Do all things without murmurings and disputings. You know, one of the things that
was not tolerated, and there was a few of them, there was
several, in our family when I was a child was any conflict between
us children. If there was a fuss, and you
know how that is, it's pretty much constant. There were four
of us, three boys and a girl, and it was, pretty much constant,
and there were no timeouts in our home. Can I be blunt with
you? There were butt whippings. That's
what was in our home. And we didn't have attention
deficit disorder. My mom knew how to get our attention,
and it didn't take long. My mom would say, go get a belt,
and there was always great consternation over which one to get, but it
didn't take long to figure out that there were no good choices. In God's family, this is also
constant. Isn't it constant? It's constant.
And there's a lot of teaching in scripture regarding this.
We're exhorted over and over again, not to fuss, not to murmur,
not to strive, endeavor, endeavor to keep unity. In verses two and three of our
chapter, remember what it said. Back at the beginning of Philippians
chapter two. Fulfill you my joy that you be
like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of
one mind. Let nothing be done through strife.
Quit fussing, quit fighting, quit being divided. Or vain glory,
because that's, remember our scripture that we should never
forget, only by pride cometh contention. That's what it is
every time. It's you think you're more than
you are. Or vain glory. But in lowliness of mind, and
that's what it's got to take. God's got to bring us down like
he did Zacchaeus, like he did Simon, like he did Moses, like
he did everybody that he ever saved. He brings us down. In lowliness of mind, let each
esteem other better than themselves. That doesn't mean to think that
you're morally better than me. It means you esteem them more
than you esteem yourself. You think about them and are
concerned more with them than you are yourself. That doesn't
come by nature. Have you seen that in little
kids until they're tall? They don't just naturally, they're
just not that way by nature. Listen to 1 Corinthians 1 10,
I beseech you brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions
among you, but that you'd be perfectly joined together in
the same mind and in the same judgment, that is decision-making.
For it has been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them
which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among
you. Over and over in scripture, it's addressed. It can't continue. It's destructive. It's deadly
to the worship of God. 1 Peter 3, 8. Finally, be ye
all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren,
be pitiful and be courteous, not rendering evil for evil or
railing for railing. That means even if somebody does
you wrong, you don't fall into it. It's a test. It's a test. Are you going to
fall into it? Are you going to be deceived
by that as your own pride and your own evil heart going to
get caught up in it? No, listen, don't return evil
for evil nor railing for railing, but contrary wise, blessing. If one of your brothers or sisters
does something, I don't care how bad it is, look, understand
that you're worse than they are. That's what esteeming other better
than themselves. Not morally, but caring about
them. And think about what's happening. Are you shocked that somebody's
a sinner? Are your brothers and sisters, oh my, they did something
bad. Surprise, surprise. We're all
a bunch of wretches. We're just huddled here together
asking God to bless us anyway. So when something like that happens,
don't render evil for evil or railing for railing. Esteem them and think about why
it is they do that and why it is you do it. It's because of
what we are now. That doesn't mean that it's okay
to go around and do bad stuff, but it's the mercy of God that's
our hope, that's my hope, that's your hope. And we're to show
a little of that ourselves. We're to show some forgiveness
now, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. And listen, listen to this. I should have had you turn here.
I want you to see this. Turn over there with me, 1 Peter 3. I want you
to see this with your own eyes. And we'll begin with verse nine
when we're looking at it here. First Peter 3.9, not rendering
evil for evil. And that's just like, it just
goes without saying, doesn't it? We're just gonna do that. We're gonna do that unless we
think about this, unless we're exhorted by this. It's just automatic. We're gonna get back at somebody. nor railing for railing, middle
of verse nine, but contrary wise blessing, knowing that you are
there unto called, that you should inherit a blessing. That's not your motive. You don't
sit there and say, well, I'm not going to get an army because
I want God to bless me. Look, God's blessing is not individual
acts, remember? We have God's blessing. We're
called unto this to be forgiving and tenderhearted toward one
another. Courteous, that word came up as we just read a while
ago. Look at verse 10, for he that
will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from
evil and his lips that they speak no guile. Let him eschew evil,
despise it and do good. Let him seek peace and ensue
it. For the eyes of the Lord are
over the righteous and his ears are open under their prayers.
But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. There's a lot in that verse 12,
there's a lot there, but let's think about one part of that.
The Lord's jealous over his children now. He's jealous over his children. And even if one of his other
children rails on one of his children, he's gonna take up
the case of the brokenhearted, of the despised. But especially
if somebody in this world, if an unbeliever, You remember the
solemn warning of our Lord. Don't touch one of my little
ones. Tie an anchor around your leg and throw yourself into the
sea rather than touch one of my little ones who believe on
me. Let's just keep that in mind
when we think of how we treat people. Look at verse 15 of our
text because this is exactly what we're talking about. that
you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke
in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation," or that word
is era, in a perverse era, or what's the word that we commonly
use? Generation, a generation, among whom you shine as lights
in the world. If we're not shining as lights,
then who is? Who is in this wretched world? Paul is exhorting here the sons
of God not to murmur, not to contend, not to dispute. You know why he's doing that?
Because we murmur and contend and dispute. And it's not saying here that
ceasing from murmuring and disputing will make you a son of God. It's
just gonna show that you are. He's saying here, simply, very
simply, act like you're a son of God. Walk worthy of the calling,
we're with your call. And don't miss something. Let's
not miss something here. Don't miss the fact that acting
like a son of God here. He's telling you, act like a
son of God. And what is he saying? promotes that or is the definition
of that here. It doesn't mean going about all
religious and holier than thou and pompous and walking around
with religious garb on and religious symbols on you so that everybody
knows how spiritual you are. Our Lord has made it clear that's
repulsive to him. You seek the praise and honor
of men. They have their reward. There's
no reward from heaven for them. It's the reward of their pride,
their ego being stroked and everybody thinking highly of them and how
spiritual he is. But you think about this, it's
a pretty low bar here in our text for us to be sons of God. And that is just simply to act
according to who we are by God's grace. Are you ready for it?
What does that mean here? How is that defined here? Religion
talks about living the Christian life, you know, Mean is being
fake and as the Lord called them whited sepulchers, sepulchers,
polished and pretty on the outside, but full of corruption on the
inside. Don't pretend to be something you're not. You hypocrites, you
scribes and Pharisees, you most religious of all people on this
earth. You're a bunch of hypocrites.
You're a bunch of snakes. You know the type. There's a
lot of Pharisees in our day too. We have that heart apart from
God's grace. But in our text, though, being
a son of God in action is just not being an idiot. The bar's
not that high. Look at that. Just don't let
your repulsive pride and your complaining nature and your just
being better than everybody so much that you can't get along
with anybody. Don't let it come out of your mouth. You think
we can manage that? Think again. Think again. Seems like a low bar, doesn't
it? Watch. And pray to God Almighty, Lord,
keep a watch on my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. Don't
let me dishonor you. Don't let me be a disgrace because
that's what I am without your grace. And see this in the text, that
God will set you straight. He'll set you straight. There's
rebuke. I don't want the Lord rebuking me, do you? I mean,
I'm glad that he does, but I'd rather learn from teaching
instead of rebuke, because the Lord knows how to put you down.
He knows how to knock the stuffing out of you. I've had the stuffing
knocked out of me enough times to know he knows how to do it.
And I suspect you have too. Just like in my home growing
up, there's gonna be consequences, aren't there? And God's a lot
better at it. And this also means to be unchargeable
before men. Don't be rebukable in this world
among men, before men. Not that we or God care what
the world thinks, neither one of us care what the world thinks,
except in the sense that we're representatives of Christ in
this world. You remember when God cursed the people of Israel,
it was because David had given occasion to the enemies of the
Lord to blaspheme. Let's not do that. God help us
not to do that. Don't be rebukeable by this world,
but we are rebukeable before God and we will be. The exhortation here is to be
different. And I know how religion uses
that and how they act. And when I say religion, I'm
talking about us. Everybody's religious by nature. We're all a bunch of goody two-shoes
if we think that'll get us to heaven when we die. But he says here, in this wicked
and perverse generation, in this dark world be a light. You are lights. You are lights. and we're exhorted here to shine.
Isn't that so gracious? The fact that we can shine at
all, we're gonna see how that happens in the next verse. But
where it says there you shine, that can also be and probably
is shine ye. Instead of ye shine, it's probably
shine ye, it's probably both. Because we do by God's grace,
we're a new creature. Oh, but not all the time. We're
always a new creature, but we're not always acting like it. Shanyi, Shanyi. The context is an exhortation. If you read it in the context,
it's almost certainly Shanyi, because the context of this is
an exhortation, not a commendation. Shanyi as lights, in this crooked
and perverse nation or age, in this perverse age, is it not? It was then, boy, it is now,
isn't it? A crooked and perverse age, is
there not a cause? and take these two verses together
about the murmuring and disputing, how are we gonna shine if we
can't even shut up when we have something stupid to say? The Lord of glory who said, I
am the light of the world, also said to his disciples in Matthew
5.14, you are the light of the world. In what sense are we the
lights of the world? We have no light in us by nature,
but listen to the rest of it. You're the light of the world.
A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. The light of that
city, you can see it from miles away. Neither do men light a
candle and put it under a bushel. The purpose of a light is this,
that they put it on a candlestick and it giveth light unto all
that are in the house. Are we giving any light to anybody?
What light do we have to give? You know the answer to that,
don't you? Listen to verse 16 of it. This
is the next verse. Light unto all that are in the
house now. How does that happen? Let your light so shine before
men that they may see your good works and glorify your father,
which is in heaven. Now you think about that with
me for a minute. If you shine, quote unquote,
in this world in such a way that people brag on you, then you're
not this light that the Savior spoke of. You're not one of those
lights. Your light is darkness if that's the case. The light
we shine by the grace of God is that which glorifies God's
son. Because he that honoreth not
the son, honoreth not the father. Those who shine this light will
glorify him in his sovereign majesty. They will glorify him
high and lifted up as Isaiah saw him. Those who shine this light will
glorify God as he is on the throne, the decider of the matter. Look
up the word judgment. God has committed all judgment
under the sun. That word means he who decides
the case. God doesn't need you to make
a decision for him. If God has decided for you, you're
saved. You just may not know it yet,
but you're gonna know it if he's saved you now, if he redeemed
you on Calvary. He didn't do his best and leave
the only thing this world exists for up to you. Does that sound like the old
wise God? We're gonna have to glorify Him
as God. Romans 1, when they knew God,
they know He's God. Even people that don't know Him
in their hearts and believe on Him pray, Lord, save this person
for me. Well, wait a minute, isn't it
up to them? Lord, save my children. Have mercy on my children. If
you don't glorify Him as God, now you ought to be telling them
something. Make that all important. That's
what they are telling them, I guess. Everybody prays to God as God,
pretty much. But in Romans 1, it says, when
they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. You know the way you glorify
Him as God? You see him as the sovereign of this universe. And
you say, like Thomas did, my Lord and my God. He didn't say,
I think I'll make you, I'll, you know, accept you as my personal
savior. He said, you're God. You're the
God of heaven and earth and your precious blood was shed for me.
I bow to you. There's a whole lot of decision-making
and not a lot of bowing in religion these days. If your light shines in such
a way that you glorify him as God, then you're one of these
lights. Shine ye, shine ye. Don't let people get away with
saying he's done his best, but it's all in your hands, it's
all up to you. Nothing's up to you. And that's the God that people
are gonna bow to. You're not gonna bow to a patsy. And I'll tell you this, those
who glorify the father by shining the light of the gospel, they'll
glorify him in his successful redemption. When these lights
shine, sinners will bow to the king and say, Lord, what would
you have me do? And when this light shines, people will trust
a savior who actually saved somebody, who saved all for whom he died. Is that you? I don't know. Do you believe
on him? Then I'd say it is. I'd say he's
redeemed you. When God shines this light through
his people, sinner will, they'll behold as Thomas did his hands
and his side. And they're not going to say,
thank you, Jesus, for giving me a chance. They're going to
say, my Lord and my God, and they'll fall at his feet. In
other words, they will glorify our father, which is in heaven,
not of themselves, not the pastor. And how does all this happen?
How in the world are we going to shine? Verse 16, holding forth
the word of life. You don't have any light in you
by nature. If you have any light to shine,
it's the light of Christ in you and the light of this gospel
that shines forth in those who tell it. To whom shall we go? Thou hast
the words of eternal life. holding forth the word of life. What happens here by God's grace
now, the holding forth of the word is life and death. Don't
miss that word life. It's the word of life as opposed
to the word of death. The law pronounces death. that
the gospel, the good news that Christ kept the law for his people
and honored the law with his perfect sacrifice for sins, results in life. And Adam all
died in Christ, all whom Christ represented when he said, I pray
not for the world, but I pray for those you've given me. All
are made alive, every one of them. He said, I'm not gonna
lose a single one of them. Now that's glorifying him as
God right there. Let your light so shine that
God is glorified and not the sinner. Holding forth the word
of life. Just think with me a minute now
on this. Because of God's grace and his gift of faith, I believe
this book. I believe that the way God saves
sinners is by the preaching of the gospel. Paul said it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. I believe that it is these scriptures
that are able to make a sinner wise unto salvation. not living an abundant life in
a carnal sense, salvation. Salvation, wise unto salvation,
not turning over a new leaf. Paul said, my heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is, Israel that has a form of
godliness, but what do they deny? The authority of God. They won't
glorify him as God. They have a form of godliness.
They all go to synagogue and they say, you know, God in heaven
and hell and devil and save and lost and all the right words,
but they don't know who God is. They don't know the sovereign
God of this book. You know what his heart's desire
and prayer was? God save him. Not make him agree with me. If
God saves you, you're gonna agree with him and those who agree
with him. but that's not the matter. We're
not trying to get you to figure things out. I'm not here this
morning hoping you'll do something for God. As Spurgeon put it, my hope lies
in another quarter. My hope and my heart's desire
and prayer to God is that he'll do something for you by the preaching
of his gospel, that he'll reveal to you himself high and lifted
up and successful, the champion of sinners. Okay, so what am I to think about
that? If this is how God saves sinners, what am I to think about
that? What am I gonna say? In consequence of that truth,
what would my advice be to everyone, everywhere, every time, you think? holding forth the word of life
now. This ain't about you living a
more abundant, you know, being blessed in this world and having
nice things. You don't need a better life
if you don't know the Savior, you need a life. Life. I communicate with somebody right
now fairly regularly that keeps saying to me, when I get my life
straight, when I get my life together, I'm gonna come and
worship God. And my heart breaks for them, a sweet little family,
a wife and children with no path right now to true life because
the dad can't get his life together. That's not a good reason. This
room is full of people that can't get their lives together. The gospel is for people that
can't. God doesn't help those who help themselves. He helps
the helpless. Don't ever take this for granted. For some fixed period of time
that we don't know the end of, God is speaking here. And God's message to sinners
is what it always has been. One thing is needful. One thing. Martha said, Lord, tell Mary
to help me. I'm trying to fix a nice meal
for you. I'm trying to make sure, you know, that we entertain you
in the right way with respect. Lord said, Martha, Mary has chosen
that good part that shall not be taken away from you, from
her. One thing is needful. And what was that? She was sitting
at his feet, hearing his word. You know, he's given us a lot
here. I think about sometimes how blessed we are here. He speaks.
You know, the Lord said, if anybody stands and speaks not according
to the word of this prophecy, it's because there's no light
in them. How do you do that? The word
of this prophecy. That's why we go verse by verse.
That's why we don't speculate. That's why as when those who
witnessed the power of God in the miracles that were performed,
it says they couldn't deny it. They couldn't deny it. This is
the miracle. And it's undeniable. You can
hate it. You can gnash your teeth at God being God, but he's still
gonna be God when you're done gnashing your teeth. He's still
gonna be God. He's still gonna do as he pleases
with you. That's why sinners cry for mercy, because only God
shows mercy. That's why Simon didn't make
a decision when he was sinking beneath the waves. He said, Lord,
save me, save me. He couldn't decide to come up
out of that water, but God could save him. And he cried, he cried. And you know what else he's given
us here? And this seems like an afterthought,
but it's a real good afterthought. He's given us each other here.
There are about 50 people here all together. maybe a little
bit more if everybody was here at the same time, who would do
anything for you that they possibly could. And for me, anything we
would ever need. Is that a blessing to you? Is
that comforting to you? Not only would do, but have done
for me. We learn of Christ and we find
comfort and peace and wisdom We're not gonna think right if
our thoughts are according to the way of the fashion of this
world. We come in here most of the time
not thinking right, don't we? We get perspective on everything.
Our priorities are different when we hear from God. We have
the incredible privilege of worshiping you. You think about that. There isn't us because there
is a God. We're not suffering and in pain. We're not being punished right
now because there's a gracious God. And we have the privilege of
worshiping Him for who He is, honoring Him who has done everything
for us in this crooked, and perverse generation where there is no
fear of God before their eyes. But here, here he shows himself
and we worship. He reveals himself in his gospel
and we worship. Chinyi. Paul is not saying here at the
end of this verse, he says, lest it be in vain, lest I worked
in vain, he's not saying here all of his effort would be wasted
in a selfish sense. He's not saying don't waste my
time in some kind of a selfish way, that's what I'm trying to
say. Think about what he is saying. Consider what his business was.
His business was to shine, to shine forth the gospel of life. Listen to 2 Corinthians 2.16. He said, as we preach, as we
declare the gospel, to one, we're the saver of death unto death,
and to the other, we're the saver of life unto life, and who is
sufficient for these things? When that's the business that
God has given you to do, to labor unto, then that being in vain
is not something you want to think about as a preacher or
as a witness of him. That's not what you want. You
don't want the rescue of sinners by these means to be in vain. That's where that's coming from. So he's not saying don't waste
my time. He's saying be stewards of God's grace because by God's
own design, this is everything. holding forth the word of life.
Everything hinges on that by God's design and providence.
And in the power of his saving grace, it hinges upon that Christ
is that word of life. He doesn't just have them, he
is them. What did Christ preach? Christ,
come unto me, believe on me. So he is that word of life, and
he that hath the son hath life. And he that hath not the son
of God hath not life. You call it what you want to,
it's not life. May God give us grace to realize
what this is. And don't let my vanity and my
the darkness of my heart, the pride of my soul. Get in the
way of that, not for a second. God, teach me the fine art of
shutting up and holding forth what? The gospel. Let your speech be
seasoned with grace. God, make it so. Let's pray.