Submission is Not a Bad Word

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I want to invite you to take out your Bibles and turn with me.
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This morning we're going to be looking at various texts, but we're going to begin in 2 Timothy 3.16, so if you want to open your Bibles there, that will be our first place.
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We've come this morning to the end of a six-part series entitled A Healthy Church.
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And through this series, we've been focusing on two important questions.
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One is, what should a member expect from the church? And the second is, what should the church expect from a member? The first three messages, we were examining the first question.
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And what we saw from the Bible was that a member should expect from the church that the church be managed biblically.
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That the teaching, that the preaching, that the leadership, and that all of the workings of the church should use the Bible as the sole infallible rule for faith and practice.
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This book, we believe, is the Word of God.
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Thus, if it is the Word of God, it is sufficient to correct us and to guide us and to lead us.
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That is what we believe makes up a healthy church.
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That's what it says makes up a healthy church.
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Is that it be led and governed by the Word of God.
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Then we went to the second question.
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We began to ask about what every individual member's responsibility is to the church as a whole.
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In that, we looked at two overarching ideas.
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The first was in regard to participation.
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We said that every member is expected to participate in the life of the church, in worship, in fellowship, and in ministry.
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Remember in that sermon I made the point that every member of the church is a minister.
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Minister is not my title.
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Minister is your title.
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Because we are all called to minister in the church to one another.
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The second was in regard to contributions.
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And we said that every member of the church is expected, from the scripture, every member of the church is expected to practice the use of the spiritual gifts, to practice intercessory prayer, and to practice sacrificial giving.
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So that leads us up to today.
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And today we are going to examine the final, and I might add the hardest, of the member's responsibility to the church.
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Because today we are going to examine the responsibility of submission.
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And I tell you, submission is sometimes seen as a very ugly word.
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But let's bow our heads and go to the Lord and ask Him to bless our time of study.
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Our Father and our God, we thank You for this awesome opportunity we have to go into Your Word, to examine it, to pull from it Your truth, and to be guided and directed by it.
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We do pray that we will honor the scripture with our attention, that we will honor the scripture with our focus.
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And Lord God, as we see what Your scripture tells us about the submission of ourselves within the body of Christ, that we will be moved towards a closer walk with You, and a closer submission to Your truth, a more functional submission to Your truth.
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And Father, I do pray that You would keep me from error as I preach, as I am a fallible man capable of preaching error.
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And I do pray that You would open the hearts of the congregation to the truth, that You would put a hedge of protection around them.
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And Lord God, open them only to the truth, that Your Holy Spirit would be the teacher, and ultimately that He would move on our hearts today.
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And Lord, we pray these things in Jesus' name and for His sake.
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Amen.
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There are few words which inspire as many negative thoughts as do the word submission.
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I remember early in my ministry when I was preparing to do a wedding.
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It was the first wedding that I had ever done.
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I haven't done many since.
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I don't know why, but I haven't done a whole lot of weddings.
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But I remember this one was the first.
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And it was two people.
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They were not believers, but they wanted me to marry them.
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And it was kind of an interesting story how it all came about.
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But they asked me to marry them.
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I happened to know them through a friend.
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And we sat down to talk about what the service was going to be like.
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And I remember the very first words out of the bride-to-be's mouth.
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She said, and I quote, Take out any reference to obey.
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Take out any reference to obey.
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Just take it out.
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Because I guess she had heard other services where love, honor, and cherish.
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But also love, honor, and obey.
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From wife to the husband.
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This idea of submission and marriage and obedience.
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She said, we are equal partners.
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There is no obedience.
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And she was very firm in that she did not want that to be part of her vow.
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She went on to say that she and her husband, again, were equal partners in the relationship.
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And that there would be no expectation of obedience.
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There would be no expectation of submission on her part at all.
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And of course, I was young.
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Well, I was still young.
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No, I was younger.
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And I was a little embarrassed and didn't know how to.
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Okay, okay.
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I kind of went along with it.
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But that stuck in my heart.
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And it's still there.
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I just remember her saying that.
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Because the thing is, her attitude is not unique in any way.
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Her attitude is not unique.
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Submission is seen by so many as a form of indentured servitude.
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When we hear the word submission, that's what we hear.
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Indentured servitude.
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People hear submission and they think one word.
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Slavery.
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Especially in America.
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Where we have fought so hard for and value so much the idea of individual freedom and unfettered liberty.
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The idea of submission is seen in a very negative light.
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Submission is considered by some to be the other ugly word.
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Yet the Bible speaks of submission in a different way.
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The Bible speaks of submission in a positive way.
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It doesn't speak of it as an ugly word.
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It actually speaks of it as a very positive idea.
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And in regard to the church, there are three things which we are called to submit unto.
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If you're taking notes, this is the outline of today's sermon.
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There are three things in the church that we are called to submit unto from the Bible.
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Number one, we are called to submit to the scriptures.
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Number two, we are called to submit to our leaders.
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And number three, we are called to submit to one another.
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And you'll see what I mean when we get there.
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I think that's the hardest.
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But let's look at those three together.
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Submission to the scriptures.
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Submission to our leaders.
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And submission to one another.
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So let's look first at submission to the scriptures.
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The Bible is very clear that it is the Word of God.
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It doesn't really mince words.
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It doesn't say, oh well, it might be the Word of God or it might be partially the Word of God.
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It just straight up says it.
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It says in 2 Timothy 3 and 16, the verse that I asked you to go to, very clearly it says, all scripture is breathed out by God.
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Theonoustos.
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That's such an important Greek word.
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It's a word that Paul made up.
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It's not found in other Greek literature.
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It's a word that Paul put together.
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Theos, which is God.
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Noustos is breath or to breathe out.
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Where we get the word pneumatic, air, air tools, pneumatic tools is where that word comes from.
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Theonoustos means to be breathed out by God.
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And it is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be competent and equipped for every good work.
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That's what the Word of God is.
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It is from God to us that we be equipped to do God's will.
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But here's the thing.
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We can't just stop there.
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Because I know a lot of people who would say this is the Word of God.
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I know a lot of people who would say, yeah, I believe it's the Word of God.
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I believe the Bible is the Word of God.
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I believe it's the truth.
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But they don't live it.
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And you know there's something about saying we believe something and then doing something else.
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It means we don't really believe it.
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I want to show you another text.
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If you'll turn to the book of James.
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James is a very practical book.
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Go to James chapter 1 and verse 22.
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Because we've established that the Bible is the Word of God.
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It was breathed out by God.
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That it's profitable for reproof and correction and training in righteousness.
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But what are we to do with it? What James tells us.
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In James chapter 1 and verse 22.
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He says, but be doers of the Word and not hearers only.
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Deceiving yourselves.
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For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
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For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
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But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty.
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And perseveres being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts.
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He will be blessed in his doing.
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You see the focus of the entire epistle of James is very simple.
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It's focused on personal accountability.
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He goes to great lengths to tell believers that words are not enough.
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James' whole point is that words are not enough.
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We have to have actions that accompany our words.
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Our faith must demonstrate itself in good works or otherwise it is not a true living faith.
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Let me say that again.
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Our faith must have accompanying works or it is not a true living faith.
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And in this passage he says that if a person only hears the Word.
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And it does not affect his actions.
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If it does not affect her actions, then that person is only deceiving themselves.
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He uses the example of a mirror.
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I've always thought this was kind of a neat example that he uses here.
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He says a person who hears the Word and doesn't act on it is like a person who looks in a mirror and then goes away and forgets what he was like.
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Imagine getting up in the morning.
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Let me paint the picture of what he's trying to say.
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You get up in the morning.
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You walk to the mirror.
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You see what you always see first thing in the morning.
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Which is usually less pleasant than what it was when you went to sleep.
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Your hair is a little disheveled.
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Your face is, you know, you've kind of got that just woke up face.
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And you know, your face needs to be washed.
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Your hair needs to be straightened.
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Your appearance needs to be made ready for the day.
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Imagine you looked at the mirror.
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Saw yourself.
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Saw your problems.
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Saw all the stuff in your face and the hair and the mattedness and all.
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And you just looked.
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And you forgot.
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And then you went out.
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And made everyone else look at that.
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That's the idea James is saying here.
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It's pretty simple.
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He says it's like a person who looks in a mirror and then leaves and forgets what he saw.
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That's what a person is.
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Who reads the Word of God.
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Sees the changes that need to be made.
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But then leaves and doesn't make the changes.
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You see the need for the change.
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You see the need to act.
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But you don't act.
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That's the point James is making.
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And then he goes on to say that the one who does look at the Word.
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The perfect Law of God.
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And he acts on it.
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He will be blessed for having acted on it.
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You see that applies directly to us as a church.
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In a healthy church.
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We have to be a people who are concerned with doing what the Bible says.
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Not just knowing what it says.
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Beloved I know many people who know a lot about the Bible.
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Who don't obey the Bible.
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Probably one of the smartest men in America.
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In regard to the history of the text of the Bible is a man named Bart Ehrman.
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But yet Bart Ehrman is an agnostic.
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He says he doesn't know if God exists.
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But he spent his whole life studying the history of the Greek New Testament.
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He spent his whole life teaching religion and philosophy.
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At North Carolina University.
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And he's a brilliant man.
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He knows what the Bible says.
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But he's not a doer of the Word.
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He is not a doer of the Word.
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And James here plainly tells us knowing is not enough.
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It must affect our doings.
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It must affect our behavior.
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It must affect our life.
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We must live it.
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It is not just a book of facts and figures.
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It is a book of exhortations towards righteousness.
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And we are called to that righteousness.
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In a healthy church we have to be a people who are concerned with doing what the Bible says.
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We have to be willing to submit ourselves to its commands.
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To submit ourselves to its precepts.
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To submit ourselves to its calls to action.
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Because submission to the Bible is submission to God.
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Rejection of the Bible is rejection of God.
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It's just that simple.
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I've made this point before.
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I like to use this as an illustration.
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If I got up and told my son, clean your room.
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And Cody said, no.
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Well that wouldn't last.
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Because then he would be cleaning his room with a hurt rear end.
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Then he'd still be cleaning his room.
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But if I got up earlier than he did.
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And I had to go come into church and do some work here.
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And I wrote down the note for him.
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Clean your room.
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And I put it in a place where I knew he could see it.
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And I knew he would have to read it.
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And I knew he would get it.
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And he would know it was from me.
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Would it be any different if he looked at that and he said, no.
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No, because both of them came from me.
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Some people make such a big deal.
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I haven't heard the audible voice of God.
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You have heard the word of God right now.
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This is the word of God.
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We have heard the word of God.
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Whether it comes to us in written form.
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Whether it comes to us in the audible ear.
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Which we don't hear anymore.
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Because the Bible says in times past, God spoke.
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Through the prophets and through the apostles.
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But now he speaks to us through his word.
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He speaks to us through his son Jesus Christ.
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Whose words are written here.
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We have the word of God here.
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And if we obey this, we obey God.
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If we refuse to obey it, we refuse to obey God.
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It's just that simple.
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So first and foremost, church membership is what? It's submission to the word of God.
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That's it.
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We all agree.
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That's what we mean by covenant membership.
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We have all agreed we're going to submit to this.
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Yeah, we have church rules.
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We have bylaws and things like that.
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Everything is secondary to the word.
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It has to be.
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If there's something in the bylaws that disagrees with the word, the bylaws have got to go.
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The word takes precedent.
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Always.
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That's why we spend so much time trying to make our bylaws fit with the word.
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Not the other way around.
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Because the word of God has to be preeminent in the house of God.
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That's number one.
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So we say submission to scripture is number one.
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Number two.
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Submission to leadership.
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I'll ask you again to turn in your Bibles with me to Hebrews.
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We're in the book of James.
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You're going to take a left.
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Go over one book.
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Hebrews chapter 13.
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Hebrews 13 and verse 17 says this.
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It says, Obey your leaders and submit to them.
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There's that word submission again.
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I didn't make it up.
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I didn't plan it in the text.
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This isn't the key standard version.
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This is the Bible.
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And it says here very simply, Submit to them.
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For they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account.
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Let them do this with joy and not with groaning.
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For that would be of no advantage to you.
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The Bible gives a command to obey and submit to earthly government in Romans 13.
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We know that.
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It says, Obey the governing authorities that have been put above you.
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For God is the one who is ultimately in control of putting anyone in charge.
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And in Romans 13 it's talking about governmental authorities.
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In Hebrews 13 it is not.
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In Hebrews 13 it is talking specifically about authority within the church.
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How do I know that? Well, because it says it very clearly.
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It says, For they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will give an account.
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That text, that would never apply to federal government.
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That would never apply to kings and princes.
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That only applies within the concept and the scope of the local church.
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So the leaders that are being referenced here are the leaders in the local body of believers.
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And who are the spiritual leaders in the church? According to the Scripture.
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The elders.
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That's what the Bible says.
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Not the one pastor.
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There's no single pastor model in the Bible.
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It is the elders working in plurality, using their various gifts together to minister the leadership in the church.
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Speaking to the elders, the Apostle Paul says in Acts chapter 20 and verse 28.
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He says, Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God which he obtained with his own blood.
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That's an important passage because it tells us that the elders have a position of oversight in the church.
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Our job as elders is to care for the church of God and to oversee it.
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And the reason for this call to obedience in Hebrews 13 is because of the duty which God has called the elders to.
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The eldership is not a position of privilege.
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It's not a position of prestige.
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It's a position of responsibility.
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Yes, the elders get to make a lot of decisions.
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But every decision is one that we will ultimately have to give an account to God for.
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We will face God one day.
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Me and the other three men who served with me in that position.
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Jack's not here today.
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He's sick today.
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We'll be praying for him.
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But Byron and Richard, all four of us will have to face God one day and we will give an account for you.
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It's really a frightening prospect.
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And one which rightfully has kept many men out of that position.
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Because there's many men who have the ability to teach.
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Many men who have the ability to manage.
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Many men who have the ability to govern well.
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But they have no love for God's people and thus do not need to be in that area of ministry.
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Eldership is a labor of love.
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It is a job which is done for love of God first and love for the church second.
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It is a stewardship position.
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And it's important to remember.
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I have to remind people this all the time.
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The church, we have business that goes on the church.
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But the church is not a business.
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The church is not a business and the elders are not managers.
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The church is God's flock.
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And the elders are the under shepherds of the true shepherd who is Christ.
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And there is such a big difference.
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The church is the bride and the elders are the stewards of the groom.
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It's not managers in a business.
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And the writer of Hebrews calls the church to submit to its leaders.
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And he gives them this important reminder.
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He says, let them do this.
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Let them do this work.
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This difficult responsibility.
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Let them do this with joy and not with groaning.
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For that would be of no advantage to you.
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I tell you, there is groaning that goes on in pastoral ministry.
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There is groaning that goes on in eldership.
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And ultimately what the writer of Hebrews is saying here is minimize that as best as you can.
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Because the job that these men have is hard enough.
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And I'm not here just sort of hoping I don't sound like I'm whining.
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I'm telling you the truth.
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That's what this practice is calling us to.
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It's calling us to minimize that.
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Which makes it difficult.
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I heard Byron tell me something two weeks ago.
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It's stuck in my head ever since he said it.
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And I put it in my message there.
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A leader is only as popular as his last decision.
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A leader is only as popular as his last decision.
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Isn't that true? Oh, I love my pastor.
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He changed the color of the carpet.
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Gotta get him.
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You know? That sometimes is the way it is.
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It shouldn't be.
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But part of the reason for this call in Hebrews 13 of submission to leadership is so that elders can do the work that God has assigned to them without the emotional and sometimes even political battles which is so often forced for them to be involved with.
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Know this simply.
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The elders have been called to a position of leadership within the body.
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And the body is called to submit to their leadership knowing that each one of them has to give an account one day for their leadership.
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We will have to stand before God for all of the decisions that we've made.
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If you have trouble with that, think on the burden that that is in real life.
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That we have to face God and give that account.
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So every decision we make has to go through the filter of the word of God.
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We have to.
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And this is why I think that it's a much better system than so many other churches have where they are run by committees and votes.
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And then nothing goes through the filter of the word of God.
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It goes through the filter of man's opinion which is totally clogged with sin.
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It's a different system, but it's the biblical system.
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That's the way it should be.
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So we've seen submission to scripture, submission to leadership.
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Finally, submission to one another.
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Submission to one another.
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We're going to go to one last passage.
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It's Philippians chapter 2.
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We started here in our call to worship this morning.
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We're going to back up a little bit from where we were.
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We're going to go to Philippians chapter 2 verse 1.
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It says this, it says, So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind.
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Having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
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Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
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Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
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You know, as a body, we are called to do something which is very, very rare in this world.
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In fact, it is so against the natural mind that it seems almost to be foolish to consider.
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We're called to put others interests above our own.
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In essence, we are called to submit to one another.
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We are called to put one another first.
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Consider what the Apostle Paul says, he says, Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit.
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And you know, that may sound simple, but in reality, that's a pretty difficult command.
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Because we have a tendency to want our own way, don't we? We have a tendency to want things to be our way.
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We have a tendency to fuss and gripe and complain when things don't go our way.
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And yet here we are called to give way to the interests of others.
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We're called to a level of humility which is so rarely seen in the world that it's almost a completely foreign concept.
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But that's what we're called to.
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We're supposed to operate that way.
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We're supposed to care for one another.
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We're supposed to empathize and submit to one another.
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We're supposed to seek to be of the same mind and of the same love with one another.
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And when I say that that is a foreign concept, I'm not exaggerating.
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In fact, if you follow the text, which we're about to do, you will see that the Apostle Paul did not use an earthly example.
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He says, Submit to one another.
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He says, Have this mind, this one mind together.
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Submit unto one another.
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But then what example does he use, starting in verse 5? He doesn't use the example.
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He doesn't say, Look at this Christian brother and how he does it.
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Look at this Christian.
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Look at me.
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He says, Look at Christ.
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If you want to see what humility looks like.
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If you want to see the picture of what I'm talking about.
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Here is an otherworldly example.
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Because he says in verse 5, Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus.
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And he begins what here is called the common Christian.
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One of the most beautiful sections of scripture.
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We consider it among scholars.
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It is considered to be the earliest song of the church.
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One of the earliest references to who Christ was.
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And one of the earliest references to how the church would have expressed who Christ was.
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One to the other and likely in the form of song.
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And it says, Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus.
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Who though he was in the form of God.
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Did not account equality with God.
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A thing to be grasped.
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But emptied himself by taking the form of a servant.
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Being born in the likeness of men.
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And being found in human form.
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He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death.
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Even death on a cross.
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Therefore God has highly exalted him.
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And bestowed on him the name that is above every name.
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So that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow.
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In heaven and on earth and under the earth.
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And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
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To the glory of God the Father.
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You see, here is what is so amazing about this passage.
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The Apostle Paul is telling us that the type of humility we are supposed to have.
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Is the type of humility Christ had.
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Who though he was in the form of God.
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He was in every way God.
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That he was the second member of the Trinity.
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He was in heaven with God.
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The Bible says in the beginning was the Word.
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The Word was with God.
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And the Word was God.
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And that one God.
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That only begotten Son.
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Came to the earth.
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He submitted himself.
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He emptied himself.
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He humbled himself.
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And he bore the burden of our sin on a cross.
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A shameful Roman cross.
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That level of humility is unmatched.
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And that is what we are to strive for.
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That level of humility.
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There is no earthly comparison.
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But that is what we are going for.
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That is what we are reaching for.
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That is what we are supposed to do.
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We are to serve one another.
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We are to minister to one another.
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We are not here to have our own way.
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But to give way to the needs of others.
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That is the humility to which we have been called.
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As believers who share in this local fellowship.
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We all have some individual responsibilities.
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And we have seen in the past few weeks.
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We are responsible for our participation.
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We are responsible for our contributions.
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And we are responsible for our submission.
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And this series has not been a series intended to pressure you.
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But it has rather been a series intended to remind us all.
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Of our call from God.
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What we are supposed to do.
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So my charge to you today is simple.
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And this is what I will leave you with.
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The charge from this series is simple.
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If you have heard something in this series of messages.
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Which has punctured your heart.
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And you realize that you need to make some changes.
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Don't put that off.
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But make those changes today.
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If you need to be participating more.
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In worship.
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In fellowship.
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In ministry.
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Today is the day.
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If you need to be participating more.
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In contributions of your spiritual gifts.
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Of your prayers for the church.
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And for its members.
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Or even of your giving.
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Today is the day.
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And if you need to be more submissive to the word.
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More submission to your leadership.
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Or more submissive one to the other.
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Today is the day.
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Let it be that none of us leave this place today.
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Wondering if we should have.
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Done what we could do.
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Right now.
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Our Father and our God.
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We thank you for this opportunity.
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To have examined your word again.
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And to have bring to completion.
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This series.
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And I pray oh Lord that this has been.
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A time of honoring your word.
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And that you would be glorified by our study today.
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We thank you for everyone who is here to hear the word.
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And we pray that it has been an encouragement to them.
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To draw closer to you.
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And to be ministered to you.
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By it.
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And Lord we do pray.
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For our church.
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We pray that as we continue into the future.
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That you would always bless us to draw close to you.
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By obedience to your word.
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And submission to your will.
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We pray for our congregation.
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We pray that we would all be of one mind.
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Willing to submit to you.
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And to one another.
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We thank you.
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We praise you.
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We bless you.
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In Jesus name.
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Amen.
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We will now stand for our final song.
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If you have a need for prayer.
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You are welcome to come.
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As we stand.