with God. In this sermon on Hebrews 10:19–22 titled “A New and Living Way,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches of how the writer encourages the reader to have full assurance and draw near to Christ. He addresses the chief problem: the conscience condemns. In one's own nature, no one is able to come before the throne of God in prayer because of sin. Dr. Lloyd-Jones highlights the Old Testament temple practices of entering the Holiest of Holies and the work of the priest. This was the old way, one that required blood and priests. It was a kind of communion with God few would enter. This practice, however, paved the way to a new and better way. Through the blood of Christ, the vilest of sinners can enter the holiest of all. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that Jesus washes and sanctifies the believer, clothing them in righteousness, and fitting them for the presence of God. As the High Priest, Jesus has gone before them and has prepared a way for believers to commune with God. Therefore, draw near to God with a true heart having full assurance of faith. Listen and experience the joy of the Christian life.
Hebrews 10:19-22 — Genuine Christians may lack joy in Christ if they lack certainty of their relationship with God. In this sermon on Hebrews 10:19–22 titled “A New and Living Way,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches of how the writer encourages the reader to have full assurance and draw near to Christ. He addresses the chief problem: the conscience condemns. In one's own nature, no one is able to come before the throne of God in prayer because of sin. Dr. Lloyd-Jones highlights the Old Testament temple practices of entering the Holiest of Holies and the work of the priest. This was the old way, one that required blood and priests. It was a kind of communion with God few would enter. This practice, however, paved the way to a new and better way. Through the blood of Christ, the vilest of sinners can enter the holiest of all. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that Jesus washes and sanctifies the believer, clothing them in righteousness, and fitting them for the presence of God. As the High Priest, Jesus has gone before them and has prepared a way for believers to commune with God. Therefore, draw near to God with a true heart having full assurance of faith. Listen and experience the joy of the Christian life. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/603/29
John continues in his writing to Christians to urge them to a life of holy obedience to God's commands as especially displayed in their love for one another. The post Class in 1 John 2: Genuine Christians Obey and Love appeared first on Two Journeys.
John continues in his writing to Christians to urge them to a life of holy obedience to God's commands as especially displayed in their love for one another. The post Class in 1 John 2: Genuine Christians Obey and Love appeared first on Two Journeys.
John continues in his writing to Christians to urge them to a life of holy obedience to God's commands as especially displayed in their love for one another. The post Class in 1 John 2: Genuine Christians Obey and Love appeared first on Two Journeys.
John continues in his writing to Christians to urge them to a life of holy obedience to God's commands as especially displayed in their love for one another. The post Class in 1 John 2: Genuine Christians Obey and Love appeared first on Two Journeys.
The post Class in 1 John: Genuine Christians Obey and Love appeared first on Two Journeys.
The post Class in 1 John: Genuine Christians Obey and Love appeared first on Two Journeys.
The post Class in 1 John: Genuine Christians Obey and Love appeared first on Two Journeys.
The post Class in 1 John: Genuine Christians Obey and Love appeared first on Two Journeys.
July 26, 2023 Genuine Christians and counterfeit Christians will not be separated in God's Kingdom until the coming of Christ. There is a terrible warning of hell for the unbelievers and a wondrous promise of glorification for the believer. Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43
The author warns his readers to grab their attention. The audience had yet to mature beyond milk to solid food (Heb 5:11-14). They were stuck still learning the elementary doctrine of Christ (Heb 6:1-3). Pray & Read Hebrews 6:1-8. Three primary interpretations of this passage: 1. Genuine Christians who lose their salvation which would be contrary to Scripture that speaks to the perseverance of the saints (Phil 1:6). 2. This is only a hypothetical description. However, nothing in the text indicates The post Is It Possible To Fall Away? Pt. 2 Hebrews 6:4-8 appeared first on Grace Presbyterian Church (PCA).
The relativism of our age would have us think that we can believe whatever we want and do whatever feels good. In contrast, Jude, writing nearly twenty centuries ago, appealed to believers to contend for the faith and to beware of those who were distorting the Gospel by exchanging its freedom for license. Alistair Begg reminds us that Jude's appeal, while unpopular, is just as critical today. Genuine Christians must stand firm for “the faith,” neither adding to it nor subtracting from it, trusting that true freedom is found in Christ alone. Bible passages: Jude 1:3-4
The relativism of our age would have us think that we can believe whatever we want and do whatever feels good. In contrast, Jude, writing nearly twenty centuries ago, appealed to believers to contend for the faith and to beware of those who were distorting the Gospel by exchanging its freedom for license. Alistair Begg reminds us that Jude’s appeal, while unpopular, is just as critical today. Genuine Christians must stand firm for “the faith,” neither adding to it nor subtracting from it, trusting that true freedom is found in Christ alone.
The relativism of our age would have us think that we can believe whatever we want and do whatever feels good. In contrast, Jude, writing nearly twenty centuries ago, appealed to believers to contend for the faith and to beware of those who were distorting the Gospel by exchanging its freedom for license. Alistair Begg reminds us that Jude's appeal, while unpopular, is just as critical today. Genuine Christians must stand firm for "the faith," neither adding to it nor subtracting from it and trusting that true freedom is found in Christ alone.
The relativism of our age would have us think that we can believe whatever we want and do whatever feels good. In contrast, Jude, writing nearly twenty centuries ago, appealed to believers to contend for the faith and to beware of those who were distorting the Gospel by exchanging its freedom for license. Alistair Begg reminds us that Jude's appeal, while unpopular, is just as critical today. Genuine Christians must stand firm for -the faith,- neither adding to it nor subtracting from it and trusting that true freedom is found in Christ alone.
The relativism of our age would have us think that we can believe whatever we want and do whatever feels good. In contrast, Jude, writing nearly twenty centuries ago, appealed to believers to contend for the faith and to beware of those who were distorting the Gospel by exchanging its freedom for license. Alistair Begg reminds us that Jude's appeal, while unpopular, is just as critical today. Genuine Christians must stand firm for -the faith,- neither adding to it nor subtracting from it and trusting that true freedom is found in Christ alone.
In some countries only people who accept to belong to designated secret societies are given certain jobs and positions. Agents of the Devil at work
The magic in the Christian Faith is Jesus Christ. When in union with Him, He indwells you in the Holy Spirit to do wonders.
Genuine Christians may falter in their faith. Therefore, if you think you stand take heed lest you fall.
Genuine Christians may falter in their faith. Therefore, if you think you stand take heed lest you fall.
Stillwater Reformed Presbyterian Church Podcasts: Preaching and Teaching.
Genuine Christians may falter in their faith. Therefore, if you think you stand take heed lest you fall.
As we start our new sermon series in 1 Thessalonians, Paul begins the first chapter overflowing with thankfulness for the work that God has done in the lives of the Thessalonians. Our passage shows us ... Read More
The biblical reality of conversion to Christ bring with it a number of corresponding biblical experiences which all genuine Christians undergo.
Thank you for joining the Manna Podcast as we study, chapter by chapter, Paul's first letter to the church of Thessalonica. Please share with your friends and family. Also, the Manna Podcast Team would appreciate you joining us in prayer that God would expand this ministry. https://www.mannapodcast.com/lessons Brad's Board Notes 1st Thessalonians Ch. 1 Vs 2 Genuine Christians make it a habit to pray for each other Vs 3 Genuine Christians are changed people: they are known by their working faith, serving love, and steadfast hope Vs 4 Salvation requires both God's sovereignty and human responsibility; by grace, God chose you for salvation, and through faith, you are responsible to believe in Jesus as your Savior Vs 6-8 A genuine Christian makes the gospel a priority; they proclaim the gospel with their words and practice the gospel with their lives Vs 9-10 Genuine Christians value God more than anything else in life Other Verses: 2 Corinthians 5:17 James 2:26 John 5:24; 6:37; 13:34-35; 14:3; 15:13 & 16; 17:8 Ephesians 1:4; 2:8 2 Thessalonians 2:13 Acts 1:8; 16:31 Revelation 22:17 Romans 1:16
Encouragements to Genuine Christians #growpoint #firstJohn --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/growpoint-davao/support
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Genuine Christians don't boast of their good deeds that qualify them for eternal life. They believe salvation is a free gift to them because of their faith in the Saviour Jesus Christ. No boasting
Bill Boyce teaches on the Christian call to love God and to love others. 1 John 4:7-12 "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Galatians 5:13-15 ESV 13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. ----- 13 Sapagkat kayo, mga kapatid, ay tinawag sa kalayaan; subalit huwag lamang ninyong gagamitin ang inyong kalayaan bilang isang kadahilanan para sa laman, kundi sa pamamagitan ng pag-ibig ay maging alipin kayo ng isa't isa. 14 Sapagkat ang buong kautusan ay natutupad sa isang pangungusap, “Ibigin mo ang iyong kapwa na gaya ng iyong sarili.” 15 Ngunit kung kayo-kayo ang nagkakagatan at nagsasakmalan, mag-ingat kayo, baka kayo'y magkaubusan. THROUGH LOVE SERVE ONE ANOTHER. The world has a different concept of freedom. It is doing anything a person wants without restrain. Can we consider a man chasing every gil he likes like a rooster to every every hen the symbol of true freedom? Ironically, this guy is governed by an uncontrolled passion. Unrestrained passion is slavery. Solomon says, “ A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.”[Prov 25:28] Only the true believers who are really free. And it is doing what is morally right. And, they expresss it by overcoming the flesh in order to serve others. Christ has freed us from ourselves to become mindful towards others. They have the mind of Christ, who is God Himself but voluntarily became a servant. [see Phil 2:4-8]. Jesus even said, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”[Mark 10:45] Genuine Christians could truly fulfill the law, summarized in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The apostle John even said, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”[1 John 4:8] As Christians, we are called by God to love others the way He loves them. This means, we do seek to serve them and not to use them for personal gain, don't we? Therefore, let us not ‘give opportunity to our flesh' to gratify its selfish desires'.[Rom 13:14] May “the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” [2 Cor 5:14,15] Let us glory because “God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” [Rom 5:5] Is to serve the least and the lost your desire today? Have you been occupied about yourself licking your own wounds that you are not mindful towards others anymore? The change from wanting to be served to one wanting to serve is a great miracle the gospel has done in our lives. ------------------------- Visit and FOLLOW Gospel Light Filipino on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram
July 25, 2021 The Apostle Paul’s inspired prayer shows the needs of Christians everywhere. Following Paul’s example, we should pray for other Christians to be strengthened by God's power. Pray that Christ would dwell in the heart of every believer so that every Christian would experience the love of Christ. The miracles of Christ show ... [Read more...]
Hebrews 10:19-22 — Are you unhappy in your faith? Genuine Christians may lack joy in Christ as they lack certainty of their relationship with God. In Hebrews 10:19-22, the writer encourages the reader to have full assurance and draw near to Christ. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones addresses the chief problem: our conscience condemns us. In one’s nature, man is unable to come before the throne of God in prayer because of sin. Dr. Lloyd-Jones highlights the Old Testament temple practices of entering the Holiest of Holies and the work of the priest. This was the old way, one which required blood and priests. It was a kind of communion with God few would enter. This practice, however, paved the way to a new and better way. Through the blood of Christ, the vilest of sinners can enter the holiest of all. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that Jesus washes and sanctifies the believer, clothing them in righteousness, and fitting them for the presence of God. As the High Priest, Jesus has gone before them and has prepared a way for believers to commune with God. Therefore, let us draw near to God with a true heart having full assurance of faith. Listen and experience the joy of the Christian life.
Jesus said there is a truth that sets you free that genuine Christians enjoy. In this passage the Apostle John shows us three characteristics of those who pass the truth test. Genuine Christians stick, they stand, and they stay.
This section of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount addresses a far too common problem among the citizens of the kingdom of Heaven. Not only do the lost and sinful suffer anxiety and worry about their lives, Christians too fall into the common problem of worry and anxiety. The words of Jesus make it clear that the control of anxiety and worry is the problem of a lack of faith. Anxiety often feels like a choking or strangling of the soul and what is at stake is the eternal state of faith and trust in our Lord rather than our own selves. The message from Christ today is to be HIS disciples in every aspect of one's life. To be a genuine Christian is to seek the kingdom and HIS righteousness above all else (Matthew 6:33). It means that Jesus is the treasure and joy of one's heart. Genuine Christians truly believe that their needs will be met. The security that God provides is greater than anything that the world can give us.
This section of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount addresses a far too common problem among the citizens of the kingdom of Heaven. Not only do the lost and sinful suffer anxiety and worry about their lives, Christians too fall into the common problem of worry and anxiety. The words of Jesus make it clear that the control of anxiety and worry is the problem of a lack of faith. Anxiety often feels like a choking or strangling of the soul and what is at stake is the eternal state of faith and trust in our Lord rather than our own selves. The message from Christ today is to be HIS disciples in every aspect of one's life. To be a genuine Christian is to seek the kingdom and HIS righteousness above all else (Matthew 6:33). It means that Jesus is the treasure and joy of one's heart. Genuine Christians truly believe that their needs will be met. The security that God provides is greater than anything that the world can give us.
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Psalm 92:12. The Christian is likened to the cedar of Lebanon. I have read that this tree does more than send down a few short roots into the yielding loam. It sends strong roots deep down into the earth, and strikes down farther and still farther in search of a still stronger hold. And in the fierce blast of the tempest, it stands firm, held by its network of cables beneath. So the Christian strikes root deep into Christ. He has faith in his Redeemer. He knows in whom he believes. He is fully persuaded that Jesus is the Son of God and the Saviour of sinners.... The roots of faith strike deep down. Genuine Christians, like the cedar of Lebanon, do not grow in the soft surface soil, but are rooted in God, riveted in the clefts of the mountain rocks.29Letter 95, 1902. If the Christian thrives and progresses at all, he must do so amid strangers to God, amid scoffing, subject to ridicule. He must stand upright like the palm tree in the desert. The sky may be as brass, the desert sand may beat about the palm tree's roots, and pile itself in heaps about its trunk. Yet the tree lives as an evergreen, fresh and vigorous amid the burning desert sands. Remove the sand till you reach the rootlets of the palm tree, and you discover the secret of its life; it strikes down deep beneath the surface, to the secret waters hidden in the earth.30SDA Bible Commentary 3:1151. As the palm tree, drawing nourishment from fountains of living water, is green and flourishing in the midst of the desert, so the Christian may draw rich supplies of grace from the fountain of God's love, and may guide weary souls, that are full of unrest and ready to perish in the desert of sin, to those waters of which they may drink, and live. The Christian is ever pointing his fellow men to Jesus, who invites, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." John 7:37. This fountain never fails us; we may draw, and draw again.31SDA Bible Commentary 3:1151. OHC 331.1 - OHC 331.5 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Genuine Christians are identified by the presence of God's love within them radiating outward and blessing others. To go on reflecting on the topic of this podcast use GNM’s video, "How to Bring Loved Ones to Christ" @ https://gnm-media.org/how-to-bring-loved-ones-to-christ/. The text of this podcast can be found on our website at http://gnm.org/good-news-reflections/?useDrDate=2020-10-10. Subscribe to receive the Good News Reflections delivered to your email inbox or texted to your phone @ https://gogoodnews.net
Title: Defend the Faith Text: II John 4-11 FCF: We often struggle with how to respond to those who teach a false gospel. Prop: Because true children of God walk in truth, love and obedience, we must defend the faith. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to II John. In a book that only spans 13 verses, it may be a little surprising to see that we will be covering the vast majority of them in this sermon. There are all kinds of different preachers out there. Some preachers tend to be a little more topical and cover large portions of scripture in their sermons. Others tend to be more exacting of the text and cover sometimes only a word per sermon. My philosophy has always been to try to capture the thought of the author. Paragraphs typically serve as good indicators for where the author’s thought begins and ends – the only problem of course – is that the manuscripts we have of the text of scripture from the original languages did not include any punctuation at all – much less paragraph markings. I really did try this week to separate this sermon into two. However, what became apparent was verse 4 through 11 has no obvious thought break. Starting in verse 4, he makes a point and continues to run with that point until he starts to say his goodbyes. I suppose we should expect in a letter this brief that he would probably only have 1 point to communicate clearly and then say his goodbyes. There are two dangers. If I divided his thought we may miss his meaning, if I don’t you may lose some details. I decided the latter was the better option, but I need your help. There is a lot in this sermon – so you must keep paying attention. I am in II John, I’ll begin reading in verse 4. I am reading from the NET but you can follow along in whatever version you prefer. Transition: The last couple weeks I have let you off easy with a couple shorter sermons. Well this week is where we make up for it. We are covering a lot of ground, so do your best to pay attention. The folks at home have the luxury of a pause feature, but for those who are here, do your best to stick with me ok. I.) Genuine Christians walk in truth, love and obedience, so we must live in truth, love and obedience. (4-6) a. [Slide 2] 4 – I rejoiced greatly because I have found some of your children living according to the truth, i. There are two ways we could read this. One is fairly passive aggressive and the other is not. ii. John could be saying that he is rejoiced to find out that not all of the people in the church there had stopped living in the truth. iii. Or, John could be saying that he met some of the church there and was overjoyed to find that of that small sampling, all of them were living according to the truth. iv. I don’t think John would have pulled any punches and worded it this way if it was the former. So, the latter interpretation is preferred. Not being the elder or leader of the church in question, he may not have had opportunity to meet with many of the church there. But, what a joy it would be, after seeing the fallout of the church from I John, to meet others from another church who remained faithful. b. [Slide 3] Just as the Father commanded us. i. If you have not picked up on the line of reasoning by now that God expects obedience from those who are truly His people – I’d say that you may be a visitor here and this is your first time in this church. ii. God’s command to His true children is to live according to the truth. To walk in obedience. To live as if you are the ongoing recipients of His grace, mercy, peace, and love. Because you are. iii. But John is not just going to complement this church… now he will exhort her. c. [Slide 4] 5 – But now I ask you, lady () that we love one another i. In the next couple verses there are parenthetical statements that disrupt the flow of thought. I have approached this by excluding those phrases from consideration until we finish the thought. ii. I feel as though this will help us not get distracted. iii. John’s charge is that we love one another. It is interesting. iv. He is not charging her exclusively – but all of Christianity including himself. With what command? v. To love one another. vi. So why is he commanding her to do this? Is this church failing to do this? vii. Well that is where the parenthetical statement comes in… d. [Slide 5] (not as if I were writing a new commandment to you, but the one we have had from the beginning) i. It is not that this church had been failing to love one another. ii. In fact John said before that he loved them in truth. And since, at least some of them were walking in truth, it is logical to conclude that they also were continuing to love one another. iii. Rather this is a standing order from the Father that all His children love His children with the love of Christ. iv. From the beginning is not the beginning of time but rather the beginning of their conversion. v. Jesus said that he gave a new command that they love one another as He had loved them. vi. And so this command is the marching order from conversion to glory. e. [Slide 6] 6 – () This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning; Thus you should walk in it. i. The first part of this is another parenthetical statement so continuing John’s thought, he says ii. That this command to love one another, since it IS something you were given from the beginning that adds weight to the fact that you should walk in it. That you should live it. iii. But parenthetically John wants to define his terms. iv. What does it mean to LOVE one another? f. [Slide 7] (Now this is love: that we walk according to His commandments.) i. Obedience to God is love. ii. So obeying God equals loving other believers. We need to adjust our understanding of what it means to love one another. iii. As we pointed out in our I John series – we love others by loving God. And we cannot love God if we do not obey Him. Our love toward our brothers and sisters is not, in fact, aimed at them at all. Our love is aimed at Christ in them. iv. To obey the second greatest command, you must obey the first. v. And so here again as we saw in I John these three evidences of being fathered of God continue to exist. vi. In I John we noted that a person who has growing faith, enduring selfless love, and progressive obedience is a person who has been fathered of God. vii. In II John Truth contains all the giftings of God the triune to His beloved children. And John has commended some of this congregation for walking in truth. Now he asks them to walk in love which He says is walking in obedience. Truth, love and obedience. viii. This sounds an awful lot like Faith, love and obedience from I John. ix. And as we discovered in our Wednesday bible study this past week – separating truth, love, obedience, grace, mercy, peace, is a fool’s errand. They are one – all-encompassing gift of God to His dear children in Christ. x. So, what then is the command that they should walk in? They must love… and if love is defined as obedience to God, and if love flows from truth, then all three are commanded. We love in truth and to love we must obey God. xi. So the command is to walk in truth, love and obedience. g. [Slide 8] Passage Truth: John tells his readers that the commands that God has given them from the beginning of their new life in Him, endures even now. h. Passage Application: That they must walk in truth, love and obedience and continue to do so. He will build and expand on this and what this means in the text to follow. i. [Slide 9] Broader Biblical Truth: Zooming out from the text to I John, to Romans, to Ephesians, to Leviticus, to Deuteronomy, to Isaiah, to Micah – we see that God has always and will always command His people to walk in truth, love, and obedience. And no matter which covenant context you are in, the life of those in covenant with God continues to bear the same fruit. j. Broader Biblical Application: And now – in the New Covenant, we who are IN Christ bear all the more the responsibility and the capability of walking in truth, love and obedience. Transition: [Slide 10(blank)] But John is only getting started. He needs to expand on this to bring out a specific expression of this application. II.) Genuine Christians walk in truth, love and obedience , so we must watch out for deceivers. (7-8) a. [Slide 11] 7 – For many deceivers have gone out into the world, i. So the segue to this next point is difficult to realize. ii. John says “for” for is a word of subordination. It means that whatever follows is somehow related to what has been said before. iii. So John desires greatly that this church continue to walk in truth, love and obedience. iv. So related to that thought is this one… v. Many liars have gone out into the world. This implies that they were once not in the world. This is not John’s way of expressing someone who has rejected or lost their salvation, but rather a person who has left or rejected the confession of the church proving they were never part of them. vi. Now we may balk at that and wonder what does one of these have to do with the other, but it seems fairly obvious. vii. If all believers have been commanded to and will continue to walk in truth, love, and obedience – then when you find some “believers” who do not… you should take note. They are liars. viii. But how do we know they are no longer walking in truth, love, and obedience? b. [Slide 12] people who do not confess Jesus as Christ coming in the flesh. i. Doctrinal confession and adherence is included in walking in truth. It is not the sum total – but it is included. And therefore, one sign that they are not walking in truth, love, and obedience is that they deny doctrinal truths. ii. What particularly is their brand of lie –the specific context in which John writes here is the teaching that Jesus Christ was a human. iii. This is a teaching we should be extremely familiar with although it is somewhat disconnected from our culture. Most people today assume Jesus was a human just not God. iv. John’s words here affirm both though. Jesus as Christ coming in flesh. He was the Messiah of God that came in flesh. Both God and Man. c. [Slide 13] This person is the deceiver and the antichrist! i. John had similar language to refer to these folks in I John. ii. Definite articles in Greek do not function with the strength that they do in English. iii. This is rightly translated the deceiver and the antichrist – but we dare not think or assume that he is saying that such liars are THE deceiver and THE antichrist. iv. The man of lawlessness and Satan Himself are not somehow absorbed or in possession of a person who is an apostate who denies Jesus’ humanity. Such a statement stretches the Greek article farther than it can go. v. But we should walk away from this text with the strong language that John has used. vi. Such people – who were once part of the assembly, who now deny Christ come in flesh, who deny his atonement, who deny the Sonship to Yahweh, who deny the Old Testament program set in motion and fulfilled in Christ – such people who deny core Christological truth… vii. Are they confused? Deceived? Are they victims? Ought they be coddled? Ought they be plead with to repent? viii. John calls them the deceiver and the Antichrist. What does this mean? ix. They are working for their master Satan and in the spirit of the man of lawlessness that is to come. x. Those… are VERY strong words. Words we ought to be mindful of when we speak about people who have “deconverted” – specifically those who have deconverted and now adamantly oppose or teach against their former confession. xi. It is not that they are simply unsaved. It is not that they have been deceived. THEY ARE NOT VICTIMS! xii. Rather – they are agents of darkness. They are anti- Christ. They are God’s enemies. xiii. So what is John’s call upon his readers? How will they walk in truth, love, and obedience in reference to those who have gone out? d. [Slide 14] 8 – Watch out, so that you do not lose the things we have worked for, i. Beware! Beware! John says. ii. Jude says they are dangerous reefs leading only to shipwreck iii. Beware oh Christian! They only destroy! iv. If you do not beware, what will happen? We will lose what we have worked for. What does that mean? v. Well this is somewhat of a subject of debate. 1. Some have looked ahead to verse 9 and seen it as a plainer expression of what John says here. In other words, to lose what we have worked for, is to prove that they were never truly converted. This church will lose what the apostles had labored over in their community – specifically the conversion of their souls. This however, seems to present more questions than it does answers. 2. The other way to approach this is to define this as the ministry of the gospel. Although Jesus has given a guarantee that His church will be victorious over the gates of hell – that does not mean every local visible church. Some churches will be (and indeed have been) ravaged by apostates and false teachers. If they are allowed to persist. If they are coddled. If they are not seen for what they are… They will destroy all that we have worked for. vi. This second interpretation is what I prefer when I look at this text. It makes more sense to me that John is not necessarily talking about the church’s status in relationship to salvation, but rather the church’s status in relationship to the work of God in the world. vii. So the negative reason they should beware is that these apostates are sure to destroy what God is doing in their community if they allow them. viii. The positive reason though is… e. [Slide 15] But receive a full reward. i. So that the full reward in that day when we approach that throne will be given to us. ii. That we who have been found faithful in the little things will be given more. iii. How we conduct ourselves in ministry here on earth does have an effect on our reward in the kingdom to come. And while are not told precisely what that means or how that works – John’s point is this… iv. Do not underestimate the destructive power of the apostate. If you do, you will watch as the entire ministry crumbles around you. v. Instead – beware and mark them. Prepare each other for their lies. And stand firm and defend the faith so that you will be found faithful and rewarded accordingly. vi. We have the hope for eschatological reward. That great kingdom of which we are ambassadors now. The kingdom is coming and now is. Be sure to receive your full reward. Beware of these people. f. [Slide 16] Passage Truth: Since, as we noted the word “for” includes subordination, the truth that all believers walk in truth, love, and obedience remains. As an extension to that ongoing truth, John warns that there are those who will not endure in truth, love and obedience. So what is to be done with them? g. Passage Application: John teaches his readers that they ought to beware – to keep on guard for who have left and are now teaching doctrine opposed to what they had heard about Christ. For two reasons. 1.) so that the work they began may not come to nothing and 2.) so that they may receive their full reward. h. [Slide 17] Broader Biblical Truth: Again – since “for” indicates subordination- A believer walking in truth, love, and obedience would never be one of these people who fail to confess a proper Christology. And so, the only conclusion is that these people are liars. This was in I John, it is in Galatians, it is laced throughout the Scriptures. What they believe and teach is how we determine if they are false or not. If they are a liar or not. So the only question is - what do we do with these liars? i. Broader Biblical Application: From Old to New Testament the teaching is the same. Beware. Mark them. They only destroy and rob you of God’s reward. Transition: [Slide 18] For us this teaching is very difficult. How is it that walking in truth, love, and obedience can also include excommunicating someone from the truth, excluding them from love, and dismissing them from the community of obedience? We will see this in the next words of John. III.) Genuine Christians walk in truth, love, and obedience, so we must not welcome false teachers. (9-11) a. [Slide 19] 9 – Everyone who goes on ahead and does not remain in the teaching of Christ does not have God. i. This serves as a doctrinal reminder of what John was saying in verses 4-6. ii. To run ahead, to excel, to separate yourself from the pack, is usually viewed as a good thing. iii. But to run ahead past the teaching of Christ is actually to run away from the bonds of saving faith. iv. Perhaps John is quoting his enemies, who may have said, “we have gone beyond the simple teachings of Christ to more excellent things.” v. The teaching of Christ here is not the teaching Christ taught but rather the teachings about Christ. vi. It is not ok for someone to leave the Christological truths that we have received to form some novel iteration of Christological truth. vii. There are a great many areas of life that coming up with new ideas is something to be desired. Theology is not actually one of them. viii. John says plainly if you ever depart what you have learned of Christ and cling to other teachings not already revealed – then you cannot be God’s child. b. [Slide 20] The one who remains in this teaching has both the Father and the Son. i. If the first point was true so is this. ii. The one who remains, safe and secure in Christological truth has both the Father and the Son. Why? iii. Because to have the Father you must go through the Son iv. And to have the Son you must have the right one. One who is not God, not a man, not the messiah, not the atonement, not the high priest, not the king, not the prophet, not the intercessor, not the mediator – that one is not the Son. v. So what relationship does this statement have to what John said previously about losing what we’ve worked for and attaining a full reward? Potentially, John extends his warning beyond just the ministry in their community and even into their very hearts. Not only could you lose the gospel’s impact – but at some point, if you succumb to the teachings too – you may yet prove that you were never God’s in the first place. c. [Slide 21] 10 – If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house i. Anyone – actually broadens John’s thought. Before, apostates were in view (those who had gone out) but now it is anyone who does not bring what they had taught. Or to put it positively, anyone who brings a message other than normal Christological confession. What do you do with these folks? ii. Not even receive them into our houses? Wow. That seems kinda harsh right? iii. This could mean either deny hospitality or even deny them entrance into a house church. In either case the point is made that they ought not to bring these false teachers in among them and effectively approve of their message. iv. This is a far cry from how we treat false teachers today. Many reach out and carefully attempt to lovingly woo them into the fold. Some even invite them to their churches to debate and lovingly correct. John says don’t even let them in the door. v. But wait – there’s more. d. [Slide 22] and do not give him any greeting. i. Do not even say to them – Good day! Hello! Good Morning! ii. Wow, really? iii. The greeting here no doubt implies an expression of welcoming and even (as we see in letters) a recognition of what is true of them in Christ. How can you express welcome or truth about them when all that is simply not true. John is basically saying – don’t lie. iv. Why? e. [Slide 23] 11 – because the person who gives him a greeting shares in his evil deeds. i. Welcoming them into your home and expressing to them what is true of a Christian but what is definitely not true of them – only serves to confuse. ii. That is the evil deeds of the apostate and false teacher – he sows confusion and destruction. iii. Expressing your welcome and even indicating that certain things are true of them when they aren’t – makes you the cause of confusion and destruction as well. f. [Slide 24] Passage Truth: John reiterates his point – that true children of God continue to walk in truth, love, and obedience. They do not stop. g. Passage Application: So what do they do with those who have stopped? Those who have left the faith and are now teaching a different gospel? Are we only to look out for them – or can we do more? John says to be unwelcoming to them and their teachings. h. [Slide 25] Broader Biblical Truth: All true believers continue to walk in truth, love and obedience. We know this. We have seen this truth taught in various contexts. So what else do we do with those who are false teachers? i. Broader Biblical Application: In order to walk in truth, love and obedience, you and I must have a passion to keep God’s church pure. To keep His gospel pure. Why? Because the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. And anytime we add to or take away from the gospel that has been revealed, we make it something else entirely. When confronted with an apostate or false teacher who preaches an anti-Christ message… what does it mean to walk in truth, love, and obedience? It means to politely, without violence, have nothing to do with them. We see those false prophets of the old testament punished with death by stoning. In the New Testament Paul says if anyone, me, and angel, another apostle – if ANYONE presents another gospel to you – LET THEM BE ACCURSED! Let them be punished forever and ever. Transition: [Slide 26 (blank)] So how then can we live? Conclusion: Friends in the last year, so many people have deconverted from Christianity. So many have said, they once believed in God and Jesus, but now they see that the teachings of scripture are antiquated and out of touch and simply untenable. Added to this, there are so many voices out there – influential voices – voices that masquerade themselves as evangelical – yet do not teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m not talking about those who might water down scripture – although they aren’t much better. Specifically, I am speaking of those who preach a Christ, a cross, a God, a Spirit that is not of the bible. Recently – one of these teachers was publicly exposed as a false teacher in a documentary that is now on Netflix – that if you haven’t seen, you should go see, called American Gospel. In addressing this confrontation this false teacher called the film demonic and dangerous. Probably because it had the audacity to suggest that his peddling of the prosperity gospel was in fact not the gospel at all. What ought to be our response to those who peddle a gospel that is less or more than the scripture tells us? Seriously! What are we to do with them? Pray for them? Seek to help them? Reach out to them? What? We are, in a word, unwelcoming of them. Let them be accursed. We ought to oppose them. “But I thought Christ tells us to pray for our enemies.” Yes pray for OUR enemies. But John has revealed them to be not OUR enemies but God’s. Just as we do not pray for Satan to repent – so also we do not pray for apostate false teacher to repent either. Let them be accursed. Why? That seems so unloving! That is because your love is focused on the wrong person. You are trying to love the enemy of God when you should be focused on loving first the children of God. For the sake of the purity of the church and those who are young in the faith – Let them be accursed. There is too much at stake, the work is too great, the time too short to waste our time praying for and lovingly welcoming false teaching apostates. Now I do want to clarify. John is not talking about your Christian friend who has a few things loose in his theology. John is not talking about the atheist, Satanist, wiccan or Muslim down the street that denies the God of the bible. He is specifically talking about those who were among us, who confessed the same things that we have or at least appeared to, and have left that behind to confess something different. Specifically, he is talking about Any person who claims to have or have had the gospel of the bible, but preaches something different… that is what he is talking about. John gives us clarity on how we are to respond to those who teach a different gospel than we have heard. They are enemies of God, so we reject them and their message. Not in a violent way, but in an aggressive way, not to harm them, but to defend the faith. This is walking in truth, love, and obedience. This is an expression of all who are genuine children of God. We defend the faith.
Genuine Christians, who have come to trust Christ for salvation, will be convicted about selfish and abusive perspectives of worldly wealth and will repent of those sins.
There are both godly and sinful kinds of wisdom by which to live. Each bears fruit in life. Genuine Christians, though, will seek the wisdom only God gives and live in it.
Genuine Christians are transformed by the Word of God to do what it commands.
1. Consider God's Sovereign Preservation of Genuine Christians-2. Consider the Need for the Perseverance in Genuine Christians-3. Consider the Frequent Biblical Warnings for Christians -4. Consider the Numerous Biblical Case of Counterfeit Christians-5. Consider the Scientific Challenge for Thinking Christians
Two characteristics of every genuine Christian 1. Genuine Christians place no value in themselves (3-7) 2. Genuine Christians place all value in Christ (8-11)
Genuine Christians are people who have been saved by the gospel and have their lives shaped by the gospel. Have a listen to the first talk in our series on 1 Thessalonians. (Text 1 Thessalonians 1)
Romans 12:9-13 The post How Genuine Christians Live appeared first on First Baptist Port Charlotte.
Genuine Christians receive the gospel, turn to God from idols, serve Him, wait expectantly for Jesus to come, and proclaim the gospel to others.
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Genuine Christians can doubt. What are we to do when our hearts condemn us?
Pastor Andy Davis preaches on Galatians 5:19-21, and urges us to be alert to the negative impacts of the acts of the flesh in our souls. - SERMON TRANSCRIPT - Recently, some historians have studied the ancient world and have studied the Roman Empire in particular. Some historians have argued that lead poisoning may have contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. One expert focused his work on the way that Aristocratic Romans would boil honey in lead pots to make a sweetener called defrutum and then they'd boil it down even further to something even sweeter called sapa. The Romans found that if they boil them in copper, it gave a bitter kind of taste but the lead gave a sweet kind of taste and they actually liked it. They would wait until it would all get dried and they would scrape it off and they'd sweeten things with it, this combination of lead and honey. So these sweeteners were used in many ways with meats and wines and many other foods that they ate every day. But the problem was the high temperatures that caused the lead and the honey to mix, made a poison called Lead Acetate. And this poison would accumulate slowly in their bodies and destroy them, weakening them gradually and eventually killing them. Now the scholar that was focusing on this argued that this gradual poisoning contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. Now, many have debated on whether that's true or not but, no one can debate that boiling things in lead and then drinking it is not good for us. And it got me to think about the passage that we're looking at today, "The deeds of the flesh." And I want to liken all of these sins as poison masquerading in honey, which accumulates in our souls and gradually weakens all who indulge in it. The honey taste of sin has been poisoning the human race since the garden of Eden. And it continues to spiritually poison people all over the world, and it poisons all of us who indulge in it as well. And I want to look at this list of spiritual poisons, the deeds of the flesh which the Spirit actively warns us against every moment of our lives. And I want to do so in the context of asking the question, what kind of life is it that leads to heaven? "The honey taste of sin has been poisoning the human race since the garden of Eden. And it continues to spiritually poison people all over the world, and it poisons all of us who indulge in it as well." I. What Kind of Life Leads to Heaven? Now, the context of this question and of this whole passage is, the epistle of the Galatians, which we've been studying for many months now. The apostle Paul took up his pen to write to a bunch of churches that he had planted. They had had from him the pure gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. But after he left, some false teachers had come in and had begun to preach a false gospel which Paul said was no gospel at all. These false teachers taught a gospel of faith in Jesus, plus obedience to the laws of Moses, equals ultimate salvation. Now, Paul instead preached very plainly and wrote in Galatians very plainly the correction. Justification by faith in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of sins. Now, the Galatians were in danger of legalism, and the idea of having begun by simply hearing this gospel with faith, by the power of the Spirit, having begun by the Spirit, they were trying to be perfected by the flesh, by efforts, by self focused efforts. So, Paul preaches very plainly over many chapters the beautiful, simple, clear gospel of forgiveness of sins by faith in Jesus alone, apart from works. And what a liberating, what a freeing message that is for the human race. We are justified by faith and not by works. But the problem is the most common accusation against this liberating gospel, the freedom of this gospel, is that salvation by grace alone leads to lawlessness. The accusation is that it leads to the idea that you can live however you want. Over and over in history, the true gospel has led to this accusation of this false understanding. The bad remedy is always the same, legalism. That if we get serious about the law, that the law contains within itself the power for its own obedience. And that we're on our own and that we are forgiven for past transgressions by present or future obedience to the law, that's the essence of legalism by the way. We have sin, the law accuses us, the only way to make it right in the legalistic way of thinking is, by present or future obedience to the same laws. That's what legalism is, that's the wrong answer. Legalistic approaches have filled up church history, and so Paul addresses the false definition of legalism here in Galatians 5. Here's the answer instead, is the freedom of the Spirit-filled life. The power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, that's his answer. Not by combining Jesus and Moses, but by understanding the progression of salvation, from justification by faith alone apart from works. A transition then made to sanctification by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit whereby, we obey the precepts of the moral law, not for the payment of past transgressions, but because it's the most beautiful and the most fruitful possible life we could ever live. In which the Holy Spirit leads us back now to the moral law, love God with all your heart, love your neighbors as yourself and enables us to fulfill it. Ultimately, then, a battle, a consistent battle and we'll talk about that in the immediate context here, between the flesh and the Spirit in which we struggle but we grow in godliness, becoming more and more like Jesus, ultimately ending in glorification. This glorification happens instantaneously when God, by his sovereign grace, ends the struggle forever. We are rescued from our sin and brought into heaven and there we'll live in holiness forever. That's the true salvation plan of God. Justification is the beginning of the Christian life, the total forgiveness of all of our sins is by faith alone, apart from any works of the law. But justification always leads to sanctification, and sanctification is a gradual, slow, difficult process by which the Spirit works powerfully inside us first to recognize sin, see it for what it is. Secondly, to hate it as God hates it, and thirdly to put sin to death by the power of the Spirit more and more. So that's sanctification. So the key question that comes to us "How can I know I am justified?" That's a question of assurance. The answer's found in this chapter. The Spirit's work in the life of the true believer results in fruit that can be seen and known. The lifestyle, the regular patterns of life from the heart leading to specific patterns of action proves the reality of God's saving work in a soul. Galatians 5:16-26, the section we're in right now in Galatians, is a powerful diagnostic tool for answering the question "Am I a Christian? Have I been justified? Are my sins forgiven?" And it does at first negatively, by addressing things that must not be part of the Christian life, the acts of the flesh. And then positively, the fruit of the Spirit, the traits that must characterize the Christian, negatively and positively, that's what we're looking at. So how can I know I'm a Christian? Do you see increasingly the sins that are listed that you heard Chris read? Do you see them increasingly weakening and dying in your life by the power of the Spirit? And positively, we'll see next week, do we see more and more of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives by the power of the Spirit? Do we see Christ-like character traits? That’s how you can know that you're a Christian. Key question number two then, which we've already asked, what kind of life leads to heaven? Justification is understandable doctrinally, we get it. We get the idea that sins can be instantaneously forgiven by simply believing in Jesus. It's hard to believe almost, sometimes it's that easy, but it's true. But how can I know it's actually happened to me. Paul's answer then is to look at the pattern of your life, the lifestyle. And the life characterized by the works of the flesh leads to destruction, it leads to hell. But the life characterized by the fruit of the Spirit is the only one that leads to heaven. "The life characterized by the works of the flesh leads to destruction, it leads to hell. But the life characterized by the fruit of the Spirit is the only one that leads to heaven." So in the immediate context in verse 16, Paul gives a command, "So I say walk by the Spirit," or "live by the Spirit." So it's a command to live your daily life in the power of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling Spirit. Secondly, believe this promise, if you do that, if you walk by the Spirit, you will not gratify the lusts of the flesh. The promise that we have, that the Spirit, the indwelling Spirit and walking by the Spirit is powerful and effective for killing sins of the flesh. We should, thirdly, expect constant warfare. Verse 17: "For the flesh yearns or desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit yearns or desires what is contrary to the flesh. They're at odds with each other so that you do not do what you want." So we are divided beings, we're struggling, we're spiritual schizophrenics. We don't fully do anything in this life, we don't fully serve God. We don't fully serve sin ever because of this division so we expect constant warfare. We're not looking for perfectionism. We're not looking for release in this life. We know we're going to be at war, we must be at war. As a matter of fact, if we're not at war, we're dead in our transgressions and sins. We've got to be at war. We've got to be fighting by the Spirit. And so we must wage war in a new way. Verse 18 says we need to understand our new status we are not under law. We are led by the Spirit. We are in a whole new way of living now. By the power of the Spirit, led by the Spirit, we can live a holy life. So we've talked about that. Now today, we're going to be talking about the works of the flesh negatively, and then next week, God willing, the fruit of the Spirit. That's where we are in context. II. The Works of the Flesh (verses 19-21) So let's look now at the works of the flesh, verses 19-21. "Now the works of the flesh are evident: [Paul says] sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery or sensuality, idolatry, sorcery or witchcraft, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like these or the like." Paul here gives one of many sin lists that there are in the Bible. The Bible gives sin lists, and this is one of the sin lists, not the only one. And the purpose of this sin list is a diagnostic tool for the heart. You can diagnose your heart. I like to sometimes talk about salvation in a therapeutic or healing sense. Jesus is the good physician. It's not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. We are sick with sin and we need a good diagnosis. We need to be told the truth. Sin is a disease of the soul, and so the heart, controlled by the flesh is powerfully diagnosed or exposed by this list. As we read this list, we see described in a powerful way what the life of the flesh looks like. Again, people ask what is the flesh? We went through all that in a previous sermon but I just simply say the flesh is that part of you that produces this list. Whatever part of you that makes you do these things, that's what the flesh is. Called sin nature, indwelling sin, etcetera. There are 15 sins listed here, comprehensive and thorough diagnostic tool. Now, not every sin that you could commit is listed here, not at all. There's a longer sin list at the end of Roman's chapter 1 which covers ground that isn't covered here. All right, there's no actual comprehensive sin list, all right? But this is meant to be suggestive and it's a comprehensive diagnostic tool and not every sinner commits every sin on this list or even commits most of them on a daily basis but these are actual heart states that characterize the unregenerate heart. These are actions of the heart state that characterize an unregenerate heart. They also are patterns of habit of habitual sins that Christians have as well that we must be putting to death by the Spirit. So it's both of that. It's both got a message of warning to the unbeliever and it's got a message of warning to the believer, as well. The key issue for us as Christians are habit patterns, not the occasional foray. All right, we'll make this point more clearly at the end but every Christian occasionally displays some aspects of this list from time to time. But no Christian is continually characterized by this list. So let's look at this sin list in general. He talks first about the works of the flesh, notice he's going to contrast it, we'll talk about this more next week, with the fruit of the Spirit. It's an intentional change from works to fruit and we'll talk about that next time but this is what the works of the flesh, these are the works that the flesh produces. The unredeemed nature, the sin nature. The works of the flesh is what the flesh desires, verse 17. What does the flesh desire? It desires to do these things. That's what it wants. It wants to do these things. The Holy Spirit hates them and wants you not do these things, so that's where the battle lines are drawn and the flesh produces these things in the lifestyle of the unredeemed person and is seeking to do them in the lifestyle of the Christian. Now Paul says, "The works of the flesh are evident" or they are obvious. You could take this in a couple of ways; one is to just say look, everyone know what they are, okay? And I think there's to some degree a truth to this where even non-Christians have somewhat of the moral law written in their created being, they have a conscience and they're aware, although not perfectly aware, that these things are wrong, okay? They're evident or obvious. Most societies have laws against many of these things or see the wickedness of them and don't argue against them, although that doesn't always stay the same. We, Christians, we have experience with these sins in daily life and we can identify them. When we see them in practice, we know they're evil, so this isn't some shocking surprise to find out that these things are evil. We're not shocked by this, we're aware, it makes sense. We know that these things are evil, even the pagans know that they're evil. They come to us in four groupings. First, sins of sexuality: The first three, sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery. The second are sins of religion: Idolatry and sorcery or witchcraft. The third division, the largest, are sins of relationship. So enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and envy. And the fourth are sins of dissipated living or lack of self-control, such as drunkenness and orgies. Again, this list is not exhaustive but comprehensive. "Things like these," Paul says "and such like or things like these." So he's acknowledging right in the text, there are more besides. But this is a very comprehensive list and it covers many aspects of human life and it is sufficient to diagnose the human heart and the spiritual condition of any person. Now, let's look at this sin list, the list of the flesh, the acts of the flesh in detail. The first three, as I've said, are sexual in nature, the deeds of the flesh are sexual. The first one is sexual immorality, the Greek word is "porneia" which will sound familiar to us from which we get the word pornography, sexual sins of any kind. The Greco Roman world was known for its sexual openness, tolerance of all manners of sexual appetites and practices. When the gospel came to a Greek or Roman town or city and people began to be converted, massive changes in the sexual area were obvious in the lives of these Christians. In 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, the apostle Paul writes this to the Thessalonians, he said, "It is God's will that you should be holy or sanctified, that you should avoid sexual immorality. That each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen who do not know God." So it's very clear. This is a consistent teachings, not just one or two verses. Again and again this issue of sexual purity. Now, we know that sex is a great weakness for the human race, it is a major breach. If you could picture your soul like a walled fortress, this is a breach in the wall to which the enemy is focusing a ton of attention. So you know if you're standing on the walls and you see all of the soldiers, the enemy soldiers running to a particular place, they think they found a weakness, they think they found a way in and they want to destroy you by that way. Well, that's what's going on in the sexual area. Tremendous amount of satanic activity in this area so we must know that it's a weakness. How much effort does Satan put toward sexual immorality, every single day from the moment that Adam and Eve ate the fruit and their eyes were opened and they realized that they were naked and they began sewing clothes for themselves, sex has been corrupted and is a major weakness. In Paul's era, sexual immorality was rampant, and as I've said, and Christians were specifically set apart from their pagan neighbors by their commitment to sexual holiness. They didn't visit the temple prostitutes, male and female prostitutes, they just stopped that pattern of life. They were holy with one another. The Gospel changed the way that people live sexually. Many commandments in the New Testament point to this issue. The second word in the list, impurity, literally uncleanness. Uncleanness is just a general word seen, I think, especially in a sexual light. Impure thoughts leading to impure actions, has anything to do with anything that will make someone spiritually unclean especially in the sexual area. And then debauchery or sensuality, this would be a total lack of self-constraint resulting in behavior that violates all bounds of what's socially acceptable. In our culture, this kind of person would be called a party animal, let's say. Somebody who's just thrown off constraint, they're living for the next thrill, maybe addicted to recreational drugs and or alcohol. Also frequently has a sexual side to it, a person who moves from one sexual experience to the next, to the next with increasing addiction, increasing appetite and boldness. Well, what about in our context, what's going on in our day? Well in our day and age, we see Satan's constant assault in the world's sexual gluttony, there are movies and TV programs, and internet pornography and articles, and all kind of things that are constantly appealing to our lust in this area. Specifically in the issue of internet pornography, it's a $13 billion industry every year in the US alone, $13 billion spent on this sin every year. Since the start of 2013, there have been 2.6 billion searches for internet pornography, one in five mobile searches are for porn, one in five, 20% of them. 60% of male church-going professing believers have viewed internet pornography in the last year, similar stats for women. In general, our society is rushing head long toward a similar sexual immorality that characterized pagan Rome, in which marriage is dishonored, homosexuality is celebrated. We see it happening before our very eyes in various areas, for example fornication. Fornication is rampant; premarital sex is the norm on college campuses. Contrary to the river of sexual immorality is the biblical conception of marriage. The most powerful, complex image of Christ's relationship with the church is marriage. Jesus gives very clear teaching on marriage, in Matthew 19: "Haven't you read, He said, that the beginning, the Creator made them male and female, and said for this reason, a man will leave his father and mother, and be united to his wife. And they will become one flesh, so they are no longer two but one. What God has joined together, let man not separate." Now, one of the things on the homosexuality issue that I find interesting, is people saying that Jesus never addressed the topic. I can see the fact that he doesn't say the words homosexuality, but instead what he does, and that question comes up in the issue of divorce, he goes above the immediate question of divorce, as I would say, he goes above the immediate question of homosexuality. And Jesus talks about God's intention in very clear gender-based terms. "Haven't you read that at the beginning, the Creator made them male and female? And said, for this reason, a man will leave his father and mother, and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh, so they're no longer two but one. What God has joined together, let man not separate." So Jesus does address it very plainly. Paul says in Ephesians 5 that marriage is a profound mystery. It's a picture of Christ and the church. And so therefore, we have this spiritual consummation language at the end of the Bible. In Revelation 21, when the new Jerusalem comes down like a bride, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. And there's a beautiful spiritual consummation, not physical because there's no need for procreation at that point. Jesus said at the resurrection, they neither marry nor give in marriage, they're like the angels in heaven. But there is a beautiful picture of the unity between Christ and the church. Well, that's the standard, that's what the Bible teaches on sexuality. Christians are called on therefore, to be absolutely celibate sexually, outside of covenant marriage, heterosexual marriage between one man, one woman. But they are to enjoy sexual unity within covenant marriage as a gift from God. And that's a healthy way to understand the sexual relationship. Well, these standards are clearly under open assault in our day and age, at every level. We must stand against these assaults, these are called the acts of the flesh. And we must stand, we've got to be at war by the Spirit against all the motions of the flesh. Go back to my opening illustration, this stuff is spiritual poison, it kills the soul. I guess what troubles me, is in this day and age, we're being told that to tell the truth of someone who's drinking spiritual poison every day, and say, "Would you please," with tears coming down your face, "would you please put the poison down, I don't want you to die," is unloving. It's not unloving to tell people the truth. It's not unloving to tell them that they're killing their souls. That's not unloving. Jesus said it's not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. "I've not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." And so we need to tell the truth to our generation that this stuff is poison. Put it down. We need to be at war first within ourselves, we need to be at war against fornication by the Spirit. Christians need to be sexually pure before marriage. We must avoid any hint of sexual immorality. Just because so many other college students and young people are "hooking up," as the term goes, doesn't change God's standard at all. We need to be at war against pornography by the Spirit, as we've already mentioned, Christians need to hate this sin as the spiritual poison it is, it destroy souls. We need to war against adultery by the Spirit. How many marriages are destroyed because husband or wife are led into other relationships? How much anguish? How many tears are wept because of this sin? How many pastoral ministries have been ruined because pastors have gotten into this sin? How many divorces have sprung from this adultery? How many children's lives have been ruined by it? This too is spiritual poison. And we must war against homosexuality by the Spirit in the same way. This is an obvious target for Satan's agenda in our day and age. We are being systematically trained to think differently about this sin. Resist it! We need to tell people who are poisoning themselves the truth and it is not unloving to do it. I would commend to you this therapeutic model of speech that I've given to you. I think it will stand up better than other patterns will. You say all of us are drinking poison. Jesus remedies us. You're drinking poison, I don't want you to die. I don't know how you accuse a person like that especially if they've got genuine humility and they're pointing to Christ with tears coming down their face of anything less than love, but they'll try. The warning is very clear at the end of our passage. Those who live like this, "I warned you, that they will not inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 is clear about it as well, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who practice homosexuality nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you." What a blessed word that word “were” is. God is able to transform every sinner on that list to make it a past tense. Praise God! We're being told that that actually can't happen in the area of homosexuality but the word stands it is absolutely possible Christ has transforming power. Listen to the rest of the verse. "But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God." So that's the hope we point toward in all of these sexual sins. We must speak the truth in love. We must not be bullied into false doctrine or false ministry. The gospel is the only remedy for these sexual sins. "The gospel is the only remedy for these sexual sins." Let's tell people the truth, so they can be saved from sin and find the light in God's standards living holy and upright lives. Let's courageously resist the temptation to cave in on this. And let's courageously resist the temptation to cave in in whatever ways you are caving in sexually, and not assume it's just out there. All the deeds of the flesh are poison, all of them. The Holy Spirit hates them all because he loves us. And we must fight these sins, each of them for our spiritual lives depend on us putting them to death. Remember what John Owen said which I quoted last week, "The vigor, power, and comfort of our spiritual life depend on the mortification of the deeds of the flesh." So turn those words around. You will be, not vigorous, not powerful and not comforted in your Christian life if you don't put sins to death. You'll be weak, emaciated and have no assurance. You must mortify, said Owen. You must make it your daily work, you must be constantly at it while you live. Cease not a day from this work. Be killing sin or sin will be killing you. If we sin secretly in these areas, we are constantly testing God, challenging him to act as avenger against us. I believe it is a responsibility of each person to assess themselves sexually. And if your right eye is causing you to sin then you gouge it out and you throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. And if your right hand is causing you to sin then it's your job to cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. If the church does it for you, we have become legalistic. It's the churches job to speak these truths to you and you put them into practice. We can't go rummaging through the closets of people's lives, that's your job. Rummage through your own closets. But know this, God sees everything. He knows what you're doing, don't tempt him to act as avenger against his holy law. Be holy because he is holy. It says in Hebrews 13:4, "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." And it says earlier in that same book "our God is a consuming fire." So flea sexual sin by the Spirit and fight sexual sin by the Spirit. The next sins listed are sins of religion, idolatry obviously associated with pagan religions, the worship of anything apart from the true and living God. It goes from false religion like Hinduism and Buddhism all the way to materialism and greed which is idolatry. Now the basic definition on idolatry is in Romans 1:25, "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served created things rather than the creator who's forever praised. Amen." So when some created thing takes God's place in your affections, some created thing supplants God as the uppermost goal of your life, that's idolatry. Tim Keller calls idols "God's substitutes" or "rival gods." It's what your thoughts go effortlessly to when nothing else is demanding your attention. Career advancement, a dream home, a relationship with a particular person. One or two day dreams does not constitute idolatry. But ask this, what do you habitually think about to get joy and comfort in the privacy of your heart? What do you spend your money on? What gets your emotions roiling and boiling and churning? Idols tend to be at the root of all these things. Now, a formalized system of false religion is the work of the flesh. So that's false religion but so also are these things called "heart idols." He also mentioned this word "sorcery" or "witchcraft." The Greek word is "pharmakeia," from which we get pharmacy or pharmaceutical, but it goes back in that day and age to the use of poisons and chemicals for making secret brews and all that, but it extends to the secret arts, witchcraft, etcetera. I used to pastor in Topsail, Massachusetts near Salem, and Salem has something like 3,000 registered witches. As a matter of fact, there was this one witch Laurie Cabot who has designated the official witch of the state of Massachusetts. I don't know why we needed an official witch. But if we needed one, Laurie Cabot was it. And her house was a shrine of the black arts, people would go all year round to see the things in her home. We have more and more interest in the supernatural and witchcraft in our age, it's probably going to get worse. Also possible application here is recreational drug use with the word "pharmakeia." So people that are living for or addicted to recreational drugs, it's an act of the flesh. Now, the next eight sins on the list are all sins of relationship, sins of relationship. He begins with hatred, a state of hostility between people, deep seated resentments, bitterness, deep desire for revenge or retaliation. It could go as deep as racism or the kind of hatred that Nazis had for Jews, in the 1930s, or that perhaps Jews had for Germans or Nazis after World War II. Things like that. Serbs might have for Croats and Croats for Serbs, etcetera. Deep-seated things or it could go just to neighbors who, because of a bunch of things that have happened, just hate each other. He mentioned discord which is strife or quarreling, bickering, arguing, just not getting along, just not getting along. Just want you to know, praise God, they get along in heaven. Amen. They just do, they like each other and they just get along in heaven. There's no discord in heaven. I can't wait to be there but I need to get cured first. Amen. Maybe you might need to as well. So in a marriage we're talking about husbands and wives unable to get along or get through a day without arguing, spending their time bickering. It could be in the church, people arguing or bickering in the halls or at church conferences or after church conferences or before church conferences. It could be in the workplace, it could be in government, military, just wherever people get together, you have discord. By the way, isn't it interesting how in the same sin list, you can have sins that you wouldn't think of participating in, sorcery, almost side by side with those that you probably participate in every day, discord. But God hates them all, he hates them all. They're all acts of the flesh. He talks about jealousy, which is a passionate commitment to self; coveting, yearning for what someone else has. Secretly jealous if someone else is honored or promoted or praised or received some kind of earthly benefit. Fits of rage or anger, sinful anger. Obviously, somebody who can't control their temper, shouting, yelling, face getting all red, veins bulging. James calls anger "moral filth" like radioactive waste. This human anger is usually wicked and sinful. Would you say in any year, okay, let's say you get angry 100 times in a year, what percentage of those are righteous indignation because the glory of God has been impugned? Come on, be honest. I wouldn't put it at 99 out of 100, I have to go out to 1000 and then I might get a few righteous indignations in there. Usually, my anger is selfish. Somebody has crossed me in some way, somebody's inconvenienced me in some way, somebody hasn't honored me in some way, probably the same is true of you. Fits of rage are acts of the flesh. Selfish ambition is just that careerism and yearning to get to be top dog, to be in charge so that you're honored and worshipped in some kind of way. Dissensions, we just talked about pretty much it's hard to see a distinction between them. Strife, arguments, discord, people not getting along. Think of how many times you and your spouse have argued, all of them acts of the flesh. Or you and your roommate or you and your brother or sister. You and a neighbor, you and a co-worker. Think of all the dissensions that poison church life. Think of all the disagreements that make church life unpleasant. Think of how the sin of dissensions ruins joyful family life and church life all over the world. And then factions, the idea of party Spirit. "I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas." Factions like gang warfare, the crips and the bloods or the blues and the reds, things like that. Factions or party Spirit, those are acts of the flesh. And then envy, again, I don't see a lot of difference between that and jealousy except maybe you're focused on a specific privilege or possession, something, a covetous heart. All of these things come from the acts of the flesh. Envy is the opposite of contentment. Contentment, it says in Psalms 16, "the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, surely I have a delightful inheritance." I'm happy with my wife, happy with my kids, happy with my job, I'm content with my possessions, I don't need anything else, I have the Lord, he is my heavenly Father, I've forgiveness of sins I don't need anything else. And so I'm content with the boundary lines, they've fallen for me in pleasant places, Psalm 16. Envy has David up on the roof looking at another man's wife and lusting after her, and wanting her, and taking her. Or it has wicked king Ahab looking at some guy's vineyard and killing him so he can get it. All of these things are acts of the flesh. And then the last two have to do with just a loss, total loss of self-control, drunkenness and orgies. If you put them together you could picture the kind of wild parties in which people are losing all self-control getting drunk and doing wicked things. III. The Terrifying Warning (verse 21) All right, so that's the sin list. Paul then gives in verse 21 a terrifying warning. "I warn you as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." How can we hear that? How do you hear that warning, that those who live like this? Well, to inherit the kingdom of God, that's the goal of our salvation. Right? So it means to live eternally with God in his heaven. People dominated by the flesh will not go to heaven, that's what Paul is saying, they will not inherit the kingdom of God. Same thing he said in 1 Corinthians 6:9, "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God, do not be deceived." So living like this means the heart is unregenerate, this is the broad road that leads to destruction. Now, Christians can and do stray into sin from time to time, or else how could we understand Romans 7, Paul saying in verses 15 and following, "I do not understand what I do, for what I want to do I do not but what I hate I do." What could that be other than the acts of the flesh? "What I hate I do, and if I do what I do not want to do I agree that the law is good as it is, it is no longer I who do it but it is sin living in me that does it." So sin living in me, that's the flesh, produces these things. Paul, at the end of that section says, "What a wretched man I am, who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord," Jesus will rescue us from this. Either at the second coming when in a flash, in a twinkling of the eye at the last trumpet we will be changed forever or at your death. And you will leave it behind and you will never sin again. But in the mean time we grievously sin in these areas. Now, unregenerate people have the mind of the flesh, they live for these things, they plan for these things, they love these things, they go after these things. Spirit-filled Christians hate them but can't seem to stop doing them. There's an intrinsic difference. Christians hunger and thirst for righteousness as the beatitudes say, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness," but we just can't seem to pull it off daily. We yearn for it but we don't do it. Non-Christians just have the mind of the flesh, it does not submit to God's law nor can they do so. Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God. There's just two different ways to think and therefore two different ways to live. So grace, gospel of sovereign grace doesn't produce this kind of life, it just doesn't. It fights this kind of life. So if we're told all of your sins are forgiven through the grace of God, all of them, past, present and future, it does not lead to this life. If this is the life you're living you haven't been forgiven, you're not a Christian, that's what Paul is saying. That's the warning he's giving here. What does grace do? Grace covers all your sins, but grace also transforms the way you live. Titus chapter 2:11-12 it says, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, it teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age." So how should we hear these warnings? Well, it shouldn't threaten our understanding of justification or security, it is impossible for any truly justified person to sin their way out of the family of God, it cannot happen. But to know that you're a regenerate you must be at war and you've got to see these things gradually being weakened and assaulted in your life. You need to work out your salvation with what? Fear and trembling. You know what gives you fear and trembling? Verse 21 will do it, it does it for me. "I warn you as I did before," it's a repeated warning, "those who live like this will not go to heaven." That'll give you fear and trembling. You fear the Lord, you fear the outcome, and you put sin to death, that's what you do, it's the kind of life that leads to heaven. Why? Because it's God who is working in you probably right now to will and to do according to his good pleasure. Christians heed these kind of warnings. Nominal Christians blow them off. Genuine Christians take sermons like this and say, "I must be holy, I yearn to be holy." Nominal Christians just blow them off they don't care. And they either do it through legalism in one sense you could say oh they take it seriously and then they go by legalistic means, we covered that before. But the nominal Christians, they just say, "It doesn't matter, I pray the prayer, sign the card, once saved always saved, doesn't really matter how I live." But we must by the Spirit be putting to death the misdeeds of the body. So looking backward at your sins, run to the cross, run to Jesus. What can wash away those sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Don't run to your legalistic efforts, run to the cross looking here back, run to the cross and find forgiveness through the blood of Jesus. Here forward run to the Spirit for help in obeying God's laws. That's the Christian life, that's the Christian life. And so by the Spirit you can put to death every sin on this list. IV. Deep Humility Now, this list should make you deeply humble. I would hope it's humbled you. It should humble you deeply. Note how many sins we would never commit are side by side with sins we may commit regularly, consistently. It's not to say that dissensions and sorcery are equally evil in God's sight. I'm not saying that. But what I am saying is all sin is repugnant to God and we should never feel morally superior to anyone for any reason ever, period. That's kind of a sweeping statement, isn't it? Yes, it is. I'll say it again. You should never, you forgiven Christian should never feel morally superior to anyone who suffers with any sin ever, period, the rest of your life. Those days are gone. That's the essence of legalism, is to feel morally superior to others. Instead you have been saved by grace out of this list. You should be humble. Deeply humble. V. Applications So what application? Well, come to Christ. Come to Christ. There's no warfare possible for you if you're not a Christian. It's not possible. All you can do is amend your ways but you can't truly fight by the Spirit. The Spirit isn't given to any but the Christians. So come to Christ. Jesus Christ shed his blood on the cross for sinners like you and me. Come to Christ and find forgiveness. If you're already a Christian, then understand the Spirit's role in this warfare, actively rely on Him, pray to him a lot. Say, "God send your Spirit. I need your help, I'm being tempted right now. Help me now, help me, help me, help me, help me." Pray without ceasing. That's how you fight. That's how by the Spirit you put to death, a constant dependence on the Spirit. Thirdly, never ever surrender in any areas. You never wave the white flag in any area, ever. You're like Winston Churchill in 1940 looking at Nazi Germany. It's like at what point will you surrender? Never. We'll be down to the last British boy or girl in some alley somewhere, we'll still be fighting the Nazis. We're never going to give in. We don't want to be enslaved by them. So no, we will go down to the last one. Well, that's even more so should be our attitude against sin. I'm never going to give up on any of these things. I may stumble many ways. James says we all stumble in many ways. But I'm never going to give up on any of these areas. So the Spirit won't let me. Why? Because it's poison. Is the Spirit ever going to tell you, "You go ahead and drink as much poison as you want, I'll bring you to Heaven one day"? He's not going to tell you that, ever. He is going to fight every way that you're drinking poison. Analyze your own patterns and confess your sins. Look at characteristic patterns, seek forgiveness. Everyone struggles in some ways sexually. Seek God's holiness and purity. If you're involved in some sexual sin perhaps internet pornography, perhaps same sex attraction resulting in thoughts or actions that are sinful, perhaps a sinful relationship? Repent immediately. If you're in a dating relationship and you've sinned together sexually, do not lower the standards to suit your lust or the prevailing culture. Read the scripture and know that God hates fornication. Seek God's forgiveness and receive it by the blood of Christ. Seek his forgiveness. Don't try to do good works to prove yourself to God. Seek just humble yourself and ask forgiveness and He'll forgive you. Look at the relational sins. Married people. Is your marriage characterized by conflict? By sinful anger and discord? Then I'm asking you to repent. The two of you, get down on your knees and hold hands and say, "We have argued too much. Let's make a pact, you and I, to fight the arguing. To love one another as we loved each other when we first got married." Kneel together and pray for that. Church members, is there anyone here that you need to forgive? Anyone here you're feeling morally superior to because they've sinned against you? Give it up. Forgive. Love. No hatred, no discord. What about pride? What about jealousy? Is this happening to you? Are you jealous of anyone? Are you proud of your position? Anything? Fight against these things. These are the works of the flesh. Flee to the cross of Christ. You don't have to be perfect, you can't be perfect. But if you walk in the light, you confess the ways you have been dark, God will cleanse you. And so he says in 1 John 1:8-10, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives."
Introduction So this week the staff had an opportunity, privilege, of going to a conference up in Minneapolis, evangelism conference at John Piper's organization. He organized it. Why it had to be in Minneapolis in February, I don't know, but there it was. Some people get to go to Southern California, some people to Hawaii, some to the Grand Caymans, we go to Minneapolis in February. But it was an incredible conference. And on the way as we were on the plane, providentially I had the opportunity to share the gospel with a young woman, a woman in her mihttp://www.thefieldschurch.org/mediafiles/uploaded/0/0e1840389_050904.mp3s, her name was Jennifer. And the Lord just providentially put that together. She was across the aisle from me and we talked for two hours on that flight. Before you pity her, realize that she could have slid over and sat, there were no seats next to her, she wanted to talk. And we had the opportunity to talk about the most precious and the most important things there are in this world, about the gospel, about her walk with Christ, about her eternal soul. She had a very traumatic childhood, very traumatic. And it's led to an even more traumatic adulthood now. She's had a couple of children out of wedlock, she was flying to see them from - she was down in the South, she was flying up to Minneapolis to see her children. In recent years, however, the biggest problem in her life was her addiction to crystal meth. Methamphetamine, a devastating drug that absolutely enslaves people and ruins their lives. And what amazed me about her statement to me, is that she felt, she said she'd been clean now for two years, but she said she felt no less attraction to it now than she did two years ago, when she first quit. Still has that much hold on her. And as we talked, at one point, she pulled out a combination scrapbook and journal which had all kinds of things in it, and she showed it to me, I thought that was incredible that she was opening up her life to me, and she opened up to a particular page, and there was a poem that her sister had sent, concerning the danger of crystal meth and its addictive power. The poem is entitled “I Am Meth.” And I read it, and as I read it, literally tears came to my eyes, and I felt a dark kind of chill come over me. And I'd like you to bear with me as I read that poem, I found it on the Internet and I'd like to read it to you. It's entitled “I Am Meth.” “I destroy homes. I tear families apart. I take your children and that's just the start. I'm more costly than diamonds, more precious than gold. The sorrow I bring is a sight to behold. If you need me, remember, I'm easily found. I live all around you - in schools and in town. I live with the rich, I live with the poor. I live down the street, maybe next door. I'm made in a lab, but it's not like you think. I can be made under the kitchen sink, in your child's closet, even in the woods. If this scares you to death, well, it certainly should. I have many names, but there's one you know best. I'm sure you've heard of me. My name is crystal meth. My power is awesome. Try me, you'll see. But if you do, you may never break free. Just try me once. And I might let you go. But try me twice and I'll own your soul. When I possess you, you'll steal and you'll lie. You'll do what you have to, just to get high. The crimes you'll commit for my narcotic dreams will be worth the pleasure you'll feel in your arms, your lungs, your nose. You'll lie to your mother, you'll steal from your dad. When you see their tears, you should feel sad. But you'll forget your morals and how you were raised. I'll be your conscience, I'll teach you my ways. I take kids from parents and parents from kids, I turn people from God and separate friends. I'll take everything from you. Your looks and your pride. I'll be with you always, right by your side. You'll give up everything, your family, your home, your friends, your money, then you'll be alone. I'll take and take till you have nothing more to give. When I'm finished with you, you'll be lucky to live. If you try me, be warned, this is no game. If given the chance, I'll drive you insane. I'll ravish your body, I'll control your mind. I'll own you completely. Your soul will be mine. The nightmares I'll give you while lying in bed, the voices you'll hear from inside your head, the sweats, the shakes, the visions you'll see, I want you to know these are all gifts from me. But then it's too late, and you'll know in your heart that you are mine and we shall never part. You'll regret that you tried me, they always do. But you came to me, not I to you. You knew this would happen, many times you were told, but you challenged my power, you chose to be bold. You could have said no and just walked away. If you could live that day over, now what would you say? I'll be your master, you will be my slave. I'll even go with you when you go to your grave. Now that you have met me, what will you do? Will you try me or not? It's all up to you. I can bring you more misery than words can tell. Come take my hand, let me lead you to hell.” Absolutely chilling, as I read that. There was a blank page facing this poem in her journal. I asked permission if I could write a response. She happily agreed, and handed me the journal and a choice of pens, she's very artistic. I chose just a regular pen, that's me, I'm not very artistic. And I wrote this: “Yes, this is all true; but Jesus said this, ‘Everyone who sins is a slave to sin, but if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’ John 8:34 and 36.” Why am I sharing this with you today? Do I think that crystal meth addiction is a big problem here at FBC? No, I do not. Do I think it's likely soon to become a big problem here at FBC? Probably not. If you asked me whether I thought I could become addicted to crystal meth, I have been trained by the gospel to say, absolutely, yes. Because there's really no sin I'm finding that I don't have some connection with, in some way. And that if the Lord withdrew his gracious protection of me, and let Satan and his demons have at me, I could be a crystal meth addict within the week, if not sooner. But that's not really why I read that poem to you. Rather the “I Am Meth” poem personifies the drug as a taunting power that communicates with its victims and has enslaved them. It speaks as an intelligent force, and so it reminds me, generally, of the power of indwelling sin. If we could only see it now. The spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm, Satan and his demons arrayed against us. If we could only see that magnetic alluring power of the world, if we could see it with our own eyes, even worse, if we could see somehow as though it were a living thing, sin living in us, what would we think then of the battle that all of us are in for our souls, in sanctification? As we grow in grace in the knowledge of Christ, we battle every step of the way with the power of indwelling sin. Romans 7:15, Paul says, “I do not understand what I do. What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Romans 7:17, “As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” Sin living in me. With Paul, we can cry out, “What a wretched man I am, who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in my sinful nature, a slave to the law of sin.” That is reality, friends, and I need to hear just as much as Jennifer, “If the Son sets you free, you'll be free indeed.” I need to know that, I need to know that Jesus can free me from this indwelling sin, don't you? And if you don't think you have a problem with it, you don't know yourself, you don't know the power of indwelling sin. Friends, we need all the help we can get, we need all of the avenues of grace that God has lavished toward us, we need them all and we need a good healthy local church that knows that. We need to be for one another what God intended that we be for one another. We need to watch over one another in brotherly love, we need to care about what each other's going through. How sin is making an assault. Review Matthew 18 Now for two weeks, we've talked about church discipline, I've called it “Dealing with Sin in the Church.” We looked at Matthew 18. I'm not gonna go into detail in these at all. Urge you to look at the text, but there it says, “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault. If he listens to you, you've won your brother over. If he doesn't listen then go, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses, and if he doesn't listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he will not listen to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” It's a process of dealing with sin, all the way to the final step of what we generally know as church discipline. 1 Corinthians 5 Last week, we looked at 1 Corinthians 5 and supported the same point where Paul says three times something like this, “You should have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this.” Or he says, “Hand this man over to Satan so that his sinful nature may be destroyed, and his spirit saved in the Day of the Lord.” Or he says at the end, 1 Corinthians 5:13, “Expel the wicked man from among you.” Says it three times, he's utterly clear about it. If this unrepentant sinner, he will not turn, he will not yield, he is a cancer in the church. He is a virus, he must be put out for the benefit of the whole church. I gave you five motives, the glory of God above all. The possible salvation of the sinner, that they might come to their senses and escape the trap of the devil who has taken them captive to do his will. The protection of the church from the encroaching power of sin, the preservation of the reputation of the church and of the Lord in that community, so that the church can be salt and light and continue to do its gospel work in the community. And then, fifthly, the restoration and reconciliation of relationships in the church. For all of those reasons, we have to do church discipline. A Third Key Passage: Hebrews 3 Now I wanna give you a third key passage, and then I wanna talk for the rest of the time today on practicalities of this issue. Practicalities of dealing with sin in the church, and more specifically the final step of church discipline. I wanna talk about that today, but look with me at Hebrews 3:12-14, which you heard Jim read. Hebrews 3 is a letter of warning, written to some Jewish people who had made professions of faith in Christ, but now under the wilting pressure of persecution from the Jewish community, they were now shrinking back from their commitment to Christ, they weren't going to church anymore, they didn't wanna be named as Christians, they were pulling back. And so the author of this epistle writes this letter of warning to them concerning this. A Clear Command for Us to “Watch Over One Another in Brotherly Love” It says there in Hebrews 3:12-14, “See to it brothers that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God, but encourage one another daily as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at first.” It's the second of a series of three warnings that come in progression that the author gives us. Hebrews 2:1 says, “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” This one here talks about the danger of turning away from the living God through a sinful unbelieving heart. Then in Hebrew 6 it says there, “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the coming age; if they fall away, to be brought back again to repentance, because to their own loss they're crucifying the Son of God all over again.” So he gives us some steps to apostasy: Drift away, turn away, fall away. And this is, like that poem, crystal meth, this is the enslavement of sin, as it grabs hold and starts to move people away from a profession of faith in Christ. Remedy: A Loving Church Filled with Spiritual Guardians And the remedy here is, at least in Hebrews 3:12-14, an active, loving church filled with brothers and sisters who care enough to step in and not let it happen. It's a matter of love. And so, look at verse 12, “See to it brothers,” it says, “that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart.” So that he's talking about the context of the church, this is a church issue, and it's a call to spiritual vigilance within the Christian church. “See to it,” literally watch, be vigilant. Look. See. Have your eyes open, please. Pay attention to each other. See to it, brothers. So this is something we do for other Christians, “that none of you,” it says. We are to care about the whole church. We're to care. Now, we may not be actively involved in every case or whatever, but we should be caring about whether the whole church is walking well with Jesus. We're to be concerned about that, and that people would finish their salvation journey, that they wouldn't just begin, but that they would actually finish. That we would share Christ's zeal that none would be lost of all that God gave him. Jesus said, “Of all that the Father has given me, I will lose none but raise them up at the last day.” I don't believe that any true Christian truly justified by faith can ever fall away from Christ. I don't believe that, but I believe that these warnings are essential to our ongoing salvation. We need these warnings, like you need the reflectors along a dangerous curve, and you need the guardrail, it helps you make the curve. We need the warning to keep us going the way we need to. And so, we need to care. Remember the Good Shepherd leaves the 99 on the hills and goes to look for the one that's wandering off. We need to care about whether an individual Christian is wandering away from Jesus, it should matter to us. We should be aware. “See to it brothers that none of you has a sinful unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” The issue here is that power of indwelling sin. It's the attack, the assault of sin, and it has a work on the human heart. And it causes the human heart to become hardened toward God, to turn away from God, to be unattracted to Jesus. He's not appealing anymore, he's not enticing anymore, we don't love him anymore. And so there's a general gradual hardening of the heart and a turning away, it says, from the living God. He's not a dead idol, he is the living God, he's the only God there is. And now something's happened to make a created being, someone who began the Christian walk, it seems at least, now turn away. They're no longer interested. See to it that that doesn't happen, that that doesn't happen with anybody in this church. “But encourage one another daily as long as it is called today.” There's the remedy. Encourage. It's a strong word in the Greek. It shows up in that teaching in John's gospel about the Comforter, or the Counselor, the Paraclete is actually almost a literalistic translation. The work of the Holy Spirit then is to be energetically active in our lives, encouraging and consoling and instructing and warning us. He's just there, and he is our guarantee that we're gonna make it through this world. But here now, it's addressed to us, we are to take the Holy Spirit's part, we are to be filled with the Spirit and do this kind of encouragement in each other's lives. “Encourage one another, daily,” it says. Now I don't read in here any kind of future for FBC to be meeting seven days a week. Phew, I'm glad that's not happening. Seven days a week. But I think we can encourage one another seven days a week. We can be active in each other's lives. This is a daily issue. We fight a daily battle, don't we, with sin? Every day, we fight. Encourage one another daily. And why? So that no one would be hardened by sin's deceptiveness, or deceitfulness, like crystal meth. Like any sin, it doesn't come to you honestly. It doesn't come and say, “Hello, my name is sin. I am here to destroy your world. I'm gonna take you on a journey, and we're going to go hand-by hand. I'm gonna take you down a dark path. And when you're done, your marriage will be ruined. Your parenting will be ruined. Your job, you'll be out of a job, you'll have no respect or esteem left of any of your acquaintances. You'll have no life left. And I would like to continue, I'd like to take you right to the grave and beyond. I'd like to take you to hell.” It doesn't do that. It says, “Hi. I'm sin. I'd like to show you a good time. I'd like to entice you a little bit.” It's deceitful and it's a power to harden us. The Exhortation: Keep Running this Race So the exhortation said is that we should run this race with endurance, right to the end. “We have,” look at verse 14, “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.” A bit of a mysterious verse, friends. It speaks of a past event. We have come to share in Christ. But then it puts a condition on it. Now that's odd. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, if. Well, if he was. If I got it right on the test. Did it happen or not? Well, that's a big question. Did you come to Christ, or not? Did you? Did you really come to Christ? Is there a doubt in your mind? Well there can be, when you start to live a certain way, you start to sin, you start to get into certain patterns, there starts to be some doubts. Am I really a Christian? We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at first. Genuine Christians do. You know who these warnings are for? They're for the elect of God. They're for the genuine Christians, they heed them. The others, they don't, they blow them off. You know who takes these things seriously? I do. And if you're a child of God, you do too. And we listen, and we will stand firm to the end, won't we? Because we know that there's a danger of apostasy. And so that's the function here. Alright, so what are we to do? Well, we're to obey those verses. Encourage one another, get involved in each other's lives, love one another, care, know and be known, get involved, pray, listen, talk about real things, spiritual things, develop intimacy with one another, so that you can help each other. Practical Issues of Church Discipline Now, I wanna talk about some practical issues of church discipline. Now church discipline, you generally think of only that final step, getting voted out, excommunicated, those kind of things. Well, first of all, I think, I hope I've established in Matthew 18 and 1 Corinthians 5 that that is biblical, it is right, it is a good thing to do if need be, but what I wanna do with you now is to show that the church has been given an array of tools or instruments in each other's lives to deal with sin at a deep level all the way, comprehensively, before you get to that final step, the ultimate step of church discipline. And I wanna talk about that. Two Kinds of Church Discipline There are two different kinds of church discipline, there's formative church discipline and there's punitive church discipline. Formative happens beforehand, early on in the sin process, so that the sin gets nipped in the bud early. So that sin can be dealt with early on before it gets to have a deep root system. So formative is going on all the time, and it's all part of church discipline or, if you prefer, discipleship, church discipleship, they're related. And so it's going on all the time. And then punitive is that final step, dealing with an unrepentant sinner, you get to that final stage. Punitive. Daily Ongoing Ministry is a Form of Discipline Now, what I wanna give you here is a sense of a toolbox of dealing with sin that the Lord has given. What I did was I looked at different verbs that there are in the New Testament of what we are to do and be for each other. And so I studied all of these different verbs and all that, and I started to see different tools. Now, that's me, I'm a guy. I think like tools, okay, you got a job to fix, it's something to fix, you gotta fix the washing machine, like I did when I got back from my conference this week. “I get to fix the washing machine. Oh joy!” And so I got out my tools, “I get to use my tools!” I wish I could tell you that was my attitude, but at any rate, I had tools, and you pull out the right tool for the right thing, the socket wrench for this and the screwdriver for that, etcetera. Or, if you prefer, we have some medical people. You have your surgical instruments out on the tray and you know what each of those instruments is for. You're skillful, you're trained, you understand, and you pick up the right instrument, maybe you're a dentist, you know the right instrument, and you know what it's going to address. Or perhaps you like to cook, and so your kitchen is arrayed with all kinds of kitchen utensils, and you know what you use in order to cook. You know what to use to peel the potatoes, what to use to cut them up, what saucepan to use, I'm out of my depth here, so I'm gonna move on. You know, you get the point. So different things you use for different tasks. And so here it is also, God has given us different things we are to do for each other depending on the sin situation, or the threatening sin. So this is all long before you get to that final stage of church discipline. Do you see what I'm saying? It's a whole life together that we have. There's a hint of this in 1 Thessalonians 5:14. Listen to the verse, it says, “And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.” So here you've got different categories of people and you're given a different task to do with each one, right? You're told to warn those who are idle, you're told to encourage those that are timid, and you're told to help those that are weak. So you have to be discerning to know who is idle, who is weak, who is needy in various ways, and you can pick up the tool and use it properly. Alright, so let's start with these different conditions. Let's say a person just needs information about the spiritual life, they just don't know. They are ignorant in some way of God's will. It's not a moral issue, they just have never learned. The Bible tells us to teach or instruct or inform that person. So we'll start there. The sin then would be that they would over that long period of time continue in an ignorant state of things they should know by now. And so therefore, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:1, “Now about spiritual gifts, brothers. I do not want you to be ignorant.” So how does he remedy their possible ignorance? He teaches them many things about spiritual gifts over three chapters, 1 Corinthians 12, 13, 14 are all about spiritual gifts in the church. He teaches them. Alright, so it says in Colossians 3:16, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom.” So, that's the first step. You discern that somebody just doesn't know something, and they need some help. That's what Priscilla and Aquila did with Apollos, he just didn't know some things about Jesus. And so they instructed him. Secondly, suppose a person is doing well in their Christian life, they're being fruitful, things are going well. Should we do anything? Well, is there any possible sin? Yeah, they might stop doing well. Or they might just plateau, when they could really be doing even better. And so therefore, the Scripture tells us to encourage such a person or even praise them, “Honor such a man as this,” Philippians 2, Epaphroditus. He almost died for the work of Christ, so honor him. So there's a sense of encouragement that happens. We should be praising and encouraging one another at the human level, not ultimate worship, but we're just saying, “Well done, you're doing well, thank you. That's a good ministry you're doing.” So we have this, 1 Thessalonians 4:1, “Finally brothers. We instructed you how to live.” That's the instruction, we already told you how to live in order to please God, instruction, “as in fact you are living.” So there he encourages them. You're doing it, good job. Well done. “As in fact you are living. Now, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more,” keep it going, keep it going, keep it going. Alright, second. So we deal with the person who's doing well and they're being fruitful. How about thirdly, a person who just needs to get going in the Christian life? They know what to do, but they really haven't been doing it, They haven't gotten off the dime. They need to get going in the Christian life and so, they're delaying obedience in some area. The New Testament then would use language like “exhort” or “urge” or “spur on.” I love that one, spur one another on toward love and good deeds. What a picture. I got spurs, that jingle jangle jingle, I got some spurs here, I'm gonna spur you on to love and good deeds, alright. Hey, look there's good ways of doing that spurring in bad ways. I've been spurred in some ways I thought were bad, but they were effective any way, they did get me going. Alright, but it's a matter of exhortation. Alright, think about Hebrews 6:1, “Therefore, let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity.” He's urging them, he's exhorting them to move on so that they won't continue in spiritual laziness. So again, there's that urging, like a coach saying, “Come on now, you know what to do, do it, let's get going.” Alright, fourthly, suppose a person is going through a great trial in their lives, suffering a great trial. They cry a lot, they're having a hard time. The New Testament tells us to comfort or to console such a person so that they won't become discouraged or depressed and be susceptible to Satan's attacks. Comfort them, console them, okay, so that they can be encouraged. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our trouble so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” In other words, God brings us into trials, makes us hurt for a while, brings some kind of comfort and consolation. We remember that, and then we are now equipped to go and do that for somebody else. Now do you see why it's important to pick up the right tool for the right job? Woe to us if we misdiagnose. If we use spurring on or exhortation when somebody could use a word of comfort and consolation, an arm around them, some weeping and some prayer. Rejoice with those who rejoice, yes. But mourn with those who mourn. We've got to be wise here, let's know each other enough to know what the situation calls for. But there is a great danger when somebody's going through a tough trial that they'll become discouraged and depressed and be vulnerable to Satan's attacks, and we need to help them not be. Let them know that there's a body around them to help them. Fifthly, if a person is starting to go wrong in a new habit that is just beginning to form, beginning to nibble a bit at the bait of a potentially serious sin pattern that may lead to sin. The New Testament tells us to warn or correct or admonish. Those are stronger words. This I think is the beginning of that Matthew 18 process. If your brother sins against you, now go deal with him. “Reprove him” is the word there, show him his fault, deal with him, please. Because this is a dangerous thing. Warn him. So he says in 1 Corinthians 4:14, “I'm not writing this to shame you, but to warn you as my dear children.” Sixth, suppose a person is determined to go wrong. I mean, you've been through all of these other stages with them, you have worked with them, you have done Matthew 18 with them, and you're trying, they're willfully progressing deeper. The Lord then would pull out the word “rebuke.” Alright? Rebuke. It's not something you use quickly, it's something that you've been through other steps and they're just not listening. And so it's like a verbal slap, a warning, okay. Titus 1, as Titus was there ministering in Crete, Paul writes him about the Cretans. He said “even one of their own prophets has said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.’” Wow. “This testimony is true,” said Paul, “therefore, rebuke them sharply so that they will be sound in the faith.” You see the motive again, the motive is to bring health, but you're at that level where you've gotta rebuke them sharply, okay? And then finally, sadly, if the person after all of this is unrepentant, then they must be removed from the church. Do you see where it fits then, guys? That there's this whole array of things we're to do for each other, and church discipline the final step. But the church must have this tool, it must. And if it doesn't, it actually changes everything. We need to have the right, the power, the authority to expel sinful people from among us after all the work has been done. And so we do. Now in terms of formative discipline, the greatest ministry is the ministry of the Word, the ongoing ministry of the Word is the greatest power for formative discipline in the life of the church. So good, clear preaching, good work in your Bible for Life classes, home fellowships, your occasional Bible studies, men's Bible studies, women's Bible studies, all of that. The ministry of the Word, just in the halls as you teach and admonish one another, that work is the most important of all in this area of formative discipline. So also is the ministry, the ongoing ministry of spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts has a power for dealing with sin. It just does, it's just formative discipline all the time. Let me give you an example. Suppose somebody just has a sweet gift of hospitality, they just have a wonderful gift of hospitality. I'm convicted by that, I am. I'll go to their home, the meal is phenomenal, the warmth, there's a sense of welcome, a magnetism there. People just have that gift, you know what I'm talking about? They just have that gift. And even though I may not have the gift of hospitality, it makes me wanna do better, you know what I'm saying? I just wanna be more hospitable when I'm around that. Somebody has the gift of encouragement. I may not have that gift, but it makes me wanna encourage more. You know what I'm saying. So the ministry of spiritual gifts in the life of the church helps us deal with sin, all the time, it's powerful. So also do intentional discipleship relationships. Alright, I think that just the regular ongoing life of the church is important that we know each other in Bible for Life classes, that's important. Let's get to know each other, but there's not a lot of time. And it's not a great forum for intimacy there. Alright, regular church attendance is essential, very important, but again it's tough for intimacy. Home fellowships are really important in this. Do you see that? Build relationships in your home fellowships, share your requests with one another. Help each other. And I also believe in intentional discipleship and accountability relationships. Men with men, and women with women, never crossgender, never. I mean not counting husband and wife. That goes without saying, and I will say that even in the husband-wife relationship, there can be a deepening and enriching spiritually, where you can hold each other accountable more, in a sweet way. Don't forget to be kind, please, alright, but just that loving relationship. But others, outside that marriage relationship, men with men, women with women, you're developing those deep relationships, know and be known, and develop intimacy over the years so that you can hold each other accountable. CJ Mahaney in his book on humility, talks about the close accountability relationships that he's developed with his staff. And these men are really serious about holding one another accountable. It's very serious. And they deal with all kinds of stuff. And one time, it's a very humorous story, he tells that he was struggling with something, and he told about some incident and shared how he was sorry for his sin and just wanted them to pray and kind of hold him accountable. But they're like, they were just getting started at that point, they were intrigued, like, “Tell me more.” “Well, I've told you what you need to know” “No, no, no, no. Tell me more. Now what happened, what were you feeling?” They were digging in, alright. And he started to get a little offended, a little prideful, and there was just more work that needed to be done, and they were rooting around and they found something deeper and pulled it out. Not a pleasant process. Very humorous, the way he tells it, you have to get the book to read it. But the thing is there was that kind of intimacy and a willingness not to just accept the surface answer “Hey, I'm doing great.” Or the sacrificial sin, it's like, “I'm really struggling with such and such,” but what you're really doing with is this. But you’re giving this one up. Know and be known. Common Questions Now, I wanna deal with some common questions concerning church discipline and then apply this three-week topic to people of different categories in the church and we'll be done. First of all, in Matthew 18, it says we should go if our brother sins. Does this refer to any sin at all or only to serious sins? Well, again, as I said in that sermon, you need to be discerning, you need to ask for wisdom. We can't have the metal detector set to go off at a gum wrapper, as I said. So you've got to know what kinds of things are starting to root in and form a habit in somebody's life that you can help with or is there something you just need to bear with and put up with? So ask God to give you wisdom, don't go for everything. What kind of relationship should the church have with somebody who's been disciplined, somebody who has been evicted from membership? Well, again, I mentioned at that time but we should carry on a normal human relationship with them in this sense, if they need medical attention we should give it to them. We shouldn't be unkind or rude to them. We should hold the door for them as they walk in, etcetera. We're not trying to be rude, unkind people, but there should be a constant abiding sense that there's a barrier between us. There's an issue. Because I love Jesus, and you don't, it seems. You're not willing to repent of sin. Oh, how I wish you'd come back. I want you to come back. But there's a problem between us. Another question is, can a disciplined person attend church? Absolutely, they can attend. Jesus said treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. Pagans and tax collectors are welcome here at First Baptist Church. Bring them in, bring them in, alright? Our central ministry isn't directly to that kind, but I think at all times, we're gonna seek to preach the gospel and seek to bring people to faith in Christ, and they can come. Yes, they can come, but they can't take the Lord's Supper. They can't vote at member's meetings. They are not members of the church anymore. And we can't really say to them, “Oh magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” There's a definite problem there, but yeah, they can be in the building. Can a disciplined person be restored to full church membership? Absolutely, friends, that's the hope, that's the prayer that they will be liberated from sin and come back. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 5, this guy is disciplined, it seems he repented and came back in 2 Corinthians 2. Paul urges them to welcome him back. So we're desiring to see that. What about lawsuits? Could the church be sued? Yes, the church could be sued. I could give a long answer to this. I won't right now, but it is an issue, and ever more so. But let me ask you a question, is it legal in some of these closed countries, for those Christians to assemble on Sunday morning and sing praise songs and worship? The answer: clearly no, that's why they're closed countries. They could get arrested for worshipping. Should they worship anyway? Yes, they should. Alright, so let's not be bound by fear, but we should be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Let's try to find out what the laws are and let's try to be careful, alright? We are very clear in our new member classes that if you join us, you might have to be disciplined, and we try to be clear about that so that people know ahead of time. Important Discipline Issues Now, I wanna cover some important discipline cases. The number one case of church discipline in this church up to this point, and it will continue to be so, the number one thing we discipline or vote people out for is failure to attend church. And it will continue to be so. They are forsaking the assembling of themselves together. I am not talking about homebound people or people with medical issues, neither am I talking about people who have excused absences for a long time because of business or other issues. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about able-bodied people who are not attending church, either in this community or wherever they are. They are not attending church. So basic exhortation, attend church. Keep coming to church, friends, keep coming. I believe that failure to attend church is a masking sin for a deeper heart issue. They don't wanna come because they don't wanna come, and they don't wanna come because the hardness of sin has already started to take root. Secondly, there's the issue of non-attending members of this church who are adult children of regularly attending members. So we've got regular attending members and they've got grown kids who are still on the roll here at this church, but they're not attending church anywhere, and the adults are regularly attending here, and it's a sensitive and touchy issue. They want to keep the names on the rolls, but they're not attending anywhere. And all I'm saying is the real issue is, are they converted? Have they been born again? Yes, they were baptized maybe when they were 12, some things happened, all that, but they're not going to church at all, they're not walking clearly with the Lord. They should be dealt with as anyone else. And I guess what I'm asking is, if you're in that condition and you have an adult child who's not attending anywhere, please don't make it difficult for the elders in the church to do what they need to do. Actually, you should be active and involved in that same thing, saying, “You need to be involved in church, and if you're not, we need to vote you out.” You should lead the way in that and not hinder it. So look after your grown children. I know there comes a point where all you can do is pray, you can have some influence, but the church does have responsibility. There's no reason we should carry those names on our roll if they're not regularly attending here. And if they are attending somewhere else, that's fine, we need to clarify those records, and we need to get that information done, okay? What kinds of sins do we do public church discipline for? Well, entrenched patterns of unrepentance, Matthew 18. Sins of divisiveness. Titus 3 says, “Warn a divisive person once, warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.” Okay, so sins of divisiveness that rip or rupture at the unity of the church. Sins of elders are dealt with in a special case. “Don't entertain,” it says in 1 Timothy 5, “an accusation against an elder, unless it's corroborated by the testimony of two or three witnesses, but those that have sinned are to be rebuked publicly,” it says, “so that others may take warning.” 1 Timothy 5. And then the spreading of false doctrine. Very serious and deadly for the church. Acts 20, Paul says, “Be on your guard, men will rise up from your own number to draw away disciples after themselves.” Watch out. Specific Applications for Various People To the Unbeliever Alright, finally, I want to just apply these things to various folks. First I wanna speak to the unbeliever. I wanna speak to somebody here who has never trusted in Christ. You may say, “Well what is all this? Why would you even do this? It seems kind of unfriendly, unloving.” The reason is, I go back to the crystal meth thing at the very beginning, because sin is deadly. Sin is deadly, it wants to have your very soul, it wants to bring you to hell, it is dangerous. And it says, “Whoever has not received Christ is under the wrath of God already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God,” John 3:36. You're in great danger. I just urge you to repent, look to Christ, he shed his blood, his blood is sufficient. The Son of God shed his blood for sinners like you and me. Trust in him, apart from works, you can just trust in him and he will bring you to heaven, He will give you eternal life. Look to him. And just realize if this church deals so seriously with sin, then how much more someone like yourself who the Bible says is dead in transgressions and sins. To Every Individual Christian Secondly, to address individual Christians who are here, you may be visiting, you're a Christian, not a member of this church. I would urge you, first and foremost, and this is for all of us, seek personal holiness above all things. Yearn for it, be hungry and thirsty for righteousness in your own life, fight sin. This is an incredibly important issue. Be willing to do whatever it takes to address sin. Jesus said, “If your right hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.” And be humble. Humility is essential. Don't say I don't really need this, I'm doing fine. It says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble,” so be humble and he'll give you what you need. And then concerning membership, I would say, be a member of a good church. If you're not a member of any church, I'd urge you to seek membership. If you live locally here, become a member here at this church. A number of people, I think, that regularly attend for a long time, but they don't commit in membership, I would urge you to commit in membership. So that you can be watched over, and that you can watch over one another and we can have that covenant relationship together. So be part of a church. We've got the new members weekend coming up. Be part of that. To FBC Members To FBC members I wanna say a couple of things. First of all, please accept your responsibility for the holiness and the ongoing sanctification of other members of this church. Accept your responsibility for that, care about it, obey Hebrews 3:12-14, “Watch over one another in brotherly love, carry each other's burdens.” Secondly, just very practically, if I could urge you to get a copy of the church's phone directory and pray through it daily. Just pray through it daily. That's what the elders are doing. There's 28 pages, I think it is, that works out well with the month, a page a day for the month, and then cycle around again. Pray for everyone in the church 12 times a year, at least. You know what that's gonna do to you? You're gonna start noticing other people more. You're going to start caring about what's going on in their lives. Do it, not just the elders. We're doing it, you do it too. Get a phone list and start praying every day for the members of this church. And if you see sin in a brother or sister's life, begin immediately by praying for them. God will give you wisdom whether you're to go, but begin praying for that sin issue. And when you pray for that sin issue, I had urged you to do what Jonathan Edwards did in resolution number eight, of all of his 70 resolutions. He said, “Resolved, whenever I see a sin pattern in someone else's life to think first and foremost that no one is as vile and wicked as I am, and that I myself struggle with the exact same kinds of sins.” Well that's gonna work that kind of humility in you. But please pray, and if you go, then go with that humility and go with that kind of brokenness. And accept your responsibility in corporate church discipline, understand that mushy sentimental love that sees a damaging sin pattern in a brother's life but says, “Live and let live, it wouldn't be loving ...” it's no love at all, my friends. It is self-serving cowardice. Be courageous enough to go if the Lord is leading you to go. Go in love, go gently, but please go. To the Elders To the elders, of whom I am one, the greatest call in all of this to me is that I need to be holy, and the greatest thing that I can give to the church in this area is my own personal holiness, that I would fight the good fight. Pray for me that I would fight the good fight, and don't just pray for me, but pray for the other elders. But to the elders here, I say to you fight that good fight, walk in holiness, in newness of life, and shepherd the flock that's entrusted to your care in this area. To Other Congregations To other congregations who may be listening to this message online, if I could just say one thing, please don't, without any kind of inquiry or without any kind of investigation, accept disciplined members from other sister churches. You do not help the cause of Christ when you do that. Ask a person who's presenting themselves for membership, “Are there any outstanding discipline cases between you and your present church?” Ask that question. And if there are, send them back to that first church to deal with it. Now there are specific issues on my mind with that, with even some local churches here, and I'm just saying that ought not to be. If You Are Ever Disciplined And finally, if you are ever disciplined, if this ever happens to you, if this church or any church should vote that you be excommunicated, I would urge you to stop everything you're doing in your life and seek God with everything you have. And keep in mind this Scripture, 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith: test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you, unless of course, you fail the test.” Test yourself to see if you're actually in the faith, and repent quickly and come back. We want you back. Close with me in prayer.
1999/10/28. Argues that Christians are God's means of modeling himself to a lost and hurting world, urging Christians to take their faiths seriously. President, Evangelicals for Social Action and Professor, Eastern Seminary. The Thomas F. Staley Lecture.
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