God's People - Rejoicing and Reasonable

Turn in your Bibles or page down on your smartphone or whatever device you're using to have the scripture before you and turn if you would to Philippians chapter 4,

Philippians chapter 4. Our text today and God willing next week will be verses 4 through 7 of today this morning.

My hope is to bring to you verses 4 and 5 and God willing next week verses 6 and 7 so a two -parter if you will and I will read actually beginning at verse 1 so we remember the context of what we have before us this morning, the letter that Paul has written to the

Philippians is drawing to a close and as it draws to a close it is Paul's intent here to cement within the

Philippian church, within the members there, the ethical and the lifestyle demands of the gospel.

Now you might remember that way back in chapter 3 and verse 1 Paul first hinted that he was bringing this letter to a close because back there he said finally my brothers rejoice in the

Lord and here we are now in the middle of chapter 4 and he's not quite done yet and in the verse that we will come to in a few weeks from now chapter 4 verse 8 he's going to again say finally and continue on after that finally to verse 23 so we've got a ways to go.

This morning we're going to pick up the whole life necessity of rejoicing and with it and into next week some more characteristics of the

Christian life, reasonableness and making requests to be made known to God.

So that's three R's it makes it fairly easy to remember where we're going with this, it's not an acrostic

I came up with they came straight from the text for it to be R rejoicing,

R reasonable and R requesting of God what we need and as I read the verses this morning

I want you to think about I want you to listen to how God's word is to encompass the whole of your life all inclusive words and commands here.

I begin at verse 1 and I'll remind you when I get to verse 4 that we're on our actual text for the morning.

Therefore my brothers whom I love and long for my joy and crown stand firm thus in the

Lord I entreat Yodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord yes

I ask you also true companion help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.

Now this morning's text rejoice in the Lord always again I will say rejoice let your reasonableness be known to everyone the

Lord is near do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The wonderful promise at the end there in verse 7 is sort of like of a present it's as if Alexa and Google combined with Amazon to put on your porch a present a box containing something you know what is in it but you can't have it until we get it.

Today you can bring the box inside but you cannot open it until we get to it. So knowing this wonderful promise so often claimed by the

Christian rightfully claimed about the peace of God guarding heart guarding mind but you're going to have to wait until next week when we get to verses 6 and 7 this morning is verses 4 and 5

I want us to focus on rejoice in the Lord always again I will say rejoice let your reasonableness be known to everyone the

Lord is at hand these wrap you up if you look at them if you listen to them rightly these are going to wrap you up from morning to night from home to work and then back again here in these verses is your spiritual discipline from the day you came to faith in Jesus Christ and to last until the day that Jesus Christ calls you to himself rejoice always again rejoice reasonableness is known to everyone next week requests being made known to God and then the peace of God surpassing all understanding will guard your heart and guard your mind in Christ Jesus.

You know the Philippians needed this in ways beyond what is really just right on the surface of the text they really needed to hear this you think about what was happening with them at this time their founder

Paul was in prison their founder Paul the apostle the inspired apostle of God expected to be executed fairly soon the

Roman Empire all around them thought of them as atheists it was a terrible thing in those days in their eyes a terrible moral failure to worship only one

God so they were surrounded by that pressure from within they were being persuaded to add

Jewish rights to faith in Christ you recall from chapter 3 watch out for the dogs watch out for the mutilators of the flesh look out for the evil doers and all that that was a pressure from within adding

Jewish rights to faith in Christ they had Iodia and Syntyche these influential women who were at each other's throats for issues that were never really told what they are they never explained to us but we do know that members of the church were lining up behind one or the other they had all these pressures around them they had pressures outside of them forcing in they had pressures within forcing divisions what is the answer?

what does the apostle Paul say? rejoice be reasonable make requests to God in prayer now that's simple isn't it?

doesn't that not sound simple? what we'll see as we go through this the Philippians needed this because of the pressures they were under from without and how the pressures without were causing pressures within pressures without were causing rifts within all focused on these two women

Iodia and Syntyche they needed this church we need this we need this today we have

COVID -19 ravaging the world that's from without and it's brought extra hardships to the church some side with Iodia they want the doors open and the pews filled that's not necessarily at this church it's happening in the church at large they side with one and say the doors need to be open the pews are filled there's a church in south

San Jose that is today opening fully as I understand it as it was announced and some are with Syntyche if you will and they want even more safety precautions they must be even more careful and in the midst of all this

George Foster's murder lit a match to a powder keg of pent up frustration so we today even in this church this morning even amongst this one fellowship we're under pressures not so much different then or less intense than what the

Philippians were under and Paul's answer to us is what it was to them rejoice be reasonable and make your requests be made known to God and then the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts in Christ Jesus so again a two part series on these four verses this morning four and five verses four and five keeping in mind one through three and the immediate context that led

Paul to this our answer is to rejoice to be reasonable to make requests to God now isn't that simple well we'll see how simple it is the first part of the answer is simply to rejoice rejoice in the

Lord again excuse me rejoice in the Lord always again I will say rejoice see the

Lord Jesus Christ is the source he is the cause of unending rejoicing constant rejoicing rejoice in the

Lord always he says and again he repeats it two things are key here one key here is one one is that Jesus is the reason he is the cause he is the center of unending joy amongst his people and the second is that Paul sees the need to repeat this direction in the voice of command you are actually commanded to rejoice you're commanded to rejoice it sounds odd does it not like a parent who walks into a room and there's a child who's unhappy for no good reason and causing a fuss and the father says something like well

I'm going to take the trash out I'm going to bring the trash can back in and put the new liner in and put it under the sink by the time

I get back here and look in this room you better be happy I order you to be happy get that smile going on your face is it like that no it's not quite like that as we'll see it is the voice of command but here it is descriptive more than it is the actual imperative it's an imperative in the sense that it's a necessity of the

Christian life to be one of rejoicing it's an imperative in that the apostle is commanding it but not with that sternness that we often think of command

I want to ask you for a moment can you picture rejoicing when

I ask that question I think of my theology professor in seminary who once I don't remember what passage he was in or what concept he was trying to get across to us he spoke of how hard it is to describe the smell of coffee brewing

I don't remember what that point was it made a good point in the class that day but I asked along those lines how would you picture rejoicing how do you picture rejoicing someone say

I know what it is to rejoice it's a standing there look on my face it's rather stone set it's stoic

I've got my arms folded and I'm singing and I'm rejoicing as I sing praise to the Lord the

Almighty the King of creation I am rejoicing it looks different for everybody some people can't keep their hands down makes that other one uncomfortable those are extremes neither one is a perfect picture but I ask you how do you picture rejoicing when

I first say to you rejoice in the Lord always again I will say rejoice do you get a picture in your mind about that well let me tell you and I should say let me confess to you what

I think of when I try to picture rejoicing you know what I think of I think of Snoopy in the

Peanuts cartoons and you see him with his hands extended or excuse me his paws extended and his head's tilted back and he's got this grin from ear to ear and he's flapping his feet so hard that he's levitating now that's rejoicing if anything is

I don't know what he was rejoicing over I don't recall that but that's the picture of it and I ask you is that what God expects of us you know there's a greeting card with that same picture of Snoopy and it says

God commands us to rejoice it's not a suggestion is that we're supposed to do now

I can't dance as all of you know I have multiple sclerosis I can barely walk anymore so I'm certainly not going to dance and if you can dance you're not gonna flap your feet hard enough to levitate but is that what

God expects of us is that what rejoicing really is what are we supposed to do well first thing to do here is to notice the reason and the basis for rejoicing not necessarily just exuberant happy feelings bursting out of us there's three words to help us to understand what this rejoicing is about this whole life commands this description of the

Christians to rejoice three little words in the

Lord rejoice in the Lord always again

I will say rejoice in Jesus Christ by faith in him as he by his spirit is in you because in the

Lord we're to rejoice great direction this gives us a better idea of what's really being expected of us some 16 years ago when

I first started preaching at this church I preached to Ephesians one of my earliest sermons going through chapter one to give an overall picture of it that first that sermon

I titled and the little big word was the

Greek word in which translates very nicely into the

English word in I am two little letters one little word but it's the little big word little word

Oh so big and so important Paul tells us rejoice in the

Lord rejoice in the Lord I want to go through a very fast thumbnail sketch of in the

Lord by going back to Ephesians chapter one if you have your smartphone going or however you're following along in the scripture

I want you to look at Ephesians chapter one open up to Ephesians chapter one for me and follow these verses

I'm gonna read them I'm gonna make very few comments the Lord willing I'll be able to restrain myself and make very few comments

I want you to understand what it means to be in the Lord what it means to be in the

Lord in terms of Paul saying rejoice in the Lord rejoice in the

Lord always are you there Ephesians chapter one look at verse three blessed be the

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ or in him with every spiritual blessing in him brethren can you rejoice knowing that God the

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed you in Christ with every spiritual blessing and did you get the in Paul has to repeat himself in him blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in him that God the

Father because he the Father by his spirit has placed you in Christ has blessed you with every spiritual blessing in him rejoice in the

Lord again I will say rejoices it's not cause for rejoicing look at verse 4 even as he that's the father even as he chose us in him in him our little big word in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love

I'm sorry in love is not there I added it that's the way I memorized it many years ago

God the Father chose us to be in him in Christ that little big word before the foundation of the world before your parents met each other before your parents were born before the earth on which your parents would eventually meet existed before all time

God chose you to be in him rejoice in him rejoice in the

Lord always again I will say rejoice rejoice because he chose you in him our little big word before the foundation of the world look at verse six please to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved in him

God's glorious grace showered down upon you because you are in Christ by grace you've been saved by the

Spirit of God opening your eyes and give you a heart to believe you are in Christ and being in Christ you are to the praise of his glorious grace a refuge from this world a hell bound sinner brought to heavenward the praise of his glorious grace with his blessed us in the beloved rejoice in the

Lord always again I will say rejoice is what the Apostle is getting at but we're not done in Ephesians yet look at verse 7 in him rejoice in the

Lord in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our trespasses brethren this is salvation rejoice in the

Lord always again I say rejoice you've been saved you have redemption through his blood shed on the cross for you the forgiveness of your trespasses making known to us that's

God the Father making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ in Christ brethren

Christian do you know the Lord Jesus Christ was his blood shed for you has the

Spirit come upon you and opened your eyes to this by giving you a new heart to believe is there an amen to this how do we do this now he's a little tooth okay thank you what do

I have to say making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ rejoice in the

Lord what does this verse tell us the mystery of God the Father's will for all creation for all history is known to you in Christ in him in Jesus in the

Lord what more cause to rejoice do we have verse 11 in him we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of him that's

God the Father who works all things according to the counsel of his will brethren you have that inheritance Jesus Christ now this day watching over that inheritance for you our citizenship is there it is in heaven and from it we await a

Savior our Lord Jesus Christ will transform us he's our inheritance he is there and in him we have an inheritance all things are ours through him in him we have this inheritance in him we must rejoice one more verse 13 in him you also when you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and believed in him were sealed with the

Holy with the promised Holy Spirit was the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory father son spirit father

God the Father choosing you before the foundation of the world to be in in his son

Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit coming upon you and sealing you and being in you that's just a few of the verses dear ones that's just a few verses we can go through the psalms and we would never get done with them

I don't believe we can go week after week after week on this same idea rejoicing and what the

Lord God has done for you in Christ Jesus we have any greater cause to rejoice than what we have here rejoicing is more than the

Snoopy happy dance as much as I love that picture it's more than levitating because you're flapping your feet so hard because you're so joyful it's a life it's an always an always a settled deep -seated reverence for Christ's person and gratitude for what he has done for you it's a response to God's grace in something better than exuberance and it's okay to be exuberant it's okay to have your hands up it's okay to weep you're just out of joy of knowing

Christ those are all fine but it's something that's more lasting more enduring in our life more consistent more day to night home to work and back again then such an enthusiastic and exhausting for some of us outflow of emotion no it's it's a it's a settled disposition of reverence for him and a daily a constant a moment -by -moment remembrance that the son of God who loved me gave himself up for me devotion to him it's devotion to him and as the context of Philippians shows that means devotion to his people our unity our mutual growth to see his word dwell richly among us that's

Colossians 3 16 all these are what it means to rejoice in the Lord moment by day by week by month and most especially with God's people is that not reason to rejoice can we not together rejoice in the

Lord always again I will say rejoice I need to ask you seeing how good a

Savior Jesus is seeing what a wonderful God the Father is to have sent his son to accomplish our redemption the forgiveness of our sins and then to send his

Holy Spirit to those whom he predestined to be in Christ open our eyes to this wonder why does the

Apostle Paul have to tell the Philippians twice well really three times when we go back to the first ending of the letter the finally brethren rejoice in the

Lord that's chapter 3 verse 1 now we're chapter 4 verse 4 again we have the same thing rejoice in the

Lord always again I will say rejoice why does he have to repeat himself why did they have to hear it in the same brothers and sisters why do you have to hear it twice why do

I why do we together have to hear this these couple of times in one verse when the whole book has this idea of rejoicing going all through it and the whole

Bible and especially the Psalms have rejoicing after rejoicing why does he tell us twice in one verse

I think it's because we are by nature ungrateful people we by nature want to deserve what we have

I think it's because of some of us are self -conscious and we're afraid to show our enthusiasm so Paul has to draw it out of us rejoice again

I will say rejoice and there's one more which is

I think is really hardest to admit sometimes is a dangerous thing for us to admit that we have something to rejoice over it's a little bit dangerous to put out the notice and say you know what

I have cause to rejoice I have a reason to be can I say happy to be every moment glad because every moment the

Lord is with me because every moment he is now interceding for me that's a dangerous thing to admit that you have such cause for joy such cause to be satisfied what does this look like why did why is it so hard to draw true rejoicing and again

I don't mean the Snoopy happy dance so if anybody could do it for me I'd love to see it but that's not what

I mean I'm talking about a lifelong settled disposition of gratitude to God for what he's done for you in Christ Jesus our

Lord it's hard to admit sometimes I have something before me that I need to be grateful for but I have cause to rejoice over I'm gonna picture this for you with a 1987 movie called

Babette's Feast which was based on a book I'll give you a very quick version of it but there are these two sisters

I can't remember their names this is in 19th century Holland and they live close to Jutland where that great naval battles fought in World War One well their father had passed away he had been pastor of this village and now they took over caring for these people most of them very elderly some of them infirm and they served them day by day by day as a father and what they served them to eat was this rule that would make oatmeal that had no butter or salt or sugar anything on it look like a gourmet feast it was just plain and they'd learn that you eat the gruel because gruel satisfies your body and anything more than this plain rule is sinful sensuality along comes the bet she's a refuge from the

French Revolution she is a world famous chef she's like the chef of Paris for the upper crust people she finds out after she comes to this village and she attaches and she grows to love them she had won the

French lottery she gets ten thousand francs I don't know what that means in today's money it's a lot of money she spends every cent of it to make a feast for these people

Babette's Feast and when the people sit down and they see it they're afraid to touch it because they had learned that gruel is holy and any seasoning much less this feast was sinful sensuality and the first man takes some he sees how good it is and how not gruel like it is and he can't admit to the others how good it is he couldn't tell them that they had cause to rejoice he couldn't tell him that this is really okay that this feast has been set before you without condition they all are terrified until they finally start and realize that it was just the goodness of Babette in our heart that laid this feast before them

I wonder are we that way with Christ and his goodness why does the apostle have to tell us twice rejoice again

I will say rejoice why do we have to be told when we serve a God like our God to rejoice twice are we that way are we sometimes afraid to admit that we have joy to show this command to rejoice as I said it is a command there's no getting around that but it's really a description of us in this context not so much

I better find some rejoicing here there's going to be trouble as it is that Christ the Lord is so proud foundling worthy of your rejoicing therefore rejoice and he set this wonderful bounty before you he's taken away instead of warmly feast that's unbelievable what is the feast it is him it is him is our joy in him rejoice in the

Lord always because Christ is worthy of it rejoice in the

Lord always because it's good for your soul rejoice in the Lord always because it's good for me to see you rejoice and for you to see me rejoice and on and on go those connections throughout the whole church rejoice in the

Lord always because he is profoundly worthy of rejoicing and because the Apostle Paul says to rejoice because rejoicing is good for you it's good for me it's good for you to see me rejoice good for me to see you rejoice it's good for the church brethren for us all to be rejoicing in the

Lord rejoicing in the Lord is a reasonable response for the grace of God is it not would you not say well if God is that good and he is and he did this wonderful thing for us in Christ and he did is he not profoundly worthy of it is that not a reasonable response look at verse 5 lay your reasonableness be known to everyone the

Lord is near some of you Bibles may say the Lord is at hand to worry about that near or at hand or both good translations of the original as rejoicing is because of our proximity to Jesus so reasonableness here in this verse is because of his proximity to us he is near it could mean he is near in his coming and he could come at any moment

I think the nearness here is proximity to them by his spirit he was with them so he says let your reasonableness be known to everyone it's very odd if you look at your

Bibles in a period there then we have the Lord is near semicolon and then verse 6 if you look ahead begins with a small

D do not be anxious and so forth where does the Lord is near what does it mean

I take it actually two ways I want you to know this because I'm gonna pick it up again next week lay your reasonableness be known to everyone because the

Lord is near and next week the Lord is near therefore do not be anxious

I think it works as a Janice kind of looking both ways lay your reasonableness be known to everyone the

Lord is near are you reasonable are you a reasonable person the

Greek word behind reasonable is not used very often but it means to do what is fitting to do what is right to do what is equitable that describes a few of us this word also means not insisting on the letter of the law in a given case not insisting on the letter of the law in a given case this word used in Psalm 86 verse 5 of God where the psalmist says for you

O Lord are good and forgiving you O Lord are good and reasonable is used in 2nd

Kings chapter 6 3 of Elisha the prophet early in his ministry after Elijah was taken away in the in the chariot of fire the prophets come to him the young prophets and they asked him to stay and be their master they will be his disciples and they want to build that that seminary house if you will and in chapter 6 verse 3 of 2nd

Kings the prophets asked Elisha be pleased be reasonable be pleased to go with us so Elisha agrees he is reasonable because he agrees to do something that's not really incumbent upon him in the context of Flickens coming as it does so soon after the

Eodia and Syntyche controversy it means this it means to treat each other the way

God has treated you let your reasonableness be known to everyone who is everyone

I would suggest everyone is those who can appreciate it that is fellow believers

I would say everyone is really more particularly those in the particular fellowship to which you have committed yourself treat each other the way

God has treated you treat each other in the world the way the

Lord has treated you the way God in the Lord has treated you Paul told the squabblers

Eodia and Syntyche to agree just like that in the Lord there are many verses that relate to this the main verses that relate to how we relate to each other because of how

God relates to us or related with a D in past tense if you will many verses we can go to and I'm just going to do one

I'm just going to give you one Ephesians 432 be kind to one another tender -hearted forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you let that be known to everyone too often we extract the full measure of the law from the offending brother or sister we become the church the church of the great rebukers because we can see what you did wrong and now

I'm going to give you a verse about it sometimes I I sort of shudder at that term

I gave you first I'm going to give you a verse because usually or too often I should say it becomes a sledgehammer with which

I'm going to get bludgeoned and too often weeks extract the full measure of the law and when we do that we're just upholding

God's law right we are showing how God in Christ has treated me right but imagine what if God treated us the way we treat each other

I want to think of forgiveness here I want to think of the controversies that come up in the church between people we're all sinners we all sin we all tick each other off can we agree to that we all stumble in each other's faces and so there's always need for being kind to one another tender -hearted forgiving one another there's always need to be reasonable and let our reasonableness be known to everyone imagine if God treated me the way

I treat you or vice versa imagine you're standing there 2 ,000 years ago and you hear

Jesus Christ say repent for the kingdom of God is at hand and you fall down in your knees before me you spread your hands vulnerably you say

Lord I repent take me to your kingdom he says you repent of what my sins which sin

I carry you sinned an hour ago didn't you yeah what was it I forgot I'd like what'd you do yesterday no yeah

I can't remember Lord to please forgive me I will forgive you I want a list I want a list going back to every sin that I can remember and I want them systematized

I want them categorized I want them date ordered and within those dates I want them priority ordered and off to the side of your spreadsheet that you're going to give me before I forgive them you're gonna show me tell me every person who was affected by that sin and go back and sackcloth and ashes that's what it means to repent for the kingdom of God is at hand that's what the way

God treated you right the way God treated me when I come and I insist that you cover this person repent and this related verse repent

I give you another version you can repent then we're gonna catch all the people and we're gonna make it so hard that if Christ had made it that hard none of us would be here now who would be suffering torment forever because he didn't do that did he what does

Paul mean when he says be reasonable let your reasonableness be known it means to treat each other as God treated you in Christ God would be justified if he sent us to hell right now would he not if he extracted from you or me what we owe him for the wages of sin is death and all of sin and fall short of the glory of God that's

Romans 6 that's Romans 3 Solomon said there's no one who does not sin we owe him the payment for our sins we owe him the payment for every one of our sins and even if you can remember them all even if you could date order them all sorry this go off in commission one second even if we could do all that and go to the

Lord with every one of them he would be justified in punishing every one of them with eternal torment in hell is that what he did no and he'd have the right to do that he would still be good and just and holy and righteous had he done that he has the right to carry out that sentence in each of us forever and ever and ever and it would be fair and right and just how did

God treat us in Christ with reasonableness I would argue he treated you reasonably did not extract from you every jot and tittle of the law his good and just and holy law which tells what you owe him why because you can't pay it

I can't pay it eternal suffering in hell forever and ever and ever could not pay for the slightest of our insults against him with reasonableness he did not demand what

I could never pay what did he do instead he laid my sins on his sons he treated

Jesus Christ how unreasonably tempted in all ways as we are yet without sin he who knew no sin became sins for us he was treated the only man who never sinned the only man who never deserved to be punished for sin as though he did all of our sins he was treated unreasonably and so God treated you do you see how important this is

Ephesians 432 was just one example Ephesians 4 or 5 that your reasonableness be known to everyone the

Lord is at hand that's for our interactions with each other this is for us today this is for this church in this very place today as much as it was for the

Philippians then these days of pandemic these days of social upheaval we need to be reasonable with each other we need to be reasonable accepting one another's fears and accepting one another's outrage and some of the things that have happened the

Lord is near he's with us even now consider our times some churches are literally coming unglued over these things the pandemic and the social upheavals that are happening now

I want to talk about being reasonable I'm not going to sort out for you which side is right and which side is wrong and I can do that because in Philippians Paul never tells us what

Euodia and Syntyche were arguing about and who was on which side we know the church was splitting up over this some look at the protest marches that are going on now and they're totally against it and say well that's

Marxism others look and say no that's the gospel we need to be concerned about racism and social injustice

I'm not sorting out for you which one is right and where the church should go on this and who needs to carry a sign

I am telling you to be reasonable I am telling you that if I don't kneel I shouldn't be called a racist and if you do kneel to show your support for some of these right issues behind all this and the desire for things to be right in this country in terms of social injustice things that the gospel would speak to we need to be just as reasonable about that if COVID wasn't enough the murder of George Foster who just exploded this pent -up frustration has really turned things on their head

I'm taking too long here I am making this longer than I had hoped just a few more moments please we all know that as we have these kind of controversies things tend to come out things will surprise you about this officer we don't know yet if we have evidence that he was a racist

I will tell you that my impression the first time

I saw the film is my impression is subjective only God knows ultimately all the facts when

I saw that knee on his neck you know what bothered me the most was his left hand now

I don't know that that officer was doing it because Foster was black I don't know that I don't know what's going to come out

I will tell you this that hand in his left pocket looked to me looked in quotes it appeared to me to be nonchalant he didn't care that a man who was subdued he appeared to be completely subdued begging for air begging for his life that that man was made in the image of God and things have exploded since then what about the church what about us what about those who know what it's like to fear that you'll be pulled over for the way you look something

I cannot relate to I get pulled over driver's license proof of insurance registration

I give it to the officer he hands me the ticket says you need to sign this it's not a proof of guilt but you need to sign it and pay the fines etc etc and then go your way have a good day stop speeding

I have no fear than anything more than that's going to happen to me I need to be reasonable with those who have fear even if they never in their life felt the bite of that racism or that kind of prejudice even if we've had less the life is the rest we who've never even thought about it need to think about it now in relation to what social justice maybe

I would say more importantly that brother or sister who has a deep felt concern who even if they've never been pulled over because of the way they look saw someone who looks like them pulled over for the way they look and are worried about it brethren it's not reasonable to say that if I don't kneel or if I don't say these words

I'm against all of that anymore than it's reasonable on the other side not in the church not in the church

I'm not gonna sort this out any more than that Paul's concern with the

Yodi and sync to key I think his concern would with us would be that we agree in the Lord that we treat each other reasonably that we together rejoice in the

Lord Jesus Christ what's the issue the silence in the scripture fairly screams at us the issue with the issue is not the issue the issue with the issue is how the issue gets resolved agree in the

Lord the issue with the issue is not that there is an issue there will always be issues among sinners the issue with the issue is that in the

Lord people who should be rejoicing in the Lord agree in the Lord and accept one another as God in Christ accepted you be reasonable with each other as God in Christ was reasonable with you that in him we agree about him pastor

Owens and I have not made a quote -unquote official position for this church and one reason is because it's a very hard thing to sort through and it'd be very easy to reopen a wound and not know how to heal it up or to create a wound that wasn't there in the first place and again not know how to sew it up we do know by faith that the gospel answers the questions of the day

I would suggest you quickly come to me later I'll give you these references as I go through them quickly but men with more towering intellects than than either of us men who've really thought this through and know the gospel in a very deep way and have for many many years observed society and made the applications of the gospel to it

I'm older on June 24th listen to the briefing as he speaks about the sin of racism read

Tim Keller on that very thing quote the sin of racism very well thought through very balanced

Voddie Bachman on February 21st 2019 of cultural Marxism without forcing you into one camp or the other giving a very clear generous well -thought -through and gospel infused analysis of these things

I would suggest those three to you you see we can disagree about the issues what they are what should

I do about it what should you do about it what should the church do what's the government's rules we cannot disagree in the

Lord rejoicing reasonable people reveling in the nearness of Christ treating one another as God in Christ has treated you should be able to work these matters out not come to final decision not your right

I'm wrong now do you agree with me not like that the gospel is bigger than the unity and sin to cure the gospel is bigger than COVID and black lives matter there's rights and there's wrongs on both sides we can't agree that COVID is a big deal we can agree that racism is an affront to God we can say that if our members want to march

God bless them do so peaceably we can say if members want to stay more at home and pray

God bless them too rejoice in the Lord always again says the

Apostle again I will say rejoice let your reasonableness be known to everyone the Lord is near he is near to us now he is with us this moment and he is with you and with me

God willing as we together sort these things out and in sorting them out remain a church a brother an assembly brothers and sisters in the world together rejoicing in treating each other reasonably as God in Christ has treated you amen

Heavenly Father we thank you for this day we thank you for your work I thank you Father for the conviction and the direction that you give us

I pray Lord that you would watch over your church I pray Father for justice to be done in the land

I pray Lord for health and welfare that the epidemic Lord the pandemic soon would abate and you