All of this is already done. Thank you. Hey, we're going to open our
second service singing out of the softback number 43, Friend
of Sinners. 43. Precious Savior, friend of sinners,
we as such to Thee draw near. Let Thy Spirit dwell within us
with the love that casts out fear. Matchless Savior, let us
know Thee As the Lord our righteousness Calls our hearts to cleave unto
Thee Come in with Thy presence blessed Open now thy precious
treasure, let thy word here freely flow. Give to us a gracious measure,
this we long to know. Come and claim us as thy portion. Let us all find rest in thee. Leave us not to empty notions. We will find our hope in thee. Our second hymn will be number
108. Jesus, thy boundless love to me. 108. Jesus, thy boundless love to
me, no thought can reach, no tongue declare. Oh, knit my thankful heart with
thee, and reign without a rival there. I'm holy, thine alone
I am. Be Thou alone, my constant flame. O grant that nothing in my soul
may dwell but Thy pure love alone. O may thy love possess me whole,
my joy, my treasure, and my crown. All coldness from my heart remove. May every act, word, thought
be love. O love, how gracious is thy way. ? All fear before thy presence
flies ? ? Care, anguish, sorrow melt away ? ? Where'er thy healing
beams arise ? ? O Jesus, nothing may I see ? ? Nothing desire
or seek but thee ? I'm going to be reading from
Proverbs chapter 3, beginning in verse 5. Proverbs 3. Verse five, trust in the Lord
with all thine heart and lead not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him
and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes,
fear the Lord and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy
navel and marrow to thy bones. Honor the Lord with thy substance. Our substance is Christ. he's
all, and with the first fruits of all thine increase. So shall
thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out
with new wine. My son, despise not the chastening
of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction. For whom the
Lord loveth, he correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he
delighteth. Happy is the man that findeth
wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise
of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof
than fine gold. We know that Christ is our wisdom.
She is more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst
desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in
her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways
are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She
is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, and happy
is every one that retaineth her. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for bringing
us here this morning to hear your gospel. We thank you for
the finished work that you've provided for sinners in the Lord
Jesus Christ. We ask that you would cause us
to lay hold of him. We ask for the grace to also
retain him by faith. We ask that you'd be with Eric
as he brings the second message. We ask that you'd give him your
spirit, and we ask that you'd Also, bless us with your Spirit
to hear your voice. We ask that you'd be with those
that are sick, especially Scott and Johnny. Be with them, comfort
them. Be with those who are away. Bless
them where they are. We ask all this with the forgiveness
of our sins, in Christ's name, amen. This morning we are going to
be in Romans 12. I want to look this morning at
verses 3-8. We began our study here in chapter
12, last time looking at verse 1, and Paul said, I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service. We saw that the understanding
that Paul was giving us in this is that our living sacrifice
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our living sacrifice in
whom we present our bodies so that we come daily. a living sacrifice in the living
sacrifice, that is looking to Christ alone for all our righteousness
and holiness and acceptance with the Lord. And so in that faith
by which we look to our Savior, trusting Him, hoping in Him,
that's the faith and the hope with which we labor and serve
among our brethren. right, in sacrificing ourselves
and living for our brethren and serving one another in that spirit
of love and faith and hope in the Lord. And now, this chapter
we know will detail, as we come through these verses, we see
that it's describing gifts which the Lord gives to his people
and dispenses to his people. Where are gifts primarily seen? They're seen primarily in the
public worship, when the Lord brings us together as a body. As you look at these, you see
that each of these gifts certainly has a place in the body of the
public worship of the Lord. they're displayed, they're used
to our profit in that public worship when we come together
as a body to worship the Lord. And so, knowing that, it's important
and it means something when it becomes important to our lives,
right? And we make an effort to prioritize
the worship of the Lord together as a body, right? That we don't
want to lose sight of the fact that that is important. And I
believe the Lord blesses it and that he's moving us toward that. He's growing us toward that sense
and understanding, that knowledge that we have. it is important
and it is a blessing to meet together and we grow as the Lord
turns our hearts from however it is, wherever we're coming
from with the baggage we come with and our thoughts and what
we've done in training ourselves throughout life. Well, the Lord
will correct those things and he'll bring us to that union
of a body in which we we serve the Lord and practice together. We serve the Lord and worship
his name together. And so it's in this context that
we exercise these gifts that he's given to us, right? And
then these gifts, you know, they will spill out to other areas
as a necessary consequence because it's real and genuine. It's going
to benefit others around us, but it's used primarily in that
body with your brethren. If you look over in Galatians
6, we see Paul exhorting his brethren there in Galatia. In
chapter 6 verses 7 through 10, And he exhorts the brethren concerning
our labor with each other in the body as opposed to our labor
in the world. We all labor in the world. We
have to do things in the world. But he's talking primarily of
our labor as a body and how we labor amongst one another. And
he says there, be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever
a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his
flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth
to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting. And let
us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap
if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity,
let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are
of the household of faith. And so in that same spirit, Paul's
now reminding, he's exhorting his Roman brethren, right, that
God has outfitted them for the work. He's equipped us, he's
given gifts to the body of his people, and he's given them these
things in his grace. and prepared them for this service
and labor of love among the brethren. And he does this reminder with
an exhortation when he says in verse two, be transformed by
the renewing of your mind. And we know that's a grace of
God toward us. That's the sovereign work of
our God to transform our mind. We don't transform our own minds. We grow in this understanding
and begin to see what God is doing by his grace and power
in us and turning us and transforming our focus and attention all on
the world to look to his son Jesus Christ, and he's saying
to us, he's exhorting us, he's saying, fight, brethren, in your
flesh. You and I have passions and lusts
and desires which attend to the things of this world very naturally. They're in this flesh, they're
coursing through this old man, they're all there. So he's saying
you have the knowledge of God and and these things are exalting
themselves against the knowledge that God has given you of who
he is and And and what he's done for you in his son Jesus Christ,
and we know how the flesh fights against that knowledge and it
would exalt itself against These are the high things that exalt
themselves against the knowledge of God and so When we hear it,
the Spirit teaching us is showing us not to be careless with these
things and not to be indifferent or to let these things go or
to allow these things to be trampled upon by ourselves. Jude, which is one chapter in
verse three, he says, earnestly contend for the faith which was
once delivered unto the saints. earnestly content for that and
fight for what the Lord is doing in our midst. And he's saying,
he's reminding us, putting us in remembrance that we want to
be useful and profitable to the Kingdom of God. We don't always
know how to do that. We don't often think we are doing
that, but the Lord has a way in just gathering his people,
even through subtle means, he's turning us. And that's what I
want us to hear, how the Lord is teaching us, even in his word,
even in this context now that we come to, that it's good for
brethren to dwell together, and that in unity, in the mind of
Christ, right? That's the unity that we have,
it's in Christ. We come together over the fellowship
that we have of Christ and what he's done for us. Paul, concerning
this, as I was thinking of all that, I thought of what Paul
said over in 2 Timothy 4, verse 11. He's writing to Timothy much
later in life, and he says to him, take Mark, you know, John
Mark. He says, take Mark and bring
him with thee for he is profitable to me for the ministry. He's
profitable to me. And we think, wait a minute.
Barnabas and Paul fought over the profitableness of Mark. At
one time, Paul didn't think Mark was profitable at all in the
kingdom. He was immature. He was a young
man and he was immature in faith. He loved the Lord, but he made
foolish choices. He left Barnabas and Paul. It
was too hard for him. and he went back home and abandoned
them where they were and they lost him there. But now Paul
says he's profitable, right? And Luke records what had happened.
It says, and the contention was so sharp between them that they
departed asunder one from the other. And yet here we see now
the grace of God in teaching John Mark and bringing him to
see to mature him in the faith and the hope he has in the Lord.
And so he grew to be profitable to Paul for the ministry. Afterwards,
Paul was the one who was arguing against Paul, and Barnabas kept
him with him. But the Lord was clearly with
Paul in the matter. Mark had some things to learn.
and to be instructed because it was Paul and Silas that were
sent, that were recommended by the brethren to the grace of
God, it says. And he continues with Paul's
ministry, not Barnabas's ministry, right? Now, if we look at, you
know, if we hear that and we look back at our actions and
our own failings, we can be very discouraged. And I don't bring
this, I don't say this for any of us to be discouraged, but
as what Paul said in Philippians 3.13, forget those things which
are behind. Forget those things which are
behind. And reaching forth unto those things which are before. Every one of us can look back
on things that we've done with shame and pain and hurt us, myself
included. We all can, and so it's not to
shame us, it's to encourage us to let me, Lord, help me, help
me. I see my weakness. I see what
my follies are. Help me, Lord, to be profitable
and useful to your people in your kingdom. You know, turn
over to Acts 13. Acts 13, I just want us to see
the language of Scripture here and what Paul says, what the
Spirit moves the brethren to say and to record for us in the
Scriptures in Acts 13.43. Acts 13.43. This is Paul and
Barnabas and they're preaching to Jews in the synagogue. It says, now when the congregation
was broken up, they're hearing of Christ now from ministers
of the gospel, these Jews there, they were breaking up and it
says, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and
Barnabas, who speaking to them, this is Paul and Barnabas now
speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. He's saying continue in the grace
of God. That's the language of scripture.
exhorting us, encouraging us, continue in the grace of God.
Look over at Acts 11.23. This is before Paul is even in
the ministry, and this is now focused on Barnabas. Acts 11.23,
it says, when he, Barnabas, came and had seen the grace of God,
he was glad, right? He was witnessing the fruits
of the Spirit in the brethren there, and he's glad and he exhorted
them all that with purpose of heart, they should cleave unto
the Lord. With purpose of heart, with understanding
of what our God has done and what he's calling us to, that
they should cleave unto the Lord, attach themselves and hang on
for dear life, just hang on to the Lord and let that be their
pursuit and their goal, their focus. And so I bring that up
to say this is what Paul is, this is the spirit Paul is coming
to us with and exhorting us as a body with which he's fitted
us with gifts to serve and labor with one another. That's the
spirit, all right? And so I've titled this Serve
the Lord, Serve the Lord. I probably could have had a better
title, but Serve the Lord is what we're going with here. And
we have two divisions. First, we'll look at this measure
of faith that Paul speaks of in verse three, and then we'll
also look at this sober-minded humility that he calls us to,
right? We're first acknowledging the gifts that God's given us
and then remembering to be humble with those gifts as the Lord
does help us, right? Not judging one another, not
puffed up in our own minds and thinking that we're something
when, were nothing, right? It wasn't of our flesh, but of
God that gave us the gifts. And so that's what we see here.
And that's what I want you brethren to see in this passage. So, the
measure of faith. So, Paul now, we have this understanding,
we get it, alright? Paul is speaking to us with urgency
and care, right? He's laid the foundation of our
hope in chapters 1 through 11. And he's shown us that our hope
is God. It's his sovereign electing grace
that we have and he's standing in the Lord. It's through the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's his blood and his righteousness
that we stand in fellowship with our God and are accepted of Him,
not because of us, but because of Him. And so it's now with
this understanding that he says in verse 3, For I say, through
the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you not to
think of himself more highly than he ought to think. but to
think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure
of faith." The measure of faith. So first, the grace that's given
unto Paul, it's referring, it does refer to all the gifts that
God has given to him, that the Spirit of God has given to Paul. And that includes all the fruits
of the Spirit that a born again child of God bears in them by
the Spirit. In the new man, the Lord bears
fruits of grace in us, showing and testifying that we are the
Lord's people. But this grace given definitely,
if not, what he has in mind is also referring to his apostleship. He's an apostle of the Lord and
he's speaking now with the authority of an apostle of the Lord. And so he's been commissioned
by the Lord directly to go and preach the word and to interpret
the Scriptures to show us, which he did through the letters that
the Spirit recorded here for us by him, showing us that what
is the message of the Scriptures? That it's Christ. That Christ
is our righteousness. That he's our hope. That he's
everything to us. He's our standing in acceptance
with the Lord, and it's not our works of righteousness that we're
saved, but we're saved by Christ. So he does that, and so Paul
now, as an apostle, speaks, saying to every man that is among you,
every man that is among you, and so he's saying that regardless
of our gifts, or the measure of those gifts, right? The abundance
of them or the strength or the smallness of those gifts, regardless
of whether we hold an office in the church or not, he says
to every man that is among you, he's exhorting us regarding our
labor among one another, right? Whether it's in great works or
small works, whatever it is that, but he's speaking to every one,
every man among us, every one of us, all right? Now, we're
going to look at verse 3 a little bit more, but Paul mentions this
measure of faith, and I want to just focus on that for a little
bit. It refers to our gifts that we
have in the body. The measure of faith is referring
to our gifts, each man and woman's gifts that God has given them
in the spirit, which we exercise in this body, as the body of
the Lord. And he describes it with this
word faith. this word faith, right, the measure
of faith, but what he's saying there is it's a measure of our
gifts, depending on the gifts that our Lord gives us. Now,
faith is mentioned because faith is a prominent gift which every
child of God has. Every single one of us has faith. It's a word that Paul is using
to describe grace and the gifts of his grace for us. It's the
measure of faith. And so, Paul is speaking to us
as members of Christ's body. Look at verse four, all right? It's always in the context of
the body. It says, for as we have many
members in one body, and all members have not the same office,
Now, the fact that we're a body, I think it helps for us to think,
what will a man or a woman sacrifice for their own body? What do you
do for your own body? What provisions do you make for
your body? You tend to make great sacrifices
for your own body. When you've set your heart and
mind on something, you will go to great lengths to accomplish
that. for your own body because it
profits you, right? Or if you say, well, wait, I
do a lot of things for my spouse, right? Because we will do a lot
of things for the good and the benefit of our spouse. We'll
do things that we wouldn't normally do for them. But what is our
spouse? But members of our own body,
right? It says in Ephesians 5.31 that
a man shall be joined unto his wife and they too shall be one
flesh. one flesh, and then a husband
and a wife, what do they do? They make great sacrifices for
their own children. You do things to help your children,
to care for your children, and you give up a lot for their good
and their betterment. We do what we can do. Yet, what
are our own children but the offspring of our own body. So
we do a lot of things for our own body. So with that understanding
of the sacrifices you make for your own body, that comes very
easy for you and naturally for you, Paul is showing us you're
in the body of Christ. This is your own body. When you
serve the body of Christ, you're ministering to your own body.
And that same measure, that you have that understanding that
God's given you of the sacrifices you make for your own body, your
own spouse, which is your own body, your children, which are
the offspring of your body. And so we do that. And so he
said, Paul even said in Ephesians 5.32, this is a great mystery. This union we have with Christ,
this body that we're in is a great mystery, but I speak concerning
Christ and the church. And so, when we labor for the
body of Christ, it's to our own benefit. We're doing good for
ourselves, and it strengthens the body, and it heals the body,
and it helps the body and lays up. good store for the body and
so Romans 12 5 says so we being many are one body in Christ and
everyone members one of another right and so we have our part
in this body according as God hath dealt to every man the measure
of faith and so we use our gifts, which we're given to use in this
body, right? And Paul uses that term faith
there, and elsewhere, he calls it the gift of Christ. Turn over
to Ephesians 4, Ephesians 4, and let's look at a few verses
there. Ephesians 4, seven and eight. Here in verse seven, He's talking
about the same thing over Romans measure of faith here. He calls
it a little differently He says but unto every one of us is given
grace According to the measure of the gift of Christ Wherefore
he say it when he ascended up on high he led captivity captive
and gave gifts unto men right so This is the grace of God that
we're exhorted to continue in, right? With these gifts he's
given to us, he says, continue in the faith, continue in the
grace of God, right? He says, with purpose of heart,
we should cleave unto the Lord, right? He's the one who gave
us these gifts to attach us and to unite us in heart and spirit
and mind with one another as a body. and that body has the
same understanding of our body, our union with our spouses, and
that same body, in your own body, and how things function differently,
and when they're all working together, there's a nice harmony
there, and you accomplish many, many things, right? Now, if you
read a little further down in Ephesians 4, verse 11 and 13,
Here we see again that he is speaking of gifts that are used
in the body of Christ. He says he gave some apostles
and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ. And so, you know, you think about
when you and your spouse are working together, right? When a husband and a wife are
of the same mind, they focus on a goal, and they work to achieve
that goal, how much more smoothly things run in attaining that
goal. And when you make mistakes, it's
easier to work through it because you both have that same mindset
that you're looking to achieve. But think about what your marriage
would be if one spouse never came home, when they could. eventually
you'd grow cold and distant from one another and there would be
a schism there, you know, there would be a coldness there, but
the Lord, you know, He turns us, He tells us these things
so that we think of them in that light that I, you know, it's
good for us to come together as a body with the purpose of
God's given us gifts for this very purpose. And the good is
that we are working towards that unity that he establishes us
in in Christ. That's what we're looking for.
We're trusting him to do that work in our midst. All right,
so when we're serving the Lord, those of his body and we begin
to have success right when when the Lord does that for us and
we begin to have success and we see wow you know the Lord's
given me this gift and it seems to really be a help and the brethren
delight in it he now says all right you that have these gifts
and are having success he says be humble about it don't think
more highly of of yourselves than you ought to think, all
right? And that brings us to our second
point here, sober-minded humility. And so Paul tells us that we're
to think soberly about these things, all right? And he's speaking
to us as himself a regenerated person and he's speaking to regenerated
persons, right? Those that are born again. Jeremiah
9.23-24 Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not
the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that glorieth glory
in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the
Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in
the earth, for in these things I delight, saith the Lord." Anything
we have is of the Lord. And then over in 1 Peter 5, verse
5, he said, "'Yea, all of you be subject one to another and
be clothed with humility, for God resisteth the proud and giveth
grace to the humble. And then he reminds us, right,
the reason why we are humble about these things and thank
the Lord, and remember this, what we have is of the Lord,
is that in 1 Peter 5, 8, he said, be sober, be vigilant, because
your adversary, the devil, has a roaring line, walketh about
seeking whom he may devour. And so we're reminded the Lord
is gracious to us in the scriptures to remind us that we are to be
humble because what we have and the gifts we have are not our
own. You think of the evil of self-righteousness and what is
that? It's that we see these things
that we have and do and think and say and how we say them and
we seem to gain in stature amongst our brethren and what happens?
we begin to think like a Pharisee, right? This flesh takes over
and says, wow, I'm doing this. I got this. And I understand
now how it works. And we start being puffed up
in knowledge and then we get judgmental and think down on
our brethren and think ourselves to be something when we're not. And so that's what he's saying
there. Paul would say to the Corinthians,
who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that
thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? And one
more, he said to the Corinthians again in 1510, but by the grace
of God, I am what I am, and his grace which was bestowed upon
me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all,
yet not I. but the grace of God which was
in me." And so we're to think soberly of these gifts that the
Lord gives us and recognize that as we are encouraged, and as
we are motivated, and as we more and more delight in the things
of the Lord and serving one another, we're reminded that it's of the
Lord that we do these things and pray that he keep us, right? Lest we forget and focus on other
things and delight in what we're doing, the Lord humble us and
show us it's not of you, it's of me, right? Because he's faithful,
he's faithful to do that. And so this word soberly is used. to think soberly, and that's
the same root word that we heard our brother Pastor Darwin preach
on Thursday night. Go over to 2 Timothy 1. Paul here in Romans says the
word soberly, think soberly, And it's the same word here where
he says in 2 Timothy 1.7, for God hath not given us the spirit
of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. It's a sober mind. And what does the sober mind
think of? That sober mind is speaking of
the knowledge and the understanding that we have of what God has
done for us. That's a sound mind. talk about
what we've done for the Lord and our focus is on us and and
the great things as we see them as what we think great things
that we've done when we talk about us and boast of our works
and and and and things we've done in the flesh that's a knowledge
that that that shows that we don't have an understanding that
salvation is of the Lord but the Lord teaches his people that
this salvation in which we stand, this faith in which we stand,
is the work of our God. And so if you read down in 2
Timothy 1 verse 9, we see that what he talks about is exactly
the foundation of our hope, that salvation is by Christ and not
because of us or what we've done. It says in verse 9, who have
saved us, and called us within holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is
now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who
hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel. Whereunto I am appointed a preacher
and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles, for the which
cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day." And
so, the very fact that our God has revealed faith in us, whereby
we commit our souls to Him. That's all His work. We've got
nothing to boast in that. Faith is a gift of God, and all
these things are His gifts to us, which He works in us, all
right? And so, remember these things,
brethren, that there's an eternity line just beyond your next breath. because your next breath may
be your last, right? My last. And the Lord puts these
things into perspective for us to know that it's His work and
it's of the Lord. And, you know, what would it be like
to, in a moment, you know, in a moment of sickness, you know,
when you think you're about to expire and, pass on into eternity
and your life to leave this body and this earth and you to see
the Lord in all His glory being ministered to by myriads, thousands
upon thousands of ministering spirits and all the souls of
just men made perfect standing before the Lamb, casting their
crowns and shouting songs of praise and hosanna to Him. And
you see that. What do you think, right? If
suddenly you think, why didn't I? Seeing how glorious he is,
why didn't I do more? Why did I hold back? Why did
I do less, right? If you, if in that, I'm sure,
I'm confident in that day, every one of us will not, one thing
we won't be saying is, man, I wish I took it more easy. Man, I wish
I had just done a lot less and just done the bare minimum just
to get in by the skin of my teeth. You know, none of us is going
to regret the sacrifices we made, but I am certain that those tears
in heaven that the Lord wipes from us are as a result of, Lord,
what was I thinking? Why was I so focused on this
life and gaining the few things that I, you know, squeaked out
by focusing more on those things rather than exerting the gifts
I have in the body, in your body there on Earth. And so, none
of us will be saying, I wish I took it more easily. And so,
knowing this to be so, Paul says in verse 13, 2 Timothy 1.13,
let's finish there real fast, he said, sound words, which thou
hast heard of me in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus."
So those are the sound words. And so back in Romans 12, 6,
we'll just briefly go through these. These are the gifts that
he records here. He says, having then, verse 6,
gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us.
Whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of
faith. Our brothers, we have a couple
of brethren that preach for us when I'm not here and we're thankful
for that and pray concerning that gift that the Lord has given
you. It's a reminder to me and to
our brethren when they're preparing and bringing it forth, pray for
them. you know help you in in that gift and that he restore
brother scott to us as well that he could continue to minister
and use that gift that god has given him as well but that the
lord help us to use that gift knowing it's of the lord but
with that desire that the lord help i pray that you bless it
right we may not think of it you know you that are bringing
forth may not think of it as much but it's a comfort it's
a joy for your brethren to know that they can come here and hear
a brother who cares and loves them enough to study and to bring
forth a message. Though it's meager in their own
sight, yet it's just a joy to hear your own brethren confess
Christ, isn't it? Isn't it a joy to hear your brethren
speak well and exalt the Lord to you? It is a comfort to us
in that. And so we don't think lightly
of those things. And so pray, knowing that the
Lord gives us those things. And then he says, our ministry
let us wait on our ministering. Well, that's comforting because
that doesn't matter who you are. We all are ministers and able
to be ministers one to another, right? We all can be ministers,
servants and helpers and comforters in the Lord. And we saw that
even with our sister who was sick and all of you expressed
that desire, you wanted to do something. You would have done
more if you could, but you know, with the laws and not only, you
know, and just the sickness being what it is, but we did what we
could, right? And we prayed as we remember
them, and we were all thankful how the Lord turned them and
strengthened Johnny and Scott. And Johnny wanted me to tell
you all specifically. He texted me and said, please
tell everyone thank you for everything. She's just so thankful, and it's
because she knows and feels our ministering to her, and our thoughts
of her, and our love for her, and our remembrance of her and
Scott before the Lord. It's a great comfort. She's lost
her husband this year already, and the thought of losing her
son, I'm sure, was very painful. And it was painful, the thought
of it, to every one of us. And none of us wanted that at
all. So we're all able to be ministers,
ministering to one another. And then he says, or he that
teacheth on teaching, or he that exhorteth on exhortation, right? When you just remind your brethren,
not in a cocky, arrogant way, but when you say, I'm just so
thankful that it's all in his control, right? I'm just so thankful.
And we're reminded, yeah. Because we see things that do
concern us, and it's good to be reminded. Again, not in an
arrogant way, like, oh, I don't think like that. We all think,
we all worry about various things that concern us. And so it's
a comfort to be reminded that the Lord has it in control, and
he's working all these things for his purpose. He's got a purpose
in it, and it's for our good. He that giveth, let him do it
with simplicity, right? Not fanfare and boasting and
saying, look what I'm doing. He that ruleth with diligence
and he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness, right? We ought
not to be, sometimes, you know, when we're shrewd and wise and
we've been burned, we get reluctant to show mercy. But he says, even
if you know you're being taken advantage of and cheated, just
show mercy. Show mercy and leave it with
the Lord. Trust Him. Do it in the Lord's
name and trust Him so that even if you're taken advantage of,
your Father, who is also kind and merciful to the unthankful
and the wicked, He sees it. And so we can do that graciously
and cheerfully. I would just, in closing, just
say, let us be encouraged to labor in this body and value
the public worship like you do. Value that public worship. I
know what it's like. I know what it's like to have
things at work blowing up and getting yelled at, whether it's
a customer, or a boss or a coworker that's upset with you, to feel
your job is threatened. I know what it is. I know what
it is to have failures and to get bad news and to feel immense
pressure throughout the day of what we need to do and what would
make us feel a little more calm. I know it. I've been there. I know what it's like to feel
that, you know, politically at work you're being sabotaged and
people are working against you to hurt you and to bring you
down. And yet, you know, knowing I
want to go worship the Lord and to make that a priority and to
show up knowing I don't think I'm going to get anything out
of this. I'm exhausted today. And a lot of times those were
my best, I don't know, it wasn't me, but the Lord helped me to
hear things that I wouldn't hear. There were days when I showed
up thinking, I can't wait for this. It was deader than a doornail. And then other days where I thought,
I don't think I'm going to hear anything. And yet it was so sweet
and comforting and uplifting to my soul in Christ. And that's a comfort, you know? And so when we You know, there are always
things. I'm not trying to shame anybody,
because I know it's true. I saw it in myself. You know,
there's always things that do come up that prevent us from
coming. And there's conscious things
that we make a choice for specific reasons, not to be there at times.
But it's those things, you know, the Lord knows our hearts. And
it's those things that we use as an excuse. And I would just
say, you know, if you ever notice after those things, They never,
you never come back like making it harder. When you make an excuse,
a light excuse to not come, it only feels easier for other excuses
to get in the way. It never seems to work the other
way, right? But when you begin to just keep fighting through
those things and just going through and coming, you find that it's
actually harder for these things of the world to take you away
from coming, right? And you want to be there all
the more because it is an encouragement and a help to your brethren.
Like, they're encouraged when they see you, really. Those little
things, just showing up, is like amazing. It really is encouraging. So do that. And then you with
young children, I would say, you know, be encouraged. Know
that you can bring them, and they'll adapt. You know, again,
there was times where our kids were all in the back working
on homework before the message started and after, right? Because They knew that this is
where we're going. You got a book report. The teacher
didn't just tell you about the book report today. You knew about
it for two weeks. You plan it out and do what you
have to do to be there. And they learn. So be careful
what we teach our kids, because they pick up. And if we make
excuses for our children a lot, then they learn, oh, well, there's
excuses and reasons why I don't have to be there at services.
And then they, you know, pick that up rather easily because
again, it's our flesh. It's very adaptable to liking
the things of the world very, very much. So, so again, pray
about those things. That's all. Just pray about them.
And, and cause it's the Lord that teaches us. It's the Lord
that gives us the heart and the willingness. And so when we come,
he's the one that blesses it and makes it profitable to us
and and helps us. So I pray the Lord would bless
that and that we delight in the body. Same way we delight in
our own bodies and take care for those things and provide
for our bodies. And so that we continue to provide
for one another and love one another in that. So I pray the
Lord bless that to your hearts. Let's close in prayer. Our gracious
Lord, Father, we thank you for your grace and how you've provided
richly the gifts and the helps, Lord, and grace for us. And Lord, we're a young body. Lord, we're a young body of believers
together. And Lord, you know, and the things
we have need of, you've provided everything, and we pray that
you would turn our hearts to pray concerning these things,
that we would, as your word says, continue in the grace of God,
and that we, with purpose of heart, could serve the Lord,
and Lord, only you can work that in us. And we're so thankful
for what you have done and been doing. Lord, we acknowledge it's
all of your grace, and it's not of us that we are here together. We look around at this new place
where we're able to meet, and we're thankful for your provision,
Lord. There's certainly no fault with
you. But Father, we ask that you not
deal with us as our sins would deserve or as our flesh would
provoke, but Father, that you would deal with us in grace and
in mercy, that you would stir up in us a fervent love for your
body here, for one another, to serve one another in the spirit
of love and joy and peace and patience. For it's in Christ's
name we pray and give thanks. Amen. Okay, brother. Our closing hymn will be number
123 out of the softback. 123, O Lamb of God. O Lamb of God, still keep me
near to thy wounded side. Tis only there is safety and
peace I can abide. What foes and snares surround
me, what lusts and fears within? That grace that sought and found
me alone can keep me clean. Soon shall my eyes behold thee
with rapture face to face. The half hath not been told me
of all thy power and grace. Thy beauty, Lord, and glory,
the wonders of thy love, shall be the endless story of all thy
saints above. Can we put these away? I don't think so, right Carl? Because we don't use them much?
Oh, that's right.