Would you turn back to 1 Timothy
chapter 3? This weekend, Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday, I'll be preaching for the Grace Bible Church in
San Leandro, California, where Jessica Stand is the pastor.
So everybody remember me, that the Lord will help me at that
time. Bob and Andy and Matt are going
to bring the messages here on Sunday. Verse 15, if I tarry long that
thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house
of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and
ground of the truth. Now we considered last week what
the church of God is, what the house of God is, and we got to
know what his house is before we can know anything about behavior
in his house. The house of God is his church.
His body. This is a supernatural thing
right now. His bride. His people. The called out assembly. That's what church means. The
called out assembly. I've been called out from the
world. The place where God lives. The
church is called the habitation of God through the spirit. It's
where Christ walks among the golden candlesticks. He said,
where two or three are gathered together in my name, like this
right now, there I am in the midst of them. Now, the word
behavior has to do with our conduct, how we move about in his house. Behavior in the house of God
has to do with my behavior with you. That's primarily what it's talking
about. Remember, the church is the house
of God, the people of God. It's not a building. It's not
bricks and mortars. The church is me. The church
is you. It's people. It's not an organization, it's
an organism. And how I treat you is how I
behave in the church of the living God. How you treat me is how
you behave in the church of the living God. It's how I walk before
him in his house. And obviously this is a very
important subject. I think of what our Lord said
in Matthew chapter 25, when he said, come ye blessed of my father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. Now what does that have to do
with your works? Can't have anything to do with your works because
it was prepared for you before time began. Now he goes on to
say for the evidence that it was prepared for them was seen
in what they did to one another. For I was hungry, and you gave
me something to eat. I was thirsty, you gave me to
drink. I was sick and in prison, and you visited me. I was naked,
and you clothed me. They said, we're not aware of
doing any of this. He said, inasmuch as you did it to the least of
these my brethren, you've done it to me. So my works are the
evidence of my election. Now, let me also say this. If
you look at your works and say, well, I passed the bill, I'm
in good shape. You've missed it all together. I'm just sure
of that because the people that our Lord said this to, they said,
we didn't know we did any of this stuff. We're not even aware
of it. So you won't see it, but other
people will. You can write that down. Other
people will. Now, How am I to behave in his
house? And I've gone strictly with what
the Bible says. I'm not making up rules and regulations
and this is what you do and this is what you don't do. We're looking
exactly what the scripture says regarding behavior or conduct
in his house. Turn to 1 Peter 1. Verse 17. And if you call on the Father,
who without respect of persons, judges according to every man's
work, pass the time. That word, pass the time, is
the same word translated behave. Pass the time of your sojourning
here. This is what this is, isn't it?
It's a sojourning. We're passing through. This world
really is not my home. I'm looking forward to getting
out of here and being in the very presence of the Lord Jesus
Christ, being done with sin, being done with myself, being
done with all that's associated with fallen human nature. I look
forward to Getting out of here in that sense. I'm happy I'm
not I'm not saying I'm not but I look forward to getting out
of here being in the presence of Christ I'm at a time of sojourning
I'm just passing through and he says pass the time of your
sojourning here behave in fear Fear The fear of God That's the
beginning of wisdom and that is how one is to conduct himself
in God's house in the fear of the living God. Now what is the
fear of God? It's not a slavish dread and afraid boy's gonna
get me for that. No, the fear of God is that which
makes you afraid of sin. I'm afraid of sin. I'm afraid
of all sin because I'm afraid of the Lord. I fear him. And
I fear Him to this extent. I am afraid because of my fear
of Him. I'm afraid to look anywhere but
Christ only. I'm scared to death to look to
anything other than Christ alone as everything in my salvation.
Now that's what the fear of God is. The fear of God is seen in
the fear of sin. You're afraid of sin. And you're
afraid to look anywhere. except the Lord only as everything
in your salvation. Now twice in Hebrews 13, 17 and
1 Peter 2, 15, we're called upon to have our conversation. That's
the word behavior, same word, it's translated conversation
here. We're twice called upon to have our conversation in honesty,
truthful and real. Lie not one to another. In other
words, don't be an actor. Don't be a hypocrite. That's
what a hypocrite is. He's an actor. He's an actor. He's acting out. Well, we ought
to act humble. Well, yeah, I guess you should, but that's hypocrisy.
That's just acting. We ought to act fearful. Well,
it's an act. I don't want what I do to be an act. I want to
be true and real. This is that spirit that's without
guile. It's honest, truthful before God, not trying to present
an image, not trying to present something to show people about
how pious I am. I want to be real, poor, and
needy. I want to be real, honest before
God. I love what Barnard used to say,
honest people don't go to hell. People who are honest before
God, they're honest about themselves, and they'll be honest with each
other. Be honest. That, surely, that's behavior
in the house of God. You're already there in 1 Peter.
Look in 1 Peter 1, verse 15. But as he which hath called you
is holy, God's holy. God is utterly holy. He's other,
he's without sin. As he which hath called you is
holy, so be ye holy in all manner of behavior, of conversation,
of conduct. Now, this is so true and so simple. You cannot be holy unless you
are holy. You don't do something to become
holy. You cannot be holy unless you are holy. You see, when God
saved every believer, me, you, everybody he saved, he gave them
a new nature, a holy nature, a nature that does not sin. Now,
I still have the old nature, and I'd be lying to dismiss that. I still have the old nature that
I, oh, I can't wait to get rid of it. But I've got a new nature,
and that new nature, everything it does is holy. It acts as a
saint, a sanctified one. He said, be ye holy, for I am
holy. Be holy in all manner of conversation. Whatever I do, may I do it as
a saint of God. a representative of him, a saint
of God. That surely is behavior in his
house, being a possessor of a holy nature. Turn to Ephesians chapter
four for a moment. Here's what this is. Ephesians
chapter four, beginning in verse 24. Verse 23 says, be renewed in
the spirit of your mind that you put on the new man. which
after God is created, note that word created, in righteousness
and true holiness. Not false holiness, but true
holiness, holiness of truth. So what do you do? Wherefore
putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor.
For me, we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin
not. Sin not in that angry, but be
ye angry against sin, and sin not. And let not the sun go down
upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil. Now this
is being holy. Let him that stole, steal no more, but rather let
him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that
he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communications
proceed out of your mouth, that doesn't come from holiness, but
that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister
grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let
all bitterness and wrath and anger and claimer and evil speaking
be put away from you with all malice and be kind one to another,
tenderhearted. forgiving one another. Now that's
holiness. Even as God, for Christ's sake,
hath forgiven you. Turn to 2 Peter chapter 3. I'm going to go over these first
ones pretty quick and then I want to camp at James chapter 3, but
let's go on. 2 Peter chapter 3. Verse 1. I'm sorry, 1 Peter chapter
3. Likewise, you wives, be in subjection
to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they may
also without the word be won by the conversation, the behavior
of the wives. I love thinking about this. Here's
a believing woman with an unbelieving man. And that man does not believe
the gospel she professes. He just doesn't believe. But
he sees her conduct. how she willingly submits herself
to him for Christ's sake. And the scripture says he's won
over by that. Is he always won over? No. But
what this tells us is that our conduct before unbelievers is
of great importance. And the Lord says, He'd be won
over by what he calls the chase conversation coupled with fear.
Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting
the hair and of wearing of gold and of putting on of apparel,
but it let it be the hidden man of the heart, that new nature,
in that which is not corruptible, it's not even subject to sin.
Here's what he sees, even the ornament of a meek and quiet
spirit. which is in the sight of God
of great price. Now here's what this man sees,
a meek spirit. What is meekness? It's an attitude
before God that believes anything he sends my way is right. I may
not like it, I may not enjoy it, but because God sent it,
it's good. It's all good because He sent
it. Now, I might not be clapping
my hands about it and saying, oh, isn't this great? No, but
I know who sent it. And I bow. Whatever He sends
my way is right. That's meekness before God. And
I love this next product of this uncorruptible nature, a quiet
spirit, tranquil from within. Now the only thing that creates
a quiet spirit, strength from within, is really believing that
salvation is by grace. And that settles you. Really
believing that the righteousness of Christ is your only righteousness.
And that settles you. And this quiet spirit causes
no disturbance to others. A meek and a quiet spirit doesn't
want to cause distractions, but let alone cause offense to others. It doesn't want to be in the
spotlight. Now this is good behavior in the house of God. A meek and
a quiet spirit. Isn't a meek spirit and a quiet
spirit beautiful? Meek before God. You know, the
Lord Jesus Christ is meek. I think that's beautiful, the
meekness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I'm meek and lowly in
heart, and you'll find rest for your souls. And a quiet spirit,
tranquil from within, believing the gospel. Now turn to 2 Corinthians
1. 2 Corinthians 1. Behavior in the house of God
is beautiful, isn't it? Oh, to God that he would give
us the grace to behave ourselves just this way in his house amongst
his people before him. He says in verse 12, for our
rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, we're not
lying about this, this isn't just put on, this is our rejoicing,
that in simplicity and godly sincerity, Not with fleshly wisdom,
but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world
and more abundantly to you. That word conversation is the
word that's our behavior. That's our behavior in the house
of God with simplicity and godly sincerity. Not with fleshly wisdom,
but by the grace of God. Now, sincerity. Don't you love
sincerity? It's the way Paul conducted his
ministry. Look in the next chapter, verse
17, for we are not as many which corrupt the word of God, 2 Corinthians
2, 17, for we are not as many which corrupt the word of God,
but as of sincerity, but as of God and the sight of God speak
we in Christ. Sincere means single and unmixed. Now, may this be me. I preach the word and nothing
else. No mixture of human wisdom. I believe in grace. I believe
Christ is all. No mixture. Sincerity. Only that is sincere. If I had
anything else, I'm not sincere. Sincere means single, simple,
singular. We preach Christ is all, and
that's all we preach. Simplicity. Sometimes translated,
bounty. and liberality. You know, something
that you're sincerely for, that your heart's in, you're generous
toward, aren't you? I mean, if you, what you love,
you're generous toward. Generosity or giving, the scripture
says, proves the sincerity, the realness of your love. And you're
generous with your time, with your thoughts, with your prayers,
with whatever really means something to you, what's ever really truly
important to you, you're bountiful toward. you're liberal toward.
He said in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom,
not with strategies and policies and trying to figure out how
to, no, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we've
had our conversation in this world and more abundantly to
you. This simplicity and godly sincerity,
we know where it comes from, the grace of God. and we're relying
on the grace of God only. Now isn't that beautiful conduct
in the house of God? Simplicity and godly sincerity. Not with fleshly wisdom, but
by the grace of God, we've had our conversation in this world.
Now turn to James 3. This is the one that I wanted
to spend the most time on. James chapter 3. Verse 13. Who is a wise man and endued
with knowledge among you? Well, if he is, let him show
out of a good conversation. That's the word, behavior. Let
him demonstrate that out of a good conversation his works with meekness
of wisdom. Meekness of wisdom. You know,
human wisdom is always proud, isn't it? It's not meek before
God. It's always arrogant. It's always
trying to draw attention to itself. Vain philosophy, the wisdom of
men. I love that scripture that says, the Lord knoweth the thoughts
of the wise that they're vain. And that's precisely what they
are. But oh, the beauty of meekness of wisdom, let him show his works
with meekness of wisdom. You know, the first thing the
Lord said to ever all seven of the churches, what's the first
thing he said? I know your works. I know your works. Who is a wise
man and dude with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good
conversation, this good behavior in the house of God, his works
with meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envying
and strife, ambition, rivalry, competition in your hearts, glory
not, lie not against the truth. Don't tell yourself things are
okay when they're not, because they're not, if that's what you're
about. This wisdom descended not from above, but is earthly,
sensual, fleshly, devilish. For where in being in strife
is there's confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that's
from above, now he's talking about that Wisdom that is full
of meekness that comes from the Lord. It's the wisdom that's
from above. Now, the first thing I'd want
to point out about this is who is the wisdom from above? This is a beautiful description
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the wisdom truly that's
from above. And look what it says regarding
him in his wisdom. And this is conduct in the house
of God, watching him. The wisdom that's from above
is first pure. Isn't that who the Lord Jesus
Christ is? He's pure God. He's pure man. He's pure. He never sinned. He's first pure, absolutely truthful. He's the faithful and true witness. Now the wisdom that's from above,
the Lord Jesus Christ, first he's pure. If he's not pure,
nothing else matters. First he's pure, but then he's
peaceable. He's peaceable. He's at peace. He has no turmoil. Now you think
about the Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, he's omnipotent.
He's all powerful. What would he have to not be
at peace about? He's in absolute control. He's omnipresent. There's nowhere where he's not.
where he's not in control. He's omniscient. He knows all
things. He's sovereign. His will must
be done and always is done. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's therefore at peace. What's he have to worry about?
He's the Lord. He controls all things. He has the peace of perfect obedience. Now what is it that disturbs
our peace? One thing that disturbs our peace, sin. Sin. That disturbs my peace, it disturbs
your peace. Sin against God. He doesn't have
any of that. He's always at perfect peace. And think of the peace he made
for his people. Having made peace, Colossians
1.20 says, having made peace by the blood of his cross and
because of the peace he made for his people. He's at peace
with them. He said, I know the thoughts
I have toward you. Thoughts of peace, not of evil. And we think he's mad at me.
He says, I know the thoughts I have of you. You see, he's
made our peace with God and he is filled with peace toward me. And next it says he's first pure,
then peaceable, gentle. Gentle. What a description of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the word that's also translated
moderate, easy, non-threatening, non-judgmental. That's the Lord
Jesus Christ. And the scripture that came to
my mind He knoweth our frame. He remembers
that we're dust. He really does. Aren't you thankful
for that? He's gentle, not some hard-nosed, the way religion
says. Oh, He's gentle, the Lord Jesus Christ. And next it says,
He's easy to be entreated. You know what that means? That
means he is approachable. That means if you come to him,
he will not cast you out. You come, you'll be received
because he is easy to be entreated. Now, you may come to me, I might
be in a bad mood, I might say something I shouldn't do, or
I might just be hard-hearted. There's all kinds of things that
might happen when you come to me, or if I come to you. You'd
be misunderstood, but not him. He's always approachable, easy
to be entreated. He says, him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise, for no reason at all. Turn him aside, cast
out, you come, he'll receive you. Because he is easy to be
entreated. Isn't this a beautiful description
of the Lord? Right here in James. Now what's it say next? It says
he is full of mercy. He's full of mercy. He delights
in mercy and he delights in giving mercy to sinners. That mercy,
that is what I need. I need Christ. I need God to
not give me what I deserve because I know what I deserve. But he
delights in mercy. He's full of mercy. Isn't he glorious? And he's full of good fruits.
Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance. This is a description of the
Lord, the fruit of the God, God, the Holy Spirit is also the fruit
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And next it says he is without
partiality. That means without uncertainty.
You know, the Lord's never uncertain about anything. He's never uncertain. He knows who he is, and he knows
who we are, and he knows how he saves. He's without partiality
and without hypocrisy. He never acts, and the fruit
of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. Now,
that's a beautiful description of our Lord, but this is also
a beautiful description of behavior in his house. Oh, that you and
I have this wisdom that's from above. It's first, pure. Unmixed, it's true. The wisdom that's from above,
it's not erroneous. It's first pure. It's according
to the scriptures. It's according to the scriptures
of truth. It's according to the truth of the gospel. It's the
pure truth. It begins with truth. The wisdom
that's from above, if it's not founded on the truth of the gospel,
it's not the wisdom from above. It's first pure. But after that,
it's peaceable. You know, the believer's a peacemaker.
He's not looking for a fight. He's a peacemaker. Now, I realize
that the gospel we preach will create conflict, and we're not
going to shy away from that. You know, the Lord also said,
blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness. And if I preach
the righteousness of Christ, I will be persecuted for that.
I will be. But he says first, you can't
be persecuted for righteousness sakes unless you're first a peacemaker.
The believer is a peacemaker. I'm for peace and not for war.
I want peace with God. I want to be at peace with you.
I want us to have a peaceful relationship. I want to be at
peace with men in the sense that I want men to know I'm not after
what they have. I'm not after what they have. I mean, they
go up. I'm not after it. I just want to know the Lord.
I want to be at peace with men in that sense. Blessed are the
peacemakers. The wisdom that's from above
is first pure, but after that it's peaceable. And then the
wisdom that's from above, and this is our behavior in the house
of God, it's gentle. It's moderate. It's nonjudgmental. It doesn't hold people's feet
to the fire. It doesn't insist on the letter
of the law. Now, if you know yourself, you
know you don't have the right to sit in judgment about anything
with regard to anybody, with regard to anything, because you
know, apart from the grace of God, you'll be worse. You know
that, and you really believe that. And when you sit in judgment
on your brother, oh, it's so wrong. It's so wrong. When I
sit in judgment on my brother, I'm practicing grotesque hypocrisy,
and I don't know the facts anyway. It's such an ugly spirit, but
how beautiful it is to see this gentle spirit that doesn't hold
people's feet to the fire, that's humane, that understands the
facts behind the case, that has some idea of what somebody's...
It's humane. It's humane. It's not so high
and lofty, but gentle, just like the Lord Jesus Christ. The wisdom
that's from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy
to be entreated. Approachable and compliant. Full of mercy. Full of it. If you experience mercy, if I
experience mercy, I'm gonna be a merciful person. And if I'm
an unmerciful person, it's because I know nothing of the mercy of
God. The wisdom, now this is conduct, this is behavior in
the house of God. Merciful. full of mercy, full
of the fruit of the spirit. And I like this, the wisdom that's
from above is without partiality, without uncertainty. Now, a lot
of things I'm uncertain about, a lot of things I can't speak
confidently about, but there's some things I'm certain about. First, I'm certain that I'm a
sinner. I'm certain about that. Are you? I'm convinced. I don't
hedge back. I know that's what I'm. I'm certain. I'm certain I'm a sinner. Let
me tell you something else I'm certain about. I'm certain that
Jesus Christ is all in salvation. I'm certain of that. I'm certain
that his righteousness is the only righteousness there is and
that I'm complete in him. I'm certain that his precious
blood is all that's needed to make me holy and without blame
before God. I'm certain of that. I'm certain
that sovereign grace is the only gospel. I'm certain I preach
God's gospel. I'm certain of that. The wisdom
that's from above, it's without uncertainty. You know, that's
the reason I don't feel a need to fight and argue over what
I believe. Don't need to, it's the truth.
It's the truth. You know, when people wanna fight
and argue and debate, it's because they're really not certain about
what they believe. It's because they really don't have confidence
in what they believe. But the wisdom that's from above, and
this is conduct in the house of God, is without partiality
and without hypocrisy, acting. You know, there's a couple of
phrases we read in the scripture several times. Unfeigned faith,
unhypocritical faith, unacted out faith, and unfeigned love. Unhypocritical love, unacted
out love. Now, unfeigned faith. This is not an act. The only
hope I have is that Jesus Christ died for me. That's the only
hope I have. I have no other hope. The only
hope I have is that his righteousness is my righteousness before God.
The only hope I have is that I might be found in him. Now
that's real. I really am looking to Him only. I don't have the slightest bit
of a shred of confidence in anything else but Him. Not me, but Him. Now that's unfeigned, that's
real. And then we also read in the scriptures of unfeigned love. Now the Lord knows if I'm telling
the truth or not, but I really do love Him. Like Peter, Lord,
you know all things. You know that I love you. I love his person. I love all
of his attributes. I love his sovereignty. Do you
love the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ? The fact that he
rules and reigns, his will must be done. I love his holiness. I love his kindness. I love his
mercy. I love his grace. I love his
wisdom. Every attribute regarding the
Lord Jesus Christ, I love because I love him. Unfamed. Unfaked. And I love His people. Everybody that loves the Lord.
You find me one person that loves the Lord Jesus Christ, and no
faking about this, I love that person. I want to be counted
with them. I want my lot to be cast with
them. I want to be identified with them. I want to be identified
with the people who love the Lord Jesus Christ. And as God
is my witness, I love men. I want men to believe the gospel.
I wouldn't preach the gospel if I didn't. I expect people
to believe the gospel. That's why I preach. This is
the glorious, best news there ever was. Everybody ought to
believe this. I want you to believe it. I want everybody to believe
it. And that's the only way the gospel is to be preached. Unfamed. Unthanked. And that's beautiful
conduct in the house of God. Now, one final scripture. Turn to Hebrews chapter 13. Verse 7. Remember them which have the
rule over you, And my marginal reading says the ones who are
your guides, the ones who preach the gospel to you and guide you
or point you to the Lord Jesus Christ, who have spoken unto
you the word of God, whose faith follow. That's a tall order. If I have
real faith, I'm asking you to follow my faith. whose faith
follow. Considering the end, the goal
of their conversation, their conduct, their behavior, their
manner of life. And what is it? Jesus Christ
the same. That's the end. That's the goal
of my conversation. If you're a believer, that's
the goal. That's the end of your conversation. Jesus Christ, the
same, what he was, He is. And what He is, He will be. Because He is immutable. He never changes. Jesus Christ. That's the end of our conversation.
Jesus Christ. Paul said, for me to live is
what? Christ. And to die is what? Gain. That's the end of our conversation. The Lord Jesus Christ. And I tell you what, my goal,
my end, my goal is that when God comes looking for me in judgment,
all he sees is his son. I don't want him to see anything
else. I don't want him to see my preaching. I don't want him to see my praying.
I don't want him to see my witnessing. I don't want him to see anything
about me. I want him to see Jesus Christ. That is the end of our conversation. Jesus Christ the same. Yesterday, today, and forever. Until the time when time is no
more. And that time is coming. But
until that time, may I and may you, by God's grace, behave ourselves in the house
of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and
the ground of the truth. Let's pray together.