Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Behaving Properly toward Outsiders │ Msg 712 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

Transcript

Behaving Properly toward Outsiders │ Msg 712 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: According to Paul, diligence on the job is an important
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: factor in making Christianity attractive to non Christians. But what
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: do we do when our jobs get us down? Those
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: days when our workload only gets heavier and our bosses
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: seem to get even more exasperating. The Apostle helps us
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: adjust our attitude with his words to the Colaisian believers,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: as he writes, whatever you do, do your work heartily,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: as for the Lord rather than for men Colasians three
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: twenty three. Walter Wangering offers us insight into these words
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: from Paul. If a carpenter crafts a chair for a
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: rich stranger, he may do it well, But if he
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: crafts it for his daughter, he will do it lovingly.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Much much is deaf between the first and the second crafting,
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: and much is different between the two chairs two, though
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: only he and his daughter may see the difference. Christians
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: who do their work for the Lord do it not
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: only for the pay, but for the gleam in Christ's
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: eyes when we present it to him. Paul talks about
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: this behavior in the passage we're looking at today. Turn
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: with me to first Thessalonians four, verses nine through twelve,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: listen to what Paul says about our jobs our work.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: First Thessalonians four nine. Now, as to the love of
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: to you, for you, yourselves are taught by God to
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: love one another. For indeed, you do practice it toward
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: urge you, brethren, to excel still more, and to make
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: to your own business and work with your hands, just
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: toward outsiders and not be in any need. The Christian
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: often finds himself on a major battlefield. It's a battlefield
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: between two opposing forces. I suppose we could call it
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: a war between either and or. What I want to
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: describe for you for the next few minutes is the
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: battleground of extremes. For example, either we are zealous for
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: the lost and incline toward evangelism almost to the point
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: of forgetting the need for prayer and personal Bible study.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: Or we are so committed to the personal disciplines of
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: our edification and spiritual growth we operate as though we
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: could care less about the world of a lost person.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: There really is very little evangelistic concerned within us, after all.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: Here's another one. Either we are so confident and self
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: assured and full of determination that we run ahead and
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: make a mess of things, not willing to wait on God.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Or we are so afraid of risk and the walk
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: of faith and doing anything outside the realm of the predictable,
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: that we become rather dull and visionless, and the final
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: analysis pretty predictable. Here's another the extreme, that I would
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: describe as the battle between the vertical and the horizontal.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: It goes like this, we become so preoccupied with prophecy
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: and the signs of the times and Christ's imminent return
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: that everything in our lives revolves around the fact that
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: He is coming, He is coming soon, and so we
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: count on him to bail us out of the mess
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: we make. I suppose it could be described in the
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: words of a of a misprint that appeared in a
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: Kentucky newspaper in the weather Report, which said, there's a
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: less than five percent chance of tonight and tomorrow. Some
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: people live as though there is less than five percent
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: chance of tonight and tomorrow, or or we get so
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: out of balance that he will never return. That we
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: put our tent pigs three four, five miles deep, and
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: we operate building some kind of materialistic kingdom, which is
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: what I would call horizontal bondage. Once again, it's a
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: battle between either an or I could go on and on,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: but there's one that's especially on my mind, and you'll
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: find it illustrated beautifully in the seventeenth chapter of the
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: Gospel of John. So, if you've got a Bible located,
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: turned to the fourth Gospel in the New Testament and
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: follow along about verse eleven down through. Oh, let's take
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: down through verse eighteen. Now before I read this for you,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: let me describe the battle. Either we become so exclusive
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: and in bread as Christians that our whole world revolves
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: around other Christians. Result is we're virtually out of touch
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: with the lost person, who is described on more than
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: one occasion in the New Testament as the outsider. All
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: our talk is God talk, all our friends are God friends,
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: all of our acquaintances, all of our meals are taken with,
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: all of our time is spent with the saved. I mean,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: we go to a solid Christian church, we send our
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: children to solid Christian schools. We in the summertime, go
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: to Christian camps and conferences. We frequent Christian businesses. We
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: go to a Christian barber who gives us a Christian haircut,
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: and and we buy gas from a Christian station owner
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: who pumps Christian gas into our Christian car. And all
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: the while we are pushing, pushing, pushing the non Christian
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: away from us. Stay away, contaminate life. You're the problem
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: with this world. We don't want you around us. We're
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: trying to build our own little kingdom, and don't bother me.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: I'm reading Christian books, and I'm listening to Christian radio,
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: and I'm watching Christian TV, and I am playing Christian music,
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: and I don't want you to come in and mess
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: my world up. Or the opposite extreme. I'm a Christian,
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: but I'm going to live in a world. Give me
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: the world, baby, and so I pick up the lifestyle
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: of the world, and I live like what I often
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: call a secret service scene where, in other words, kind
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: of a clear all Christian nobody knows for sure, but
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: God that kind of a camouflage Christianity. I mean, I
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: am going to live in the world. I'm going to
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: be of the world, and I am not going to
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: offend anybody because I want to have a relationship with
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: the non Christian world. Well, that's nice and dandy, it
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: sounds really interesting and certainly would be exciting, but I
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: want to caution all of us three words guard against extremes.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: I wish you would write that down on a three
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: by five and stick it on the visor of your car.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: I wish you would tape it on the mirror in
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: your bathroom. Guard against extremes in any area. Let me
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: tell you, Satan is the expert of extremes. He loves
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: to give you the freedom to take truth and go
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: to seed on it. That's how heresy gets going. By
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: the way, heresy is nothing more than a truth taken
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: to extreme, and when you take it to its farthest extreme,
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: you can't even identify the truth where it starts. It's
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: truth gone to seed. Guard against extremes. Now, for the
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: sake of our time together, we're thinking about not the
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: other kind of extremes I illustrated, but this fourth kind
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: I just described, becoming so exclusively Christian that we lose
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: touch with the world, or becoming so worldly no one
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: would even know we're born again. Look at John seventeen eleven.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Jesus is praying. This is what I would call late
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: breaking up to the minute final scene in Jesus's prayer life.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: This is petition in the last few hours before he
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: is arrested and crucified. He's about to leave the earth.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: His disciples are staying on the earth. As you read
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: through these pronouns, the eye is a reference to Jesus himself.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: That thee is a reference to God the Father. That
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: they is a reference to the followers, the disciples by
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: application Christians even to this day. Now look at leven.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: I am no more in the world, says Jesus. Yet they,
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: my followers, are in the world. I come to thee
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Holy Father. Keep them in thy name, the name which
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: thou hast given me, that they may be one even
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: as we are. While I was with them, I was
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: keeping them in thy name which thou hast given me.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: And I guarded them. And not one of them perished,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: but the son of tradition, that the scripture might be fulfilled.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: This has reference to Judas the Betrayer. Only one was lost,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: the other eleven I guarded, I kept. But now I
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: come to THEE. Look at the prayer and these things
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: I speak in the world, that they my own, my
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: followers may have my joy made full in themselves. Look
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: at what he wants for them, not only unity but joy.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: I have given them thy word, and the world has
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: hated them because they are not of the world. Even
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: as I am not of the world. I do not
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: ask THEE to take them out of the world, but
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: to keep them from the evil one. Look carefully, Look carefully.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Let's clarify. It is the desire of our heavenly Father
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: that we remain in the world, but not be of
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: the world. Jesus praise not for our isolation, but for
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: our insulation. Even as Jesus was criticized for his commitment
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: to truth, So the child of God will be. However,
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: he says, Father, don't take them out of the world.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Without the Christian there's no salt, there's no light, there's
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: no hope, there's no messenger. Now, Father, leave them in
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: the world, but guard them from the evil one. I
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: think that could very well be a reference to extremism.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: Keep them from the extremes that the enemy is gonna
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: convince them of, or attempt to do so. Look at
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: verse sixteen. They are not of the world, even as
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: I am not of the world. Set them apart in
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: the truth. Thy word is truth. As thou didst send
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Isn't that great news? That was a little scary, though,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: because if you determined to live a balanced Christian life
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: in touch with your world, you will have to spend
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: some time with the lost person. There's nowhere around it.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: That's not only essential, that is commendable. On your way
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: to First Thessalonians chapter four, stop off at First Corinthians
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: chapter five. Okay, we're kind of coming in the back
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: doorway today. First Corinthians Chapter five is a really strong
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: chapter of scripture that talks about a Christian who began
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: to live so worldly that even the world would be shocked.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: He was involved in incest with his father's wife, and
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: the Corinthian Assembly found themselves with their thumbs under their suspenders,
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: strutting around saying, look at how loving and how gracious
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: we are. When Paul writes to say, shame on you
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: for letting one of your own brothers live like this.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: I told you before, and I'm telling you again, you
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: can't live like that and let it go on without
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: its contaminating the church. It gives an indistinct message. The
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: world is watching the church. The world is listening to
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: the Christian in the church. And when the world sees
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: that go on in the church, then the world is confused. Saying,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: you're talking to me about a life. Why I live
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: better than some of you people live. I look at
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: verse nine, that's sort of beside the point. That just
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: kind of gets us into the context. Verse nine. I
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: He means the believers who have adopted an immoral lifestyle.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: So he says, I did not at all mean with
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: the immoral people of this world. World. I didn't tell
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: you to stop associating with immoral people of the world,
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: or with the covetous and the swindlers, or with idolators,
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: for then you'd have to go out of the world.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: Isn't that a great statement? You think you can live
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: your life without being in touch with the immoral and
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: the covetous and the swindlers. You think you can operate
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: in this life and be scot free of the contamination
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: of the ungodly outsider you're living in a dream, or
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: if you did live like that, you'd be in another world.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: Point is what point is clear? Point is this You
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: need to be in touch with people in the world,
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: the immoral, the covetous, the idolaters, the flakes, because they
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: are living a lifestyle for which there is no power
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: to change. They need what you've got. I'm going to
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: say something that might even sound a little bit heretical.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: We are to be tough on our own and easy
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: on the outsiders. Listen carefully before you reject that. Some
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: of you look back at me. Your eyes are rolling
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: like slot machines right now, saying you I agree with that,
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: am I sure? That's what I would say is think
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: about it now. Paul writes in First Corinthians five, you
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: have a man among you that is living an immoral life,
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: and you're smiling about it, patting everybody on the back,
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: saying that's okay, We'll go right on. This is a
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: grace This is a grace oriented church. We believe in loving,
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: We believe in letting people live and let live. Paul says,
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: I want to tell you I don't even have to
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: come to your assembly to say you're wrong. You need
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: to deal with with him. Something needs to be said
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: to clean out the leaven. He's a brother, he can't
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: live like that. However, he turns right around and says,
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: I didn't say. You're not supposed to associate with immoral
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: people in the world. The implication is not only can you,
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: but you should. You know what concerns me Christians. Not
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: long after we come to know Christ, we begin to
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: lop off all of our friends who were lost, and
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: we began to be around only one another. And the
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: longer we live in the family of God, the less
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: and less contacts we have with a lost person, until finally,
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: after a little longer period of time, we don't even
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: know how to communicate with a lost person. We start
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: expecting from the lost person the lifestyle of the saved.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: We try to clean up their act when they can't
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: clean up their act. We try to clean up their
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: tongue when they can't clean up their tongue. We try
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: to correct their diet. When they can't correct their diet,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: we deal with everything but the heart. And until the
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: heart is changed, will the tongue, the eyes, the diet,
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: the lifestyle be changed. And the result is we create
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: such an offense between us and the lost person. He
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: turns away, saying he needs that when in fact, we
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: ought to make the lost person feel very very much
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: at home. I can't believe I just said that. That's
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: almost heresy when you stop and think that through, isn't it.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: I mean, we don't hear information like that. Why, because
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: it's all of our stuff as God talk, all of
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: our information is for other Christians. You were plunked into
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: a group of unbelieving individuals this afternoon, would you cause
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: them to feel uneasy? I mean, and kind of like
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: it just your presence will be an uneasiness. But I mean,
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: would you just kind of feel like that's good? The
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: Cross really offended today? Now you offended, quite likely, but
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: not the Cross. We're not to offend. The Cross is
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: to offend. You know what. Jesus was criticized for eating
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: with sinners and tax collectors and publicans. And while those
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: Pharisees look through the windows, look at that Jesus is
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: eating with those slabs. Jesus is in there, sitting at
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: a table, and look they're serving wine. Who And later,
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: only two chapters later in Matthew's Gospel, he has called
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: a drunkard and a glutton by the gossips. You know
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: what the problem was. They looked at everything through religious eyes.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: You think they were impacting the lost world, not on
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: your life. They didn't know how to behave around the
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: lost Now now that I got you thinking, turn to
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: First Thessalonians chapter four. It's a big job to get
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: people just to think. And now that you're thinking, we're
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: ready to do battle with this battle of ours. First
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: Thessalonians four nine through twelve is just a great section
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: of scripture tucked away, and first reading it kind of
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: sounds innocuous. It sounds like it may not be that significant.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: But when you get into it, you see it really
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: has a lot to say. Look at First Thessalonians four nine. Now,
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: as to the love of the brethren, you have no
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: need for anyone to write to you, for you, yourselves
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: are taught by God to love one another. For indeed
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: you do practice it toward all the brethren who are
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: still more, and to make it your ambition to lead
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: a quiet life and attend to your own business and
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: that you may behave properly toward outsiders and not be
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: in any need. Keep looking down at the Bible and
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: locate in verse twelve the phrase that you may behave
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: properly toward outsiders. I want to talk about that now.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: I want to tell you ahead of time. It's going
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: to be a little uncomfortable for some of you to
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: hear this. And I don't have anybody in mind. Okay.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: People often write and say, did my wife talk to you?
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Or you've been looking in our windows or something like that.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: Nobody's written me, nobody's tattled. If it helps you, I'm
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: talking to you about some of the major battles of
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: my own life. And I think back over my early
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: zealous years as a Christian, and I want to kind
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: of hide my head under my wing like an old mother.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: Hen I just kind of want to get away from
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: the facts of my yesterday because I made a mess
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: of some marvelous opportunities. I hope I've learned a little
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: in these years of walking with the Savior. Now, how
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: do I behave properly toward the outsider? What do I
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: do well? First of all, I need to know how
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: to relate to my fellow Christian, and that's covered in
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: verses nine and ten. And then I need, of course
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: to know how to relate to my lost friend, and
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: that's covered in verses eleven and twelve. See how easy
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: it is first of all with our fellow Christians. What
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: do I need to do now? As to the love
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: of the brethren. You have no need for anyone to
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: write to you, for you, yourselves are taught by God
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: to love one another. If you'd like to take notes,
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: write down three words love one another. It'll sound like
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: a Sunday school class from yesteryear. It hasn't changed. In fact,
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: you may write it down with a yawn on your face.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: Paul writes it with that in mind. He says, you
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: have no need I'll write to you about this, and
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: then he gives two reasons why he mentions it. First
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: of all, you are taught by God to love one another,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: that's verse nine. And second, you already practice love toward
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: one another. And both could be said of our church
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: in Fullerton. You have been taught by God to love
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: one another, and I would say most of you are
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: marvel us illustrations of loving one another. I've learned a
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: lot about love from this congregation. It's infectious. It's downright contagious.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: At times, on occasion when I didn't deserve love, I
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: got love. On occasion when you didn't act too nicely
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: in a situation, the love of your friend forgave you
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: and hasn't brought it up to remind you of your failure.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: So you not only have been taught by God to
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: love one another, you're already practicing it. Towards the brethren
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: who are in all of southern California. We would say
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: in our context, and there's it would be in all
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: of Macedonia. But here's why I bring it up. We
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: urge you, brethren, excel in it. That's a great word.
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: If I were a coach, it would be one of
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: my favorite words. I'm not asking you, fellows to go
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: out there and jail play football. I'm asking you to
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: excel in it. If I were the manager of a
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: sales force, I would say to my sales men and women,
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: I'm not asking you simply to go sell a product.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: I'm asking you to excel in it. Go whole hog,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: go for it. Excel in it. You want an illustration,
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: hold your place, go back again to the Gospel of John.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: This time it's chapter thirteen, John thirteen. By the way,
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: here those pages turning. If there are outsiders listening in
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: right now, that's a phenomenal sound to think that intelligent
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: thinking people like you would turn of your Bible to
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: locate a passage of scripture from one book and look
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: at it as though it is life and death, which
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: it is, and then order your life according to what
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: it says. That is amazing, you know what? That is
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: also attractive. Who knows how many of the outsiders would
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: love to simplify their life to the instructions of one book.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: Think of the council they're getting from four corners of
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: the earth, and none of it's working. And here we
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: are as a body of people looking at one book saying, Yeah,
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: that's what I ought to do, because that works. Look
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: at verse one. Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: knowing that his hour had come, that he should depart
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: out of this world to the Father, having loved his
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: own who were in the world, he loved them to
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: the end. Is that good stuff? He loved them to
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: the uttermost, Having loved his own who were in the world,
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: He loved them to the extreme. In fact, it doesn't
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: just mean he loved them to the end of his
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: life and ministry. It means he loved them Ice tell
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: us into completion would be a pretty literal rendering. In fact,
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: Knox renders it, he gave them the uttermost proof of
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: his love. A. W. Pink says he loved them to
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: the farthest extent of their need and of his grace.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: The NIV reads, he loved them to the full extent.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: Amplified says he loved them to the highest degree. I
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: especially like Campbell Morgan's rendering. The words unto the end
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: mean to completion. It has been rendered beautifully to the uttermost.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: Morgan adds, but I am going to dare to render
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: it another way, which I maintain reveals the very spirit
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: of it. Having loved his own who were in the world,
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: he saw it through. The hour had come, he had
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: come from God. He was going back to God. Having
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: loved them, he saw it through. He loved them to
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: the uttermost, to perfection, to completion, to realization. He saw
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: it through. You know in first Thessalonians four, when it
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: says that you love one another to the point of excelling.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: In it think in those terms, see people through. Don't
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: just love them when they have earned it. Don't just
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: love them when they have met the conditions of a
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: good love relationship. Love them when they don't deserve it. Now,
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: that may mean you'll need to tell them the truth
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: you love them that much. It may mean you'll have
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: to be secure enough to pull them aside, put your
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: arm around them, and say, hey, I can't let you
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: get away with that. I love you too much. You
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: know why that kind of excelling love is mentioned in
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: First Thessalonians four nine in ten because the unsaved person
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: sees it and says, I want it. See, the unsaved
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: is not around that kind of love. The unsaved is
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: around a love that is earned. It's a conditional love.
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: It's a love where you do your part and I'll
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: do my part. It's it's a reciprocal love. But when
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: Paul says to the Thessalonians, excel still more, he's saying
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: love in such a way that when the outsider sees
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: you doing it, he will think or she will think,
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: I want that. How do they do that? Just because
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: a person is unsaved doesn't mean the person can't think.
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: Doesn't mean the person isn't watching. On the contrary, many
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: of them can outthink us and our watching life more
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: than we're watching it. It was Tertullian who wrote, on
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: one occasion of the early Christians, behold how they love
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: one another? That whenso magnetic ingredient that pulled people out
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: of that rugged Roman empire and put them ultimately into
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: the catacombs. It was a wooing, winsome love relationship in
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: the family. It was the warmth of a womb, a
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: womb of love, love one another, excel in it. But
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: that's indirect. That's an indirect method of witnessing. Let's go
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: to the direct, back to first Thessalonians four, verse eleven.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about how we relate to the seed. Now
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: hold on to your hats. There's not a word in
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: here about handing out tracks, and I believe in it.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: Don't think I am putting that down. I'm just saying
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: when he came down to basic rules, he wasn't saying,
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: let's have a big crusade, and that's important. Crusades are great.
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: We believe in them and we go for it. But
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: that's not basic. Grassroots evangelism is not those things. We
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: often connect to it. It's lifestyle. Now we're going to
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: get down into where we work in this passage, and
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: it's going to hurt. I'll warn you before it happens.
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: Our favorite method of witnessing is to talk. The very
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: first piece of council is be quiet. See verse eleven.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life. Interesting
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: background here, we have reason to believe that the Thessalonians
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: had gone to seed on prophecy. Paul had mentioned the
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: coming of the Lord Jesus for sure, as we're going
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: to see in our next study. But the Thessalonians heard
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: more than he said. If Christ is coming soon, why
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: hassle now? I mean he's coming any moment, So we
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: might as well talk it up and live kind of
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: recklessly and happily. And so it's what they did. They
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: must have talked it up. They were refusing to live
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: in the here and now. They were living in the
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: later on tomorrow. The term used here, by the way
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: translated quiet life is the opposite for striving eagerly for
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: something or being restless. It's a reference to living in
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: your community in an ordinary, responsible fashion. You want me
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: to get out of the nuts and bolts of it.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: It means if you have a yard, you keep it up.
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: It means if you drive a car, you don't let
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: it go to pot because you're living for Christ soon return.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: It means if you dress in today's clothing, you keep
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: it clean. You don't walk around with boh because you
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: believe in Christ's soon return. It means living responsibly. It
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: means if you are pursuing an education, you don't drop
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: it and put on a white robe and sit on
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: a hillside and play the guitar and sing Do Lord
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: as you eat bird seed all afternoon because Christ is
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: coming back. You finish your education, you go for it.
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: You live in your community as a responsible citizen. You
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: bury your part of the load as a member of
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: the community, as a neighbor. You lead a quiet life.
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: And if that isn't enough, you attend to your own business.
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: Now look at that. It's a picture of being personally diligent,
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: steadily and faithfully working at one's assignment in life. Religious
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: fanatics make terrible in employe ployees. Maybe no one has
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: ever told you that, And I want to be a
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: friend and tell you that if you are fanatical about
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: your religion, chances are good. Your fellow employees don't like
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: working around you. You tend not to attend to your
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: own business. Here's the third piece of counsel, and again
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: it won't sound very evangelistic. Work with your hands. Make
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: it your ambition to lead a quiet life. Attend to
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: your own business. Work with your hands. It's the thought
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: of being personally diligent to get a job done. People
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: who do not earn their wage forfeit the right to
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: be heard regarding the good news, and irresponsible lazy lifestyle
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: discredits the good news. Let me show you how that
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: had happened to the Thessalonians over in the second letter,
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: last chapter. Turn Please second Thessalonians three, verse seven down
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: through verse fourteen. We have some pretty straight council along
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: this line. First us a second Thesalonians three seven. For you yourselves,
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: know how you ought to follow our example, because we
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: didn't act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: we eat anyone's bread without paying for it. May I
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: put it this way, Paul wasn't a freeloader. There's little axe.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: I got a grind here for just a moment. Bear
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: with me, But we'll go on with it in the second.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: Too many people enter into the Christian life thinking the
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: world owes them a living. Now that I'm a Christian,
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: the other guy picks up the tab when we go
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: to lunch. Now that I'm in ministry, the other person
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: pays his way. I don't he owes it to me
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: now that I'm a Christian, Now that I have my
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: eyes on heavenly things, I leave the heavy stuff for
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: someone else. I'm concerned about significant things. I read this
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: past week that far too many people are ready to
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: carry the stool when there's a piano to be moved.
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: If you are a Christian, carry the piano. Let somebody
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: else carry the stool. What else does it mean working
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: with one's own hand. Now back to it, Thanks for
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: letting me grind an axe here. We didn't need anyone's
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: bread without paying for it. But with labor and hardship,
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: we kept working night and day so that we might
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: not be a burden to any of you. Not because
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: we don't have the right to this. He had the
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: right to have his meals catered. He was an apostle.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: We didn't take advantage of it, though, but in order
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: to offer ourselves as a model for you that you
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: might follow our example. For even when we were with you,
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: we used to give you this order. If anyone will
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: not work, neither let him eat. That's a pretty good plan,
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: isn't it. For we hear that some among you are
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, a
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: lot of stool movers. You're acting like busybodies. Now such
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: to work in quiet fashion. He repeats it again, work
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: in quiet fashion, eat your own bread. As for brethren,
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: don't grow weary of doing good. If anyone does not
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: the man, and don't associate with him, so that he
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: may be put to shame. Wow, you're a Christian in
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: your office, you're a Christian in your shop. You should
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: be there early, and if necessary, you need to stay
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: there late. Get the job done. You're hired out to
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: sell a product, sell a product. You're not hired out
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: to witness. You're hired out to sell sell, And it's remarkable.
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: You may even be promoted, and then you'll be in
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: a leadership capacity, and then you'll have a bigger job
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: then you'll have management responsibilities and then you will still
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: be working hard, but in the process as a salesperson
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: or as manager, your testimony is growing. Am I saying
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: you never speak for christ? Don't say that about me.
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: Don't think I'm saying that this is the other side
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: of the coin. You know that I'm for speaking for
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: the Savior. You know that I believe in in sharing
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: the good news. You know that I believe in whatever
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: that works, get at it. But I'm saying, if you
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: are in a bank to handle money, handle money, don't
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: just pass out tracks. You're a coach. Coach the team,
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: motivate the guys or the gals to play the game.
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: That's why you're there. You're not there to be a
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: part time Christian. You're there to be a full time employee.
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: And as you earn the right to be heard, they'll
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: want to hear it, and you'll have ample opportunity. Ample.
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: I have a great opportunity. This afternoon, I get to
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: go to a RAM game. Doesn't often happen. In fact,
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: I only make a game or two a year, and
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: so my major battle is how do I get out
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: of here in time to make the game. I got
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: a plan. Just relax. But I'm gonna One of the
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: things about the fun thing about going with this game
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: is that I'm gonna have to go and sit in
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: a suite not mine, but a friend of mine is
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: invited a guy and me to come along about twenty
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: five thirty guys, most many of whom were lost. It's
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: a terrific opportunity. Terrific. Now, I'm not gonna show up
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: in a robe and a big Bible saying nobody smoke
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: and nobody drink beer. I'm gonna walk in in my
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: western outfit and have a whopping good time, laughing, having fun,
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: pulling for the rams, just great side slapping, knee slapping fun,
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: laughing time. And the process, I'm gonna build a relationship
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: with a few of those men, and if nobody squeals
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: on me, they won't even know I'm a minister. Doesn't
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: mean I'm gonna smoke, and it doesn't mean I'm gonna drink.
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: I don't have to do that to show them I'm
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: one of them. That's dumb to think you've got to
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: do that to win them. The charm wins them, Having
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: fun wins them. Being non judgmental wins them the cross
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: offends them, we start talking turkey about the Savior. I
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: won't hedge them. I won't hedge one minute. But we're
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: going to have a great time. And it may not
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: be an opportunity at all then, but there'll come one.
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: There will be a time. Now, individuals who hear this
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: message back in first Thessalonians for turn, please have to
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: understand that this leads to a climax. Okay, the climax.
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: The ultimate result is verse twelve. Don't be overly dependent
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: on others. See the way this reads, so that that's
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: the result. Those are words that say result is coming.
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: Here's the result. Sow that as a result of loving
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: the brothers and sisters in the family, leading a quiet life,
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: attending to your own business, working with your hands, so
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: that you've earned the right to be heard in a
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: lifestyle of neighborhood or office or social evangelism, lifestyle evangelism,
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: so that you may behave properly toward the outsiders and
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: not be in any need. It means don't be overly
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: dependent on others. That's the fourth. Now let me say
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: that there are exceptions. I know a case right now
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: of a fine Christian, hard working gentleman who has been
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: looking for a job for months and he cannot find one.
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: Breaks his heart, breaks the family's heart. We're praying with him,
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: working with them to make it happen, but he can't
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: seem to find his net. It's not his fault. He's
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: a victim of circumstances. Now, this hasn't reference to that
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: kind of person, not a person who's lived a responsible
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: life and the bottom's dropped out. This is an individual
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: who has behaved properly and suddenly the mates walked out
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: on him, or there's been a turn of events in
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: their health and now they need the family, the Christian family,
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: to put their arms around them and help them through it.
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: That's different. But this is an individual who could keep
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: from being in need, but he doesn't. He's living off
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: someone else. That's what he's putting down. Somehow people have
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: picked up the mistake and idea that Christianity advocates living
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: off others. It doesn't. You get a job, you work hard,
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: and you work your way into it, through it and
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: out of it. That's your calling. Never live behind the idea.
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: Because I serve Christ, you take care of me. Now
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: what do you say, how do you wrap something like
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: this up Colisians chapter four. If you'll turn. We started
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: in John. We've been to John again. We've looked at
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: first Thessalonians and second Thessalonians. Let's wrap it up in
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: Collisians four. Oh, this is such a great passage of scripture.
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: It is, in my opinion, one of my favorite sections.
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: Chapter four, verse five. Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: making the most of the opportunity. See the word outsiders.
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: That's the lost person. Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech be
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: always with grace, seasoned the little bit of salt. Let
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: your speech be always with grace, seasoned as it were
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: with salt, so that you may know how you ought
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: to respond to each person. By that good counsel, it's
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: our tendency to dump the box of salt. Oh hey,
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: dear God, underneath there is stinging to death. You can't
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: get out of the salt. It just says, as season
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: it with some salt, just a little salt. Now we'll
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: give you three pieces of advice. We're all through regarding
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: non Christians. They are watching and wondering, So conduct yourself
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: with wisdom. They are watching and wondering. So conduct yourself
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: with wisdom. That's what the past that you're saying. Conduct
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: yourself with wisdom toward the outsider. Don't think they listen
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: simply to what you're saying. Long before they listen to
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: what you're saying, they watch what you do. They notice
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: you carry the stool. They notice that, they notice you
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: come there late. They notice you take advantage at the
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: coffee break. They notice that you leave early. They notice
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: that you're not as diligent in in your profession as
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: you could be. They note that. And then when you
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: speak of quality life in Christ, they turn that off.
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: You lack integrity in life. How can you speak of
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: that integrity in belief? Conduct yourself with wisdom. Second, they
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: are listening and learning, So speak your words with grace.
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: They are listening and learning, So speak your words with grace.
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: Just a little bit of salt and a whole lot
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: of grace. And do you notice how it closes how
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: you should respond to each person. I just saw this
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: this week, each individual person. We have mass approaches to
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: reaching mass humanity. People aren't one in masses, they're one individually.
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: Third point, they are individuals and important, so respond with
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: dignity and sensitivity. They are individuals and they are important,
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: so respond with dignity and sensitivity. Becky Pippert, in her
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: great book Out of the Salt Shaker into the World, says,
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: an effective form of evidence is what God has done
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: in our lives. The world hungers, perhaps without even knowing it,
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: for examples of evidence in people's lives. They want to
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: know if God works, Has He brought you a feeling
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: of self esteem? Does God make a difference in your
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: marriage and in rearing children. Earl Palmer said once that
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: perhaps the best testimony a Christian couple can give today
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: is a reasonably good marriage. We who are married do
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: not have to pretend we are living as barbie dolls
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: on a wedding cake, says Becky Pipper. We have struggles
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: and dashed expectations too. But if we offer the world
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: a model of a reasonably good marriage, a reasonably good church,
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: a reasonably good fellowship, it will have radicalizing effect on
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: the world. We need to tell others what prayers we
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: see answered, what things God is doing. We must communicate
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: his aliveness. Amen, that's about together? Shall we what a
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: great needed message? I think we probably had some outsiders
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: listening in. I think we've we've got some that are wondering,
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: what kind of people are these that listen to counsel
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: like that?
• 50:43
  Speaker 2: What?
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: How could I be like that? Perhaps today is a
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: turning point for you. And you say, Chuck, I've heard
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: an to know that if you're talking about a life
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: to be lived in that kind of power, I need
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: it and I want it, and I don't have it,
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: and I'm ready for it. I want Christ. I don't
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: want anything like I want him. I'm lost when all
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: the laughter and fun and games are over, I am lost.
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: I need the Savior. I want you to believe in
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: him now. I want you to get the protection you
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: need to live in a world that's gonna make sure
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: you arrive in hell. I want you to let him intercept.
• 51:41
  Speaker 2: You.
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: Believe in Christ. Now, believe now? And so Lord, today
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: we come to you with gratitude for the opportunity that
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: you have allowed us to have. You didn't save us
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: and then remove us from this world, but you deliberately
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: kept us in it. And Lord, we realized that your
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: desire for us is not isolation but insolation. However, not
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: even in that do you want us to be removed
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: in any way from those about us. Give us the
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: courage to live as we should live before the outsiders.
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: Give us the ability to love them, sometimes in spite
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: of themselves, as they often must show to us. And
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: thank you for being delivered from the sense of pride
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: that we have some corner on life. The fact is
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: you have claimed us as your own even though we
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: weren't looking for you, and you've loved us even when
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: we weren't very lovely or loving. So give us that
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: same ability to live openly in whatever we do, to
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: do our work heartily as for you rather than for others.
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: And maybe never forget that you use testimonies that aren't
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: even spoken to attract the attention and win the hearts
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: of those without your son. Give us that kind of integrity,
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: our Father, as we live before you while living before others.
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: We act this together in the name of Christ, our Lord. Amen.
• 53:39
  Speaker 2: The preceding message Behaving Properly toward Outsiders was copyrighted in
• 53:44
  Speaker 2: nineteen eighty four, nineteen eighty five, nineteen ninety three, two
• 53:47
  Speaker 2: thousand and three, and twenty twenty four, and the sound
• 53:50
  Speaker 2: recording was copyrighted in twenty twenty four by Charles R.
• 53:54
  Speaker 2: Swindall Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted
• 53:59
  Speaker 2: material for commercial use is strictly prohibited