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The Model Life: Adaptability, Part 1 · CCC West Covina

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Take your Bible if you would please, and turn to 1st
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Thessalonians chapter 5. As we look at verses 12 to 15
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this morning, and as you're turning, I'm reminded of a of a
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parable written by Karen Maines that she entitles A Brawling
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Bride. She paints A vivid scene
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describing A suspenseful moment in a wedding ceremony.
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Down front stands the groom in a spotless tuxedo, handsome,
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smiling, full of anticipation, shoes shined, every hair in
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place, anxiously awaiting the presence of his bride.
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All the attendants are in place, looking joyful and attractive.
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The magic of moment finally arrives as a pipe organ reaches
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full crescendo and the stately wedding March begins.
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Everyone rises and looks toward the door for their first glimpse
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of the bride. Suddenly there is a horrified
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gasp. The wedding party is shocked.
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The groom stares in embarrassed disbelief.
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Instead of a lovely woman dressed in elegant white,
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smiling behind a lace veil, the bride is limping down the aisle.
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Her dress is soiled and torn, her legs seems twisted, ugly
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cuts and bruises cover her bare arms.
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Her nose is bleeding, one eye is purple and swollen, and her hair
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is dishevelled. Does not this handsome groom
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deserve better than this? Asked the author.
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And then the clincher. Alas, his bride.
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The church has been fighting again, calling the church a
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bride. Paul says these words in
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Ephesians 5. Christ loved the church and gave
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himself up for her to make her holy and clean so that he could
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give her to himself as a glorious church without a single
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spot or wrinkle or any other blemish being holy and without a
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single fault. That's the plan, to present a
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beautiful bride unscathed, spotless, blameless to his
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Father in heaven. And positionally that is true.
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That's exactly what's going to happen.
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But practically everyday life is a lot different in the life of
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the bride. Instead of being spotless, she
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is filled with anger and bitterness, infighting,
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quarreling, arguing, conflict, unresolved happening all the
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time, making her a bride that's completely dishevelled and
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unlike the bride that will be presented to his Father in
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heaven. It is true that the bride does
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survive the blows of the world. All the things the world froze
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at. The bride she she can handle.
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But it's the infighting that makes the bride so unattractive.
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Puritan Thomas Brooks once penned these words.
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He said for wolves to worry lambs is no wonder, but for
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lambs to worry one another, this is a natural and monstrous.
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So Paul in his own way is going to address how the church is to
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function, to show that the model life is one that adapts to each
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and every situation with the leadership and with the
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membership, so that the fellowship of the bride, the
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fellowship of the church, is all that God designed it to be.
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And so Paul pins these words in First Thessalonians chapter 5,
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verse 12 by saying this. But we request of you, brethren,
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that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you and
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have charge over you and the Lord, and give you instruction
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that you seen them very highly in love because of their work.
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Live in peace with one another. We urge you, brethren, admonish
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the unruly, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak.
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Be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another
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with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good
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for one another and for all people.
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Fall very simply sums up how we as brethren behave and react and
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adapt to those who lead us and to those around us, so that the
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Church can be that which God designed it to be.
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So the model life is not just one of abstinence in chapter 4,
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verses 1 to 8, or aspiration in chapter 4, verses 9 to 12, or
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anticipation in chapter 4, verses 13 to 18, or alertness
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chapter 5, verses 1 to 11, but adaptability, flexibility, the
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ability to get along one with another within the body of
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Christ. And so he requests, He said that
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in chapter 4 verse #1 as well. He appeals to them, first of all
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in their relationship to the leadership and then in the
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relationship to one another. Now, whether there was conflict
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in the church, we don't necessarily know, but we know
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that the Church of Thessalonica was a young church, and so those
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who led in the church were young in the Lord.
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They weren't mature men who had been around and seasoned in
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their lives and walk with the Lord over a period of time.
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They they were young like everyone else was young in the
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Lord, in the church. And so these men, young and the
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Lord were appointed by Paul to lead in the church, doesn't call
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them elders, but he says they do have charge over you.
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So they have some kind of leadership responsibility and
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maybe there was conflict between some of the members in the
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church. So he gives them exhortation as
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to how it is you are to respond to the leadership.
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And then he gives them exhortation on how you are to
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respond to the membership one one another.
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And then he says this is how the fellowship of the church will be
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all that God wants it to be. So when it comes to the
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leadership, in verses 12 and 13, he gives 3 exhortations, 3
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responses, three ways that you are to deal with them.
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Number one is appreciation for the person.
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Number 2 is admiration for his position and #3A preservation of
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the peace. First of all, he says there
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needs to be an appreciation for the person.
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Look what he says. He says very clearly in verse
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12, We request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who
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diligently labor among you and have charge over you in the Lord
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and give you instruction. The reason you appreciate them
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is because of the fact that they labor among you.
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They lead you, and they look after you.
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That's why you appreciate them. And the word appreciate means to
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to know intimately. And it's really interesting
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because Paul is exhorting the church to know the leadership
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intimately. Usually the leaders are exhorted
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to know the church intimately, but here the church is exhorted
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to know the leadership intimately.
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He puts a responsibility on the church to appreciate those who
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lead them, who are over them in a way that they would know them
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in an intimate manner. And so he puts the
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responsibility of the church to know them and to appreciate
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them. Why?
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Number one is because they diligently labor among you, not,
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not over you, but but among you that they're working hard in the
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word. They're working hard to, to, to
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treat you in a way that honors the Lord.
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They're working hard at at leading you in in the proper
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way. It it was used to Paul earlier
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in chapter 2 when he said these words in verse #9 for you
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recall, brethren, are labor and hardship.
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How working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of
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you. We proclaim to you the gospel of
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God. He says, you know, brethren, how
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we worked hard among you. In fact, in chapter 2, we talked
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about the model leader. He says, you know this about us.
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You know that about us. You are witnesses about us.
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You know us intimately because this is how we behaved among
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you. And so now he's telling the
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church at Thessalonica to appreciate those who lead them,
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who labor among them, that they might understand their
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responsibility in terms of their walk with the Lord.
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Now, I've been around a long time, and I've seen a lot of my
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friends and colleagues in pastoral ministry go through
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churches unbelievably fast simply because they did not
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sense any appreciation from those they led.
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And there are various reasons for that, and I understand that.
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But I'm a firm believer that you work through those situations
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that that you stay long where you're at, that you just don't
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come and because of conflict or because of somebody who's
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irritated with you or doesn't like you, you end up leaving
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because you can't get along with people.
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No, you need to work through those situations.
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I'm a firm believer that every pastor needs to stay in one
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church and one church only. I'm a firm believer that I don't
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think you ought to change churches to churches.
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I think that's wrong. I think that's instability for
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the people. I think it's not good for the
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church. You need to stay where God has
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called you to minister. But even with some of those men
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who stayed a long time, they were running out of the church.
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Take for example, Jonathan Edwards.
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He was the the author of the Great Awakening, the the
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greatest revival in American history, probably the greatest
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theologian of his day. He pastored the same church for
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23 years. So you're a part of this church
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and in the 1700s, and you have Jonathan Edwards as your pastor,
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and he's the greatest theological mind of his day.
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He's preaching and teaching, working hard, laboring among you
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to teach you the truth of God's Word.
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And in the 23rd year of his ministry, the people ran him out
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of the church, ran him out. They were done with them in the
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end of this ministry, teaching a dozen Indians the simple gospel
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message. The church that he pastored for
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23 years did everything they could to soil his reputation so
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no one would hire him as their pastor.
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Think about that. The greatest theological mind of
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the 17th century or the 1700s was booted from his church.
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It gets worse. Move to the 1800s, You had the
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greatest preacher, whoever lived, the Prince of Preachers,
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Charles Spurgeon. He was a part of his church for
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over 30 years. He was so popular, he was so
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great, that when he was done preaching, they would edit his
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sermons, put them on every ship that left England so that the
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world would hear the gospel message preached by the Prince
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of Preachers. Think about that.
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How long would it take a ship to leave England, to get to where
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you live? You'd be waiting weeks, months
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to hear that message that was preached by Spurgeon.
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But that's what they did. And they ran off all these
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copies and they put them on the ships and they moved them out
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all around the world. Here he was pastoring the church
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in England, and after 30 years of ministry, the Baptist Union
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voted him out. And you know who the final vote
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was? It was his associate pastor, who
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just happened to be his very own brother.
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And he was booted out after all those years of ministry simply
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because of a stand on truth and his uncompromising conviction of
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the on the word of God. Think about that.
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You see, it's one thing for a man to be in a church for two or
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three years and move on. It's nothing for a man to be in
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church for a long period of time, 2 decades, 3 decades, 4
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decades and the church rise up and say we're done with you, you
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got to go. And Paul says to those in
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Thessalonica, I I want you to appreciate those who labor among
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you. I want you to know them
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intimately. I want you to value them.
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I want you to realize the task before them.
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You see, one of the one of the problems with with laboring
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among the people is not so much the work involved, it's the
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loneliness involved. I tell people all the time,
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listen, you want to go into the pastorate, that's great.
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But I want you to know you must learn to love loneliness to be a
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pastor, to be any kind of leader worth any salt.
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You must learn to love loneliness because you're
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isolated, you're on an island, you're going to make decisions.
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Leaders are decision makers. You make a decision.
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People are not going to like the decision you made.
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There'll be up in arms against your decision.
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So you can't make decisions on basing what you do to please
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people. You do it based on pleasing the
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Lord and, and sometimes you're going to make decisions that
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people are not happy with, but it requires great loneliness.
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Paul experienced that. Remember over in Second Timothy
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chapter 1, Paul says these words.
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He says to Timothy, You are aware of the fact that all who
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are in Asia turned away from me. Here's the apostle Paul all
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right, and all those in Asia turned away from me, among whom
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are fragilis and homogeneous. The Lord grant mercy to the
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House of onociferous, for he often refreshed me and was not
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ashamed of my chains. In other words, there were those
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who deserted him because they were ashamed of Paul and ashamed
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of the fact that he was in prison.
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But not onosiferous, whose name means bringer of prophet.
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Onosiferous one to bring prophet to Paul.
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So he says these words. But when he was in Rome, verse
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17, he eagerly searched for me and found me.
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The Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day.
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And you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus,
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Paul says as he's riding away in this Mamertine prison in Rome.
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Everybody in Asia has forsaken me, but there is one guy on
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Luciferous who searched for me and found me.
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The Lord granted mercy to his household, but Paul was isolated
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because he was in prison. Look what it says earlier in
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chapter 4. Later in chapter 4, he says in
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verse #9 make every effort to come to me soon, For Demas,
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having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to
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Thessalonica. Demas deserted him, He left him.
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Demas was a disciple of the apostle Paul, but there were so
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many people that would desert him and leave him isolated.
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And the later it says this in verse #16 at my first offense,
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no one supported me. No one but all deserted me.
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Everybody left me. I was all alone.
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May it not be counted against them.
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This, this is so good. Listen.
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But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that through
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me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all
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the Gentiles might hear, and I was rescued out of the lion's
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mouth. The Lord will rescue me from
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every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly
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Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and
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ever. Amen.
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So here's Paul at the end of his ministry, and he's in this
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memory team prison in Rome, and he's talking to young Timothy
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because Timothy needs to be prepared for the fact that he's
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going to be deserted. He's going to be left alone.
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It's going to happen. If you're going to lead, this is
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what takes place. But know this, that the Lord
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stood with me. The Lord will always stand with
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the leader who stands alone, and the Lord will stand with that
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man and rescue him as he rescued the apostle Paul and
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strengthened him to God be the glory.
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And so you got to realize that the labor in the ministry is not
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so much the, the preparation, the counseling, the teaching,
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the late hours. The Paul would say to those in
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in Ephesus. I labored day and night with
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tears. Acts Chapter 20, verse #31
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Because I wanted you to hear the gospel.
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And that's that's hard work, that's labor, that's strenuous
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work. But but the hardest work is when
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your friends desert you and they leave you and they walk away
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from the ministry and they want nothing to do with you anymore.
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And Paul experienced that all the time.
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And so Paul says, and 1st, that's the way it's five.
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I want you to appreciate those who, who labor among you.
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And then he says this. Not only do they labor among
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you, he says, but he says they have charge over you in the
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Lord. They have charge over you in the
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Lord. In other words, they stand
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before you. They, they stand ahead of you.
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Why? Because they're examples.
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They're leaders. See all, all, all leaders are,
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are examples. I, I want you to appreciate them
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because they set themselves up as standing before you as
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examples that they're, they're leading you.
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You can't, you can't lead unless you're, you're in front.
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And so that they're in front, so you can see their lives.
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That's just so important. That's why Paul told Timothy in
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First Timothy 412. Timothy, I know you're young,
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but let no man look down upon your youth, but be thou an
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example in your life, in your love, in your, in your faith, in
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your, in your purity, in your devotion.
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Make sure you set yourself up as an example for everyone to see,
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because that's the power of leadership.
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It's influence, it's impact, right?
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You know what? This has fathers, right?
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You can, you can tell your children all kinds of things,
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but if you don't lead by example, then they're not going
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to follow. You have to lead by example.
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You have to show them the way to go.
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Just can't tell them the way to go.
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You got to show them the way to go.
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And this is what this is what Paul does.
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He says, look, they are those who who stand before you, they
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lead you, not only the labor among you, but but they lead
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you, they're in front. And so learn to know them
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intimately. But that's just so important.
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Let me give you an example. Number of years ago, a lady came
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up to me after our first service and she says, you know, I, I've
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heard you talk about your wife over the years and say things
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about her. But but I've been coming to the
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church for a long time, but I've never ever seen your wife.
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So I just am curious as a pastor, why is that I never see
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your wife? I said that's a great question.
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I said my wife, she works in the two and three-year old in the
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first service. That's why you don't see her.
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I said I assume you only come to the first service.
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She said yes, I just come to the first service.
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I said if you would come to the second service you would see her
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sitting down front with me. I said better yet, you could go
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to the first service and serve alongside of her in the twos and
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threes. Then you would know her
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intimately and then you could come and worship beside us in
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the second service and you would see her.
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Or even you could come on Wednesday nights.
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Do you come on Wednesdays? She says no.
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I said, well, if you came on Wednesdays, you would see her in
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the Bible study. You would see her here.
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I said it's important that you ask the question because as a
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leader, if you don't see my wife, there is a problem.
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As an elder, if you don't see my wife, that's the problem, right?
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Why? Because you need to see how we
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interact, how we worship together, how we pray together.
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You need to see the physical affection that we have one for
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another that provides an example.
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You need to be able to see my children.
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Why? Because it's the leader.
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You're in a bubble, right? And everything about the leader
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is magnified in the bubble. And so you have to be able to
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say, look, follow me as as I follow Christ.
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And so as people look into the bubble, everything is magnified
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and bigger than than normal. But you must be able to see the
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leader's wife and you must be able to see the leader's
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children because you want to know how he functions at home,
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right? Does he lead his family?
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Are his children in submission to his authority that he follow
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his leadership right. Why because they are set before
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you. They are examples, Paul says I
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want you to appreciate these men Why?
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Because they labor among you and they lead you.
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They're in front of you. Watch their lives, see their
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lives, because you have to examine their lives and examine
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them in light of the Scripture and, and to see the man's wife
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and to see the man's children and see how he interacts with
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them. Because that's the essence of
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leadership, right? Because if a leader's
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effectiveness at home is minimized, then the ministry in
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the church will never be maximized.
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It will always be minimized. People need to be able to see.
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And so therefore I told the lady, I said, that's a great
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question that holds me accountable and I want to be
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accountable to you for that. That's great.
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But I said, if you come to the second service, my wife will be
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right down here with me sitting right here and you won't miss
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her and you can, I'll introduce her to you.
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And a couple of weeks later, she decided to come to the second
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service and I introduced her to my wife.
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She didn't get involved in serving at all, but she just
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came to 1 service. And that's OK, at least at least
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she came, right? But you see that that just
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reminded me of the accountability that elders have
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that leaders have in the church to make sure that they are out
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front leading the way in their marriage with their children,
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seen by the people of the church, so that the church can
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observe the leadership of the man in his family.
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That is so incredibly important. And Paul says these men are out
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in front. Appreciate them for their way
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they lead you. Appreciate them for the way they
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labor among you and pre appreciate them.
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Thirdly, simply because they looked after you.
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He says they they give you instruction.
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In other words, they put into mind those things you need to
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know. That's very important.
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Appreciate them because they're going to correct you, they're
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going to instruct you, they're going to teach you.
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The reason you appreciate your leaders is because they want to,
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they want to feed you the word of God.
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This is so important. You see these, these are new
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believers, right? And, and, and, and Thessalonica.
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Well, what did new believers need?
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What, what does your baby need? You, you, you have a newborn
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baby and the baby comes out and, and, and what is the most
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important thing your baby needs? Your hugs.
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Nope. Your kisses.
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Nope. A new blanket, a new car seat, a
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new stroller, a new bed. Those are all great things, but
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that's not what they need them. What do they need the most?
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They got to eat. If you don't feed them, they're
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going to die. If you don't hug them, they're
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still going to live as long as they're fed.
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If they have the bat, a terrible one wheeled stroller, they'll
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still survive, right? If you don't kiss them, they're
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still going to make it to the next day.
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But if you don't feed them, they're dead.
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You got to feed them. That's what babies need.
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And Paul says you appreciate them because they're going to
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instruct you. They're going to put in the in
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the into your mind the things you need to know in order to
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live the way you need to live for the glory and honor of of
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the king. And so you appreciate them for
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that. So many times people are
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unappreciative of the fact that a leader would come to them and
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and confront them on an issue or talk to them about an issue and
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they get offended. But they only care for your
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soul. They're looking out for you.
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They want what's best for you and your family.
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So Paul says appreciate them. Appreciate the person because he
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laborers among you. He he leads you, he's out in
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front and he looks after you. He looks after your soul.
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That's why he instructs you and teaches you and put things into
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your mind so you'll understand the way to go.
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So there's needs to be an appreciation for the person and
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then an affirmation of his position.
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Look what he says. He says these words in verse 13
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and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their
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work, their position, what it is they're doing.
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There needs to be an elevation of them because not the person,
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but because of their position, because the word God has put
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them that that that's that's where they're at.
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Esteem them very highly because of the work that God's given to
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them. No, no, Remember Paul in Acts 23
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when he spoke out against Agrippa.
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Remember what he says in Acts 23 verse #5 he says, I was not
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aware, brethren, that he was the high priest.
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For it is written, you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your
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people. Paul apologized because he
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didn't know that Ananias was the the high priest.
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He spoke rudely to him. If God thinks that speaking
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rudely to an unbelieving ruler or official is wrong, what do
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you think he thinks about those in the church who speak evil of
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those who lead in the church? Think about that.
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So Paul apologized, I was wrong. This is God put him in the
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position, God has him there, and I was wrong to speak rudely to
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him. Well, how much do you think it
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would be in the mind of God if you were to speak rudely, rudely
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of those that God had placed in the position of leadership in
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the church? He says esteem them highly for
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their work's sake. What are they doing?
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They're they're in the work of the Lord.
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They're they're serving the Lord.
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A A number of years ago, John MacArthur was asked why he loved
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the church. And so he began to to write the
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reasons why he loved the church on a napkin in a restaurant.
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And the very first thing he wrote was this.
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He says #1 I love being a pastor because the church is the only
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institution Christ promised to build and bless.
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Christ is only doing one thing in the world.
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I know that might be shocking to say, maybe sounds a little
32:54
oversimplified, but it's actually the truth.
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Christ is only doing one thing in the world, and that is He is
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building His church. God is through the Holy Spirit
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under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, calling out of people
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for His name. The part of history that matters
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is the redemptive part. All the rest of human history is
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simply backdrop. It's Decor.
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It's the staging for the real drama, which is the drama of
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redemption and how exhilarating it is to be in the middle of
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that, to be a part of the only thing that Christ is doing in
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the world and that is building his church.
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If I want to be at the epicenter of what God is moving, then I
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need to be in the church. God's purpose in the world is to
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call to Himself a redeemed people who will live to the
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praise of His glory, to build His church, to build the body.
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And there is no greater calling possible, conceivable than to be
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a servant of Christ and under shepherd in the church.
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It is of great comfort and great encouragement and great joy and
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produces great gratitude in my heart that God has given me a
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small part to play in the work of Christ, to build His church.
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I wouldn't, he says, stoop to do anything else.
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What a statement. I'm in the epicenter of what God
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is doing this. God's only doing one thing.
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He's only involved in one building project, the church.
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That's it. Why would I do anything else?
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Why try to accomplish anything else?
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I'm involved in doing what God Himself is building.
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He loved the church. He loved being a pastor of the
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church. So for 50-6 years he remained
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the pastor at Grace Community Church until God called him
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home. That was his mission in life.
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That should be the the the the church's leaders response and
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everything. I love being a pastor because
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this is what God is doing in the world and I'm at the center of
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it. This is so great, so grand.
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What? Who can do anything better than
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this? That's why it says if any man
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desires the office of an elder, he desires a noble work, a noble
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work. Why?
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Because you're involved in the building project of the Lord God
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Almighty. And therefore Paul says, I want
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you to to admire these these people for their work's sake,
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for the position that God's given to them.
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You might not like the person, but admire the position of the
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person that's there. Appreciate the person, get to
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know him, get to understand them, get to know his family.
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Appreciate that person, but admire his position because God
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has placed him there. And then he says a presentation
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of the of the peace. He says these words so good.
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Live in peace with one another, live in peace, maintain peace.
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The unity that you have in Christ, you're at peace with God
36:35
because you have the peace of God.
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Therefore, manifest that peace one toward another by
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endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of
36:44
peace. Ephesians 4, three, because
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that's what we do. This is how you preserve the
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peace. How?
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By by admiring the position of the leader and appreciation the
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person who leads and therefore there needs to be a preservation
37:02
of the peace. You know Satan is is is at work
37:05
in the church in the series you did when we did it now is it was
37:11
a whole series of 15 weeks series, 17 weeks series on the
37:13
church and that the church is a playground of the enemy of God.
37:17
It is Satan wants to destroy the testimony of the church.
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If he can get you bickering and arguing and, and, and looking
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down on one another and, and, and being upset with one
37:29
another. If, if, if he can get you doing
37:31
that, he can mar the testimony of the church.
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There's a warfare going on. That's why Paul says over in, in
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Romans 12, these words he says in Romans 12 verse number #9 he
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says let love be without hypocrisy.
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In other words, no hypocritical kind of love.
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Don't come on Sunday and act one way and then go on Monday and
37:59
act another way. Your love needs to be genuine
38:01
and needs to be sincere. So when you come to church and
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you gather with the people of God, make sure that that what
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you're demonstrating in your facial expressions, in your
38:11
words, in your, your relationship with one another is
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true and genuine, not fake and phony.
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We got a lot of fake people in the church today.
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They come and they put on a on on their Sunday face on Sunday
38:26
morning, but their Sunday evening face is not one you want
38:30
to see because it's diametrically opposed to the one
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you saw on Sunday morning. Say, let love be without
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hypocrisy. A poor one is evil.
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Clean to what is good. Be devoted to one another in
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brotherly love. Give preference to one another
38:43
in honor, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit,
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serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, persevering in
38:50
tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the
38:53
Saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you.
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Bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice.
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Weep with those who weep. Be the same mind toward one
39:03
another. Do not be haughty in mind, but
39:05
associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own
39:10
estimation. Associate with the lowly.
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You ever notice that we come to church?
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Who do we associate with? Our friends, our friends.
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We we, we sit with our friends, we talk to our friends.
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And then there are people that sit alone all by themselves who
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kind of come in and and go out without anybody ever talking to
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them and imposter. Make sure you associate with the
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lowly, those who are not the high position people who would
39:43
be good if if every one of us was to, to pinpoint someone
39:47
sitting by themselves, coming to church by themselves, leaving by
39:52
themselves and going after them and said, Hey, just want to
39:57
introduce myself to you. I'd like to take you to lunch
40:00
today if you're you're available.
40:02
Just so that we can get to know one another.
40:05
I don't want you to feel like you're all alone here at the
40:07
church. Associate with the with the
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lowly. It goes on to say, do not be
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wise in your own estimation. That's just so good.
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We, we just think ourselves are so grand.
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Don't we think of ourselves that way?
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We think we are so cool. We are so unbelievable.
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And Paul says, you know what, you've overestimated who you
40:38
are. Don't think that way.
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Think in a lowly, humble manner. Having said all this, I want to
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conclude with these words. I have been your pastor for just
41:02
about 31 years, and in those 31 years, I want to let you know
41:12
that I have never, ever been under appreciated.
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I've never been undervalued. I have never been treated
41:29
inappropriately in 31 years. That is a testimony to you as a
41:38
church and your commitment to verses 12 and 13, the First
41:45
Thessalonians chapter 5. Not one time in 31 years have I
41:52
ever wanted to go anywhere else. Not once, not one time in 31
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years have I ever been discouraged.
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Not once. Why?
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Because there's something about the church that you have
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exemplified. So when my wife and I, I were
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away this week on our anniversary getaway, I have to
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get up early in the morning and and I would study.
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I begin to write down certain things that I have seen in our
42:34
church, never been under appreciated, undervalued or
42:41
under admired for that matter. But I have witnessed first hand
42:51
your submission to God's message and His authority.
42:58
I've witnessed that. I've seen that in you.
43:04
I, I've seen you embrace the message, as hard as it may be
43:09
for some of you, but to embrace it and say, this is God's word,
43:15
this is his authority. And, and you're willing to
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submit to the authority of God in your life.
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It's not me you're submitting to.
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It's, it's the word of God that you submitted to.
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And so I sit as your pastor for 31 years and, and, and I see
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your submission to the message of God and its authority in your
43:36
life. Are you perfect at it?
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None of us are. But do you want to move in that
43:42
direction? Absolutely you do.
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That's why you're here. And then I, I I've also
43:52
witnessed your adoration, your adoration for our Master and his
44:03
glory. You love the Lord, you love him.
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Do you love him perfectly? No.
44:18
Do you love him sometimes, like Peter?
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Yeah. And Peter said, Peter, do you
44:22
love me? Yeah.
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I kind of like you a lot, but you love the Lord.
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And so for 31 years I have witnessed the the church's
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Christ Community Church's adoration, adoration of the
44:39
Master for his glory. So the Bible says let there be
44:45
glory in the church. You don't want Ichabod written
44:49
across your church. The glory of the Lord has
44:51
departed. In other words, there's no
44:54
manifestation of God's presence within the assembly.
44:59
So I've sat back and, and I and I have watched not, not just
45:02
your submission to the message and it's authority, not just
45:09
your adoration to the Master and His glory, but I've also
45:16
witnessed your demonstration of your maturity as you seek to
45:24
grow in your walk with the Lord each and every week.
45:30
I, I am truly a blessed man. I, I could, I could say as, as
45:38
Paul would say in, in First Thessalonians chapter 1, I
45:42
could, I could say, I give thanks to God always for all of
45:46
you making mention of you in our prayers constantly bearing in
45:49
mind your work of faith and labor of love.
45:51
Is that fastest of hope? And you excel still.
45:55
All the more so as I talk about leadership in the church, as I
46:00
talk about your response to the leadership in the church.
46:04
I've experienced that. I've seen it in action.
46:11
I've witnessed that. And I am.
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I am so blessed to be here. I am honored to be your pastor.
46:27
I am honored that you've allowed me to come week after week after
46:32
week after week. I am honored that you sit and
46:37
let me repeat things over and over and over and over again,
46:41
week after week after week after week.
46:46
But I am truly a blessed man. God has done exceedingly,
46:54
abundantly above all that I could ever ask or think.
46:59
And I'm grateful to you as a church.
47:04
I'm grateful that the Lord has allowed me to be here and be
47:08
your pastor and will continue to be here for as long as I can
47:12
breathe. I can still stand up.
47:16
My mind is still right, but I am blessed and I just want to say
47:24
thank you. Thank you for fulfilling First
47:29
Thessalonians 512 and 13 because that's what you do.
47:38
And I would be, it would, it would be wrong for me not to let
47:43
you know how God has used each and everyone of you in my life.
47:53
And for that I will always be grateful to the Lord.
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So today, I applaud you. I thank you for your willingness
48:07
to do what God's Word says. Let me pray with you, Father, we
48:12
thank you for today. I thank you that I can be here.
48:18
I thank you, Lord, that I had the opportunity to be here, that
48:24
31 years ago you opened the door for this to happen.
48:30
And through all the years, people have come and people have
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gone and, and they continue to come and they continue to go.
48:37
But you've sustained the ministry, You have maintained
48:41
the ministry. You have done great and
48:44
wonderful things in the lives of people.
48:49
We could focus on the negatives. That doesn't do you any good.
48:54
But to focus on all the positives and to realize what
48:59
you're doing is, is fabulous. You've healed marriages, You've
49:07
changed lives. You've saved souls.
49:11
You have brought rebellious children home.
49:15
You have answered prayer, You have done so many things, but
49:23
what I am thankful for, Lord, is that what you have done in the
49:25
lives of your people, they would grow to maturity in Christ and
49:32
wanting to grow even all the more.
49:35
For that I'm grateful and I thank you and praise you for
49:41
what you have done and what you are doing and what you are going
49:44
to continue to do because of who you are.
49:49
So we thank you Lord, anticipate your soon return.
49:54
Until that time, may we be found faithful in our service of the
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King in Jesus name, Amen.