Enemies Within The Walls: Lack Of Love (part 3)

Our Father in heaven Lord we come before you this morning just to look at the things that

would Either build up or destroy a church body and father I pray that you

would continue to bless Bethlehem Bible Church that we would be

not only a place where doctrine is taught where it is practiced that we would

just display the love Of Christ for one another that the world

might take note of it that we might be known as As it were a house of

love.

Lord would you bless our time as we look to your word and as we look to

Provoke one another to love and good works in Christ name.

We pray amen.

Well last week.

We were looking at What I call lack of love or

You know as one of the enemies Potentially of the church body and we were talking specifically about

how we might show that within the church body and today I wanted to talk about how we might show

that to the lost world and if we indeed have any Obligation to

display love to the lost world.

I'd like to start in Romans chapter 12 and

I'm going to go ahead and read verses 9 and 10 and eventually what we're going to be

talking about or what we will get to is the world vision

Issue and we'll talk about some other things as well.

Romans chapter 12 verses 9 and 10 Let

love be genuine abhor or hate.

What is evil hold fast to what is good?

Love one another with brotherly affection.

Outdo one another in showing honor.

Hendrickson says whenever Paul thinks of believers he concedes that conceives of them as

Constituting in the Lord one family.

We'd see that in a three Ephesians 315 all have one father.

This thought is entirely in line with the teaching of Jesus now according to this teaching the bond that unites the members of

this spiritual family are far more secure and Lasting than those which bind together the family

members of a purely physical family.

We know this.

We've experienced this.

I think most of us have in our own lives.

We've talked about it before how you know, there are there are some things.

You know years ago at a family gathering I was asked to pray and I just thought it was an odd request but I

did and you know, I prayed and I just thought you know, then all the Typical stuff went on at a family gathering and

I just thought you know, what do you do?

I did do some preach praying by the way, you know, where you preach the gospel during your prayer.

That you're supposed to be just blessing the food, but you're just like well, this might be my only opportunity anyway, so

there is that sense in which our spiritual family is really closer to us than our

physical family.

But he goes on to say Hendrickson does that there is a sense in which believers should love everybody including even those who

hate and persecute Them.

We can think about the example that the Savior gave us in that respect says but tender

Brotherly affection implying intimacy.

Understanding spiritual unity is reserved for the inner circle.

Believers have the right and the duty to discriminate between those who hate God

and those who love him.

Now I just thought that was an interesting statement because what are we so often here?

You know that well who am I to judge and all these kind of things and I don't really want to evangelize this person because

They say they're a Christian that kind of thing and again what Hendrickson said I think I think is good for us to think about.

Believers have the right and the duty to discriminate between those who hate God and those who love him.

Why would that be?

Why would you want to?

Discriminate that is Separating your mind at the very least those who love

God and those who hate him.

Even if they say I love God, I'm a Christian.

Why would it be good to discriminate like that?

I know discrimination, you know, it's a bad word.

You need to preach the God the gospel to the ones who are lost and you know the I think the worst thing you can do to

someone who's not a believer is to treat them like a believer.

To give them the kind of false assurance of faith.

You know what's typical and I did this and in fact, I think one of the more embarrassing

episodes of my Christian life anyway was Me and a

famous evangelist.

Share the gospel with somebody and After we were done We welcomed into the family and of God and you

know all this other stuff and we were all excited because he had quote -unquote Received Christ and then

you know the next five years of his life were anything but that because we were.

We were young and dumb in the faith.

So.

But it's a good thing to do.

But there is a broader.

You know outside of the family of God, there's a there's a there's a broader fatherhood, I mean father.

God is the father generally speaking of all mankind and

specifically in the case of fatherless and widows orphans and widows and we'll talk about that in

just a moment or more than a moment.

But William Booth said this he says we will wash our money in the tears of the widows and orphans and lay it

on the altar of humanity meaning it's pure and undefiled religion, right?

I'm gonna see if I'm getting ahead.

I think I'm getting ahead of myself.

I did.

I skipped over something.

Romans 13 I want to go there first.

Because I knew I was going to James and I'm like that looks like a comment.

I wrote about James.

We'll get there in a minute.

Romans 13 verses 8 to 10.

Oh No one anything except to love each other for the one who loves and not another has fulfilled the

law.

For the commandments you shall not commit adultery.

You shall not murder.

You shall not steal.

You shall not covet and another commandment are summed up in this word.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself in other words telling us that all the Horizontal commandments of

the Ten Commandments are summed up in that one commandment love your neighbor as

yourself.

Love listen to verse 10 love does no wrong to a neighbor.

Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law now in that

singular sense there.

Love does no wrong to a neighbor.

Does that include unbelievers?

Yes.

You can't do these things to an unbeliever any more than you could do them to a believer.

Hendrickson writes Paul is saying that among all the debts a person may have incurred there is One that can never

be repaid in full namely the debt of love.

Moreover in the present connection Paul is thinking not first of all of the debt we owe to God.

But as the conduct context indicates of the debt we owe to our fellow men.

We owe a debt to our fellow men.

What is that it is to love one another.

For he who loves his own neighbor has fulfilled the law.

I'm not going to go through the parable of The Good Samaritan, but what was the point

of the Good Samaritan?

Yeah, the question was that Jesus was answering is who is my neighbor.

In other words who you know.

Who am I supposed to help and?

The story is very stark because the most religious people when they saw the man in need they didn't even stop.

They just you know it was like today.

We just go we'd be in our cars, and we see this pathetic Figure of a man on the side of the road

obviously in need of help, and we just hit the accelerator.

See you later and Jesus said you need to help.

He is your neighbor.

Now would somebody turn to James chapter 1 and read just verse 27.

James 1 27.

Okay to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.

We're going to talk generally speaking.

Well.

We're going to talk about a few things.

I guess we could say para church ministries.

Who knows what a para church ministry is.

Mr.. Arnold.

Okay, so it's something it does something that the church doesn't necessarily do if we understand the word para rightly by the way

para church does not mean a bunch of Christians who put on parachutes and then.

That would be wrong.

Para means to come alongside like the para cleats the Holy Spirit comes alongside us.

So the idea of a para church ministry is something a ministry that comes alongside the church.

It maybe does some things that the church doesn't do now.

Can you think of can you name some para church ministries?

Focus on the family which focuses on the family.

Other ones.

Yes.

Campus crusade.

Well except for it's no longer called campus crusade.

What's its new name?

Crew.

Okay, crew.

Because you don't want to use the word crusade because it has a negative context.

Other para church ministries.

Brian.

Meals on wheels.

Compassion pregnancy.

Yeah, that'd be one.

Yep.

Yep.

Navigators, okay.

Yep, Wycliffe Bible translators.

Yes.

These are all para church ministries now.

We're gonna zoom in on one here in a minute, but let me just read what Doug Moose says about James 1 27.

Verse 27 is not.

And is not intended to be a comprehensive definition of Christianity.

Go back there and just look at it for a minute.

Religion in other words.

He's saying Moose saying this is not the comprehensive nature of Christianity.

He's just saying or he goes on to say it is an assertion of one element

positively, but not exclusively indispensable to that religion.

Devout godliness does not consist merely of regular and punctilious praise of God and scrupulous

obedience to his rules relating to specific religious observance.

In other words.

It's not just a Sunday or a bunch of rules.

And it's not just you know wearing a suit all the time speaking nicely, and you know doing nice things.

We have a Responsibility and obligation to put you know what's

the what's the phrase you know put shoe leather to our faith to act out our faith.

Moo goes on to say like Jesus James sees worship not in terms of external law, but as an

expression of inner.

It's gonna sound like I'm gonna say interactive, but it's not.

It's inner active goodness.

In other words if God's at work within you.

Then your life ought to be reflective of that there ought to be parts of your life where people just go well.

Look what he's doing that is not Natural that's supernatural.

Normal people wouldn't want to do that right.

So maybe it's going to the homeless shelter, or maybe it's going to the rest home, or maybe it's

taking unwanted children into your home.

He goes on to quote one of my favorite philosophers not Kierkegaard says.

Kierkegaard part poked fun at the righteousness that calls itself Christianity.

Which is just as genuine as tea made with a bit of paper which had once been

wrapped around a few dried tea leaves.

Right so you can't call it Christianity and then not act upon the

Christian faith, or that you know show any fruit or Extend yourself beyond yourself any

more than you could just say well.

This is tea, and you stick you know it's just a piece of paper that once touched some tea leaves that wouldn't

make much of a cup of tea and frankly some of our lives wouldn't make much of a testimony of Christianity.

And again moon notes the fatherhood of God

implies the brotherhood of man specifically in this case the fatherless and Widows both of whom figure

prominently in the social concern of the early church.

William Booth I think.

That's where I was earlier.

I think he founded the Salvation Army if I'm not mistaken.

He said we will wash it our money in the tears of the widows and orphans and laid on the altar of humanity.

The rabbis also taught that those who looked after orphans will enter into the gates of the Lord.

There's a lot of talk in the Old Testament about doing that kind of thing.

Well, why would widows and orphans as James lays out here?

Why would they be specific?

Objects of compassion or Action on the part of

Christians.

Why would James write that that's religion pure and undefiled.

Why would he say that?

I'm sorry.

Well they have nothing to give back, that's right, okay.

You know if you go help somebody who can't help themselves, then they have no no means of paying it back.

That's right Brian.

They have no means to repay you, but they also have No means to take care of themselves, which is

really Pretty critical.

Why why should you take care of the widows and the orphans in the day of their distress?

Because there's nobody else to take care of them.

They can't take care of themselves.

You don't expect you know why don't you three -year -olds go get a job?

Now what about you know sometimes it's it's Put out there that our goal

as Christians should be to end poverty.

What about that is that a good goal?

Okay, so it's a good goal, but we could take care of their poverty, and they'd still go to

hell.

What else.

Okay, Becky says Jesus said the poor you will always have with you meaning

either.

He's wrong or We can't get rid of poverty other thoughts about that.

We're probably Becky interrupted what many others were thinking sorry.

But.

But there's this belief somehow and and here's part of the problem.

And and I recognize this and a lot of my unbelieving friends there's this idea that

somehow we are working towards a perfect you society, which is called a

Utopia.

Why can't we ever reach that?

What's that?

Sin right.

I mean I Love it when people put forth you know Marxist ideas Karl Marx believed

that you know if we all just pulled together our Resources, and he said if we took from those

who had a lot to give a lot to offer you know.

It's from each according to their Abilities to each according to their

need.

That we would work to a classless society where everybody's needs would be met, and there's only one problem with that

Greed.

Because people are never satisfied.

And they always want more and if they can get more and take advantage of someone else they do it

now.

Let me just kind of Interject something into my lesson plan here this week.

I had a rather unique call in fact I need to check the machine and see if he called again.

I had a couple of unique calls from this guy.

I Got a call on Wednesday, and he says I have a little bit of an emergency and I said okay.

You know it's 9 -1 -1.

I'll call the church, and he said I need a thousand dollars by tomorrow.

Check my wallet.

You know normally I care a couple foul you know.

And I said well, what's going on?

I said well.

You know tomorrow.

We have to go to renters court and If we don't have a thousand dollars will be kicked out of our

apartment.

Now it doesn't take you know a police officer or anything else to realize that there has to be more to the story in other words.

You know Wednesday morning.

You don't wake up and go.

Oh, I forgot tomorrow if we don't have a thousand bucks.

We're out.

And this was a Wednesday afternoon.

He was calling so

You know first test do we just give him $1 ,000 probably not

do we just say well be warm be filled.

I?

Spent.

I spent a good amount of time with this young man on the phone, and there are there are a lot of circumstances.

You know a lot of other money.

That's owed.

Dodging the IRS all these other things.

And I said here's what your main problem is and he goes.

I don't make enough money.

Well that was true.

Okay, and he's spending more than he takes in that was true, but his main problem was He's

not a Christian.

He goes well, I grew up in the church.

You know I've I've kind of strayed.

I've made a few mistakes.

As evidenced by the fact that he's You know Living less

than a perfectly moral life here at the moment.

But he but he told me something about his background, and you know he was somebody that I Genuinely want to help,

but the question is you know what is his most pressing need?

I told him this over and over again.

I've spoken to him now.

I think for a couple of hours and His number one need was he needed to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

He needed to see himself rightly you know not as somebody who was trying to do the right thing even though

that was true.

But uh you know but ultimately his problem was he needed to be forgiven of his sins by God.

And that's what our goal is whenever we're dealing with anyone.

Now I want to I want to talk about this world vision thing this is an article by Jesse Johnson.

Which some of you may have read and he says last week's gay marriage flip -flop and for those of you Don't know

world vision is what what is world vision besides a parachurch ministry.

What do they do?

They feed kids okay and around the world and and.

Then they announced that they were going to Allow

You know gay employees homosexual employees and all that.

And that they weren't going to stand against homosexual marriage.

Jesse Johnson says last week's gay marriage flip -flop because they announced that they were for gay marriage.

And then the next day they announced or two days later, or whatever it was they announced that they were not in favor of it.

He says their flip -flop.

Did not come out of left field.

Oh.

They changed their minds and on Wednesday, they said um never mind sorry about that.

Jesse goes on to say says, but this was a schism a division that was long a long time coming

and Illustrates a profound danger inherent in mercy ministries, which I think a lot of parachurch

ministries are.

And he says that are not built upon a theological Foundation.

About a year ago Richard Stearns who's the president of world vision spoke at a conference?

And there he urged the attendees to stop engaging in cultural battles and In context

the taboo issues were abortion and gay marriage.

Okay, Christians.

I want you to stop trying to fight against abortion and homosexual marriage.

Well, that's fine but Abortion is murder

and marriage is defined in the Bible as between one man and one woman.

Other than that, I don't have a problem with it.

In fact, he said younger Christians need to stop shaking their fist at the culture.

So what what do you do just embrace it and then later no one ever died from gay marriage.

They died from poverty.

I think that kind of summarizes the problem, right?

Here's the problem we need to stop poverty that's what kills people stop worrying about gay marriage.

It is not the enemy the enemy is poverty.

People die because they don't have enough money.

They die because they don't have enough food.

They die and we can stop that and then people will live longer lives and rack up more

sin and still go to hell.

I Don't think that's good news.

He says the implication.

The implication being that what really matters is not one's doctrine of marriage or of

life or of Scripture.

But one's track record with the poor Stearns again the founder of world vision or the president of world vision

Has justified this triage view in other words prioritizing things of Scripture by saying that world

vision is quote not the theological arm of the church.

Probably not in the theological foot of the church toenail of the church.

Jesse goes on to say that reminds me of Richard Baxter's response.

Now.

This is classic classic Baxter and it's a classic quote from any pastor

someone comes up to him and says.

You know what pastor?

I think you should teach more practical theology.

What do you suppose?

He said?

He said close very close.

He said is there any other kind?

Johnson goes on to say he says before last week's announcement and before Last week's or last year's conference.

The writing was on the wall or more particularly in a book stern

Wrote a book called the hole in our gospel.

Which presents a fairly shallow view of a Christians called a minister to the poor of the world and that shallowness is

Compounded by his understanding of the kingdom of God.

Listen what Stern says?

He says Christ proclamation of the kingdom of heaven was a call for a redeemed world.

Populated by a redeemed people now in other words the perfect kingdom of God was to

begin on earth.

Johnson says that statement later gives way to this one.

Jesus's mission was proclamation of good news compassion for the sick and sorrowful commitment to

justice.

Then without explaining what is meant by Jesus mission what or by saying Jesus mission was a commitment to

justice.

He has that evangelism.

Includes efforts to right the wrongs that are so prevalent in our world.

Evangelism includes Efforts to right the wrongs that are

so prevalent in our world.

What's wrong with that?

Okay, evangelism is supposed to be talking about who God is.

Gary.

It's not the gospel.

I mean imagine to come up to somebody and saying you know what?

I'm going to give you the gospel and they go I I'm really not interested and you go.

Oh, that's okay, because I really just the gospel.

I want to talk to you about is the one where we straighten out the world.

It's not the gospel.

There's a word for that.

I mean there's a phrase for it.

It's called, you know, the social gospel.

We're gonna write the the wrongs of the world.

We're gonna straighten them out, but it's not the gospel.

I said this before I'll say it again.

The gospel is not something you do.

Something that's been done.

The gospel is not something you live.

It's already been lived.

The gospel is something you declare.

Jesse goes on to say a Failure to grapple with the nuances of

mercy mission or mercy ministry ultimately ends up corrupting evangelism.

Why.

Because the good work that you want to do becomes more important than the gospel.

The gospel closes doors.

You don't want those doors closed.

So you say you know what?

We're not really so much interested in preaching Jesus to you as helping you have

clean water as building an orphanage.

Teaching these kids how to play soccer whatever the you know, whatever the nature of your ministry is.

That's what you wind up focused on.

Stearns thinks that every Christian has the obligation to advance justice in such a way that brings about

the kingdom of God.

Now why would he think that it will have to do with his theology if he thinks that the goal of the

church is to make the world better and to establish the kingdom of God on earth then.

Eventually you stop being focused on the gospel and you start being worried about

the social gospel.

Stearns notes that it is up to influential leaders like himself to say what justice is and isn't.

What you know what happens when you set aside theology and you start being focused on things like this you're gonna have problems.

Jesse Johnson says the bottom line world's vision.

World vision ship has been left to drift in the culture without being tethered to any

substantial theology.

Here's the problem with almost any parachurch ministry you want to name, you know, how did the Red Cross start?

Red Cross, you know eventually what it might be called the Red Tree or something, you know and in Muslim worlds.

They have the Red Crescent in the world.

Muslim worlds.

Are there more than one?

You know in regions of the world that are Muslim they have the Red Crescent.

We still have the Red Cross but.

How about the YMCA?

The YWCA.

There are any number of parachurch ministries that start with good intentions.

But eventually the gospel.

I mean, what's the last time?

What's the last time you went to the YMCA and they were you know, giving you the gospel or something the

YWCA?

I don't think I don't even know if they if they do any of that kind of stuff anymore.

Johnson goes on to note the result is that it has been carried straight into the whirlpool of the homosexual agenda and it

remains to be seen if it is Even possible to escape the problem with parachurch ministries beyond

the fact that they are not.

We don't see a parachurch ministry outlined anywhere in the Bible.

Nowhere does Paul say, you know what Timothy Titus.

This is how you run a church.

Now.

Let me tell you how you run a parachurch organization.

And in fact, I mean I can name any number of parachurch ministries that have run into problems.

For example, my favorite one is fuller seminary.

Fuller seminary started by a fundamentalist pastor what probably the most famous pastor of his

day was on the radio all the time and It was established

as a Fundamentalist seminary and now you go there and it is anything but a

fundamentalist seminary.

In fact, you can learn about you know, I I've said this every Every so often but the

the bookstore is everything from Benny Hinn to John Calvin everything in between you

know, the It's got the largest span of theological thought you could

possibly imagine because they don't stand for anything.

And and it's because they're not tethered to first of all, they're not tethered to the Bible, but no local church

nobody has any say over it and so eventually the board just kind of drifts and drifts and drifts and

It's gone.

Jesse Johnson says there are some lessons in it for us in this whole world vision thing.

And he says first as far as religious organizations go a lack of theology will always turn out to

be deadly.

This is why Paul says to Timothy keep close watch on your life and your

Doctrine those two things are inseparable.

Johnson says you can measure an organization by what they stand for and by how carefully they stand for it.

If an organization builds itself on an atheological

Foundation in other words Non -theological foundation it is only a matter of time before it is fully

exposed.

Ministries that mock theology end up stuck in bad theology.

Mercy ministry has to be carefully done and theologically explained.

He says the main lesson of this is that usually organizations that focus on mercy ministry apart from the

local church end up harming the local church.

Ministries that play down evangelism end up harming evangelism.

His second takeaway here is what do you think about the kingdom of or what you think about the kingdom of God matters?

If you think that the point of giving evangelism and church is to Advance

God's kingdom by supporting justice.

Then you likely will end up having your money go towards some kingdom building justice project that is neither advancing the

kingdom or the gospel.

Johnson writes I don't want I don't mean to sound harsh towards world vision.

After all they did try to walk back their announcement next week or last week.

But the marks of indifference towards theology were there before last week.

If you are in the kingdom building business you had better.

Have your understanding of the kingdom clearly defined and frankly the phrase advancing justice

does not do it justice.

Justice is a fine thing.

We don't you know imagine Imagine you know the topic this morning is injustice.

We want there to be less justice in the world we want things to get worse.

No but if the focus is on justice about making things fair about

only Feeding the hungry clothing those who need clothing sheltering those who need

shelter.

We can do those things, but the gospel will take a back seat.

His third takeaway those that lead organizations these parachurch ministries Need to

be clear in their statement of faith on the issue of marriage.

Need to be clear on their statement of faith on the issue of marriage, I think of that in the You

know months and years to come.

I mean we've seen such a rush Lately you know now where they're leading.

Kind of virtual lynch squads against those who even gave money.

I mean not even I don't even think the guy was a Christian the guy who lost his job from Mozilla.

Why.

Because he gave it to an organizer a campaign to establish?

Marriage as between one man and one woman that that became some kind of a firing offense here or at least

Something that would chase him out of his job.

Jesse goes on to write.

I'm thankful that Stearns and his board reversed their decision.

But I can't help but marvel at the nature of that reversal their original Announcement showed

such a lack of understanding about the Bible's view of marriage and the reversal didn't exactly argue for the scriptural

marriage View of marriage either.

I was watching the show last night.

They said the Chick -fil -a Founders like backing off of that

whole homosexual marriage thing because he wants to expand the brand into

areas of the Northeast and places where homosexual marriage is favored and so he's you know

toning down all the Anti well the pro traditional marriage

rhetoric.

Johnson says I'm glad that they reverse course, but I wonder what led them down the road to begin with why did they?

Why do they think that this is okay?

It's because they weren't tethered to the Bible.

They weren't that involved.

They weren't that concerned about staying true to scripture.

Fourth takeaway says the homosexual agenda continues to advance and Christians really ought to come down or

come to terms with the fact.

Listen that it is only a matter of time.

Until our view of marriage will be plainly illegal

our view of marriage.

Well in other words the biblical view of marriage what Jesus said Will be

illegal.

And he says as has been said elsewhere as that agenda the homosexual agenda moves forward in our country at breakneck

speed.

Ambivalence is not an option.

You will be made to care why because it's going to affect you.

It's gonna affect you in the workplace.

You know, what do you think about homosexual marriage?

No comments?

I'd rather not say aha.

Well

all this to say that our first concern when The world when dealing with Gospels

what or with unbelievers must be the gospel.

What's the most?

Loving thing you can do to someone like this young man this week.

It's to give him the truth.

Now that's not gonna solve his problem.

And I don't know that I can solve this problem because like I said, I There are enough complications there if I could

give him a thousand dollars today I'm not sure that in a month or two months.

He wouldn't be right back in the same place only worse.

Does that mean that you don't help people like that no.

But it means that you have to be concerned about the ultimate issue that they faith face, which

is They're gonna stand one day before a thrice.

Holy God and they're gonna have to answer for their sins and If they don't have the covering of Christ's

righteousness, there's not an answer for their sins.

There's no defense.

There's no as the Bible would say even as we read this morning in Hebrews, there's no propitiation there's no satisfaction for the

wrath of God

now quite some time ago I Did a message Based on Mark

Dever's book about the nine marks of a healthy church.

Expositional preaching biblical theology a biblical understanding of the gospel conversion evangelism

membership church discipline.

Discipleship and leadership and as we've been going through this series, I thought you know what I We could

easily see a book about this Nine marks of a healthy church body.

I mean, it's one thing to go to a church and go.

Okay, these things are all present.

Therefore.

There should be a healthy church but how about a healthy church body a membership that is functioning

like it should be now listen to these nine things that I came up With and tell me if you if you think I'm on the right track, but

do so later.

No number one members who readily and fully

forgive in light of being in Christ.

Members who readily and fully forgive in light of being in Christ.

I still think this is just an issue a daily struggle.

And I think something that's so overlooked.

Number two members who readily Reconcile with one another.

Who are eager to be reconciled?

You know, let's not just forgive let's put these things behind us and go on like nothing happened.

Let's be reconciled.

Number three.

Members who strive to edify with their tongues to build one another up with their tongues.

These are things that we talked about.

This is just kind of a summary of the whole thing rather than tear

down insults.

Mock how about building up number four?

Members who squash gossip crush it.

Gossip is always sin.

I don't care.

You know, if you think you something, you know is true or whatever.

It doesn't matter.

It needs to be crushed because nothing Stirs more

strife more discord causes more trouble within the local church body than gossip.

Nobody has a need to know whatever it is that you want to gossip.

No one needs to know it.

Except for the person who sinned and then you should go to them

which Could we could say it goes to number five members who love?

Each other in light of God's love for them.

What do you think about how God has demonstrated his love for you in sending Jesus Christ

to die for your sins.

How should you love one another.

Should you love one another enough to?

Confront someone when they're in sin.

To cover their sins when you can.

To refrain from gossiping about them.

Yes number six.

Members who love unbelievers enough To tell the

truth.

Members who love unbelievers enough to tell the truth, you know people all the time.

I I don't know, you know if I can Evangelize.

I don't know if I have that gift.

I Don't know if you have that gift either.

You know.

It's not everybody who like my friend Tony.

Can stand up in front of a crowd and take a burrito in the face and just keep preaching the gospel.

Some people can some people can't.

What I do know is if the Lord Jesus Christ has saved you.

Then you ought to be able to articulate that.

Because there's a sense of your mind you go.

Well, I know who I was.

I Know who I was.

I know I didn't like me.

I know there was a moment where I just thought it's amazing to me that God would like me because I don't like me.

We're getting somewhere because we understand the transcendence of the holiness of God and how he hates sin and

He loved me enough what to send his son to die for my sins.

And he didn't just die for my sins.

He lived the perfect life that I was supposed to live that I'm commanded to live that I don't live.

And then God demonstrated that he was satisfied With the death of Christ by doing what by

raising him from the dead.

Now if I understand those things I Could preach the gospel.

I could share the good news of Jesus Christ with other people.

If I don't understand those things then there's reason to wonder if I know the Lord at all.

How can I

you need to love unbelievers enough to tell them the truth?

Number seven.

Members who serve one another.

Now we Haven't really talked much about this.

But I have said on many occasions, you know, if you have spiritual gifts, what do you what are we commanded to do?

We are commanded to employ them what in the service of?

One another.

And it drives me I've said this before it drives me nuts to just think you know people think well, I I don't need

To go to church.

Because I don't need to hear a gifted pastor preach the truth.

All I need is the trees the bees.

You know and the breeze I guess you know.

And the Holy Spirit and a little Bible and I'm good to go

that's a very selfish view.

Because it neglects one thing if you are in Christ, then you have a spiritual gift.

Which you are you to use in the service of the local body?

And you know getting back to the healthy church body part, you know, what is Paul?

So right, he says, you know, some people might think well, you know I'm just a little toes

toenail.

I'm not that big of a deal.

He didn't write that by the way.

He's just saying, you know, I'm not like one of these super gifted people.

That's what he's saying.

Nevertheless, it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter if you're one of the you know, more important parts of the body or not.

The body functions better when it all functions.

If you don't believe that try, you know straining some ligament in your wrist and then see how you function.

It's not that great.

You might just be the little you know.

Ligaments in the wrist of the body.

It doesn't matter because the hand doesn't work as well.

The arm doesn't work as well.

Nothing works as well without that ligament.

Everything matters.

Number eight

members who Submit to Leadership now, you know,

I I know people think well, that's just so self -serving Steve because you are in leadership.

Okay.

Well, then I'll just sit down and shut up.

Look the Bible the Bible talks about it.

Obey your leaders submit to them for they are keeping watch over your souls as.

Those who will give an account.

The leaders of the church will give an account for what they do.

How they shepherd your souls.

Members of a healthy church why that doesn't mean that you can never bring your concerns to leadership.

It means though if we're to go back to gossip and those other things means you just don't engage in that.

Submit to leadership.

Why.

Because it pleases the Lord.

Do I have a number nine?

I don't know.

I should have a number nine.

Maybe I don't.

I'll have to work on number nine so that we can have nine because nine is the perfect number.

But if we just think about what we've been talking about in terms of The enemies of the church

and how they really are within the body of Christ how it.

It's kind of like this if we just view each of those things on the negative side.

It's kind of like an infection in the body of Christ causing difficulty causing strife.

And we want to apply Antibiotics to that infection.

We wanted to stop it.

I want to be doing the right things.

Building up the body building up the church.

Why.

Because when the church body is functioning as it should when all the body parts are functioning

as they should.

When when we all have the right focus the right direction.

Great things the Lord will use a church like that greatly.

Oh, I do have one more Good number nine and this just goes right

back to it members who value Unity.

Unity we are one.

And it's important that we keep that focus with that we value

Unity that we not allow ourselves to become divided either after persons or about

ideas about Music about preference

issues, you know the best

one of maybe one of the best.

Examples maybe not the best but an example would be look my my wife is

Commanded as is every wife.

To submit to her husband very difficult thing, but if I say you know what?

Janet we're gonna go out to dinner and you know, and this is where we're going and she's like, well, I don't like that.

You know, I'm gonna go here.

You go there you go ahead you go ahead to that steak place.

I'm gonna go have Mexican.

We have an issue and the issue isn't just because you know.

She prefers Mexican food and I want steak or whatever.

The issue is we're divided and we're divided over Things that aren't that important

and I think so often it's easy for us to get lost In our

preferences and to forget the bigger picture.

So it's important that we value unity anyway, I we need to close but our

Father in heaven.

What a blessing it is to be called into the universal body the

Worldwide body the Catholic small C body of Christ.

How you have blessed us here at Bethlehem Bible Church with so many Good things and

Lord, we just want to continue striving.

Until we attain a unity of the faith.

Lord, we don't want to be like children tossed about by every wind of doctrine.

We don't want to be divided over small things.

We want to keep the main thing the main thing Lord

by your spirit, would you?

Give us that desire to seek after unity to seek after things.

That would be pleasing to you.

To serve one another to prefer one another to love one another enough to do

What we ought to be doing what you have commanded us to we pray for these things in Christ's name.

Amen.