You're listening to Key Life Fellowship's pulpit ministry
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learn from God's Word together. If you would like more
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Amen. May that be our prayers as we
live our life. Glorify Your name and me and
every thought and in every deed. May we take that principle as we
learn the Word of God today and as we apply it.
May it not just be something that we do for the sake of doing
it. May we actually study the Word
of God and then leave here and apply it that God would receive
glory and honor and praise through our lives.
Give your Bibles if you would turn to First Timothy chapter 5,
First Timothy chapter 5 as we continue walking through this
pastoral epistle known as First Timothy, as we continue to look
at biblical ministers and biblical ministry and how is
this supposed to look according to the word of God?
We come to a little. Mini series portion of this
text, and I want to begin this morning with this section
entitled Properly Caring for the Family of Gods is the first part
of this, as you will see in the next few weeks.
But Paul has just instructed Timothy to stand up and to lead
the church and and to serve as an example to all the people
there in Ephesus. And he commands him to not let
anyone look down on you because you're young, or to despise you
for that. Fact.
And he's now. Going to instruct him how this
is to be done. How can you keep those people
from looking down on you? And he's already told him to be
an example in life and love and speech and in purity.
Paul's going to get a little. More specific here this morning.
And that's what I want to do. I want us to get to the
specifics of this. And Paul is going to use an
analogy that's used throughout Scripture to compare the church,
and that is the analogy of the church and the family.
And he's going to compare the two.
And he's going to teach us from that viewpoint.
And when we learn to view the church, the body of Christ, as a
family, we we're then really viewing the body of Christ as
the Scriptures would have us to do at a church, that family
being made-up of fathers and mothers and brothers and
sisters. If we see the.
Reality of that and if we apply that property properly, it's
going to cut down on a lot of sin and a lot of dysfunction and
disharmony in the church because this principle is not being
taught nor accepted very often anymore, right?
We, we live in the mega church age where people come in, they
don't want to be seen. They don't want to have any
relationship with anybody. They come, they sit on the back
row, they leave before the service is over, never having
any familial interaction with the family of God.
They shouldn't be that way. And so Paul is going to instruct
Timothy on the proper care for God's family first, seeing it as
a true family and seeing the actual sections of the family
properly and how a leader ought to approach these things, how a
leader ought to approach caring for those older men and
correcting those older men and caring and counselling and.
Caring for those. Older women and, and the younger
men as well as the younger women, he's going to include all
of this. And so let's just jump right in
today and let's read this First Timothy chapter 5 as we begin
our journey on learning to properly care for the family of
God. He says this.
He says do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as
if he were your father. See the parallel that he's
making there? He says, treat younger men as
brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as
sisters with absolute purity. Let's pray together.
Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to you.
We thank you for your word. We thank you that your word is
clear, that your word is concise.
Lord, I pray today as we see this lesson, that the clarity of
this lesson would cause us to be obedient to the things that we
see both as leaders and as lay people.
As this lesson is laid out for us in these two verses.
God, I pray through it you would be glorified and your church
would be what you desire for her to be that family operating
properly for your glory. And when I pray for that person
who's here, who's lost, who's not in Christ, who's not yet
surrendered to him as Lord and Savior, being forgiven of their
sin and reconciled to God the Father, I pray that they
understand that they are not a part of this family.
In fact, they are alienated and isolated from this family
because of their sin. And I pray that you make known
to them in the depths of their being just how sinful they truly
are and how in need of Christ they are now today, by your
spirit, you would draw them out of darkness and into your
marvellous light, bringing to them salvation, forgiveness of
sin, and promised eternal life. To those who believe God, we
thank you for this time. We thank you for your word and
how you're going to instruct us and how you're going to teach us
and how you're going to change us and set us apart for your
glory. We give you all the praise for
it now in Jesus name, Amen. So Paul instructing in these two
verses the proper care for God's family and how that will
actually be displayed. You all know this.
It's it's not enough just to say.
That you care. You have to show that you care.
And he begins like this. He says that we are to show
gentle encouragement for the older men.
Watch verse 1. He says do not rebuke an older
man harshly. Now what he doesn't say, he
doesn't say do not rebuke an older man, do not correct an
older man. He doesn't say do not lead an
older man. He says when you do rebuke an
older man, there is a proper way in doing this.
He says do not do it harshly, but exhort him as if he were
your father. It's about the approach that
Paul wants Timothy to take. He wants him to approach the
older men in the church as if they were his own father.
Again, Paul is going to use in these two verses 4 familial
terms. Here he chooses the term father.
He is relating the church now, relationships within the church
with the relationships inside of the family.
That's why we can confidently say that as a church, we are the
family of God. And in the family of God there
are those older men, and those older men are to be viewed as
our fathers. In the faith, respect them, show
them the respect that they are due.
This is not a new idea, is it in fact, Paul?
Knows that this is not a new idea, and he knows how effective
this analogy will be. When Timothy hears it, he's
going to say, OK, I know exactly how I am to respond and to react
to the fathers, the older men in the church.
And Timothy knew this because he knew the word of God, and he
knew that the word of God commands that we are to honor
our fathers and our mothers. And so Paul quickly grabs a hold
of this, and he wants Timothy to understand how important it is
that even when we have to rebuke, because that is the
direct context of this rebuking and correcting and counseling.
And don't we know that Scripture is useful for all that, for
correcting, rebuking, rebuking for teaching and for training
and righteousness? And he's telling Timothy to use
this idea of your father to keep your mind right when you have
to, and sometimes your mouth when you have to rebuke those
who are older than you. And the church.
Remember, he's just spoken to him about don't let people look
down on you because you're young.
Now, if you don't want people to look down on you because you're
young, you can't go around harshly rebuking the elderly.
It's not going to work out for you.
And so gentle encouragement in this context would be this,
avoid disrespect and avoid disrespect completely.
If you're going to gently encourage older men, you have to
go into it with that mindset. I am not going to disrespect
this man because that would be equivalent to me disrespecting
my earthly father. Now, I know we live in a time
and in a culture where when we disrespect earthly fathers, it's
no longer a big deal. But can I just tell you this?
In the Hall House where I grew up, when you disrespected your
earthly father, it was a big deal.
There were consequences. And you know what?
I wish, I wish families would bring back the consequences of
disrespecting their earthly father, that they would view his
position properly. Why?
So that when we get to the context of the Church, we now
view those older Christians as our fathers properly.
So we approached them even in correcting them, avoiding any
disrespect at all. Remember Paul didn't say don't
rebuke them, don't correct them. He said don't do it in a harsh
manner, don't do it harshly. It should be done with the
utmost respect, as if you are approaching your elderly father,
and you should respect him and show that respect even in your
correction, even in your rebuke. Let us avoid any disrespect.
In order to do that, what do we have to do?
We. We have to show and to have an
attitude of humble respect for the elderly men in the church.
I know this is a foreign concept to so many, right, because so
many churches have fallen into the trap of making themselves
attractive for the younger generation.
And then you have a church full of young people who know
nothing, who have no wisdom, who haven't lived life long enough
to that you could glean any insight from them.
You say, well, Kirk, what do you know about that?
I know about that. I pastored a church full of
young people before it was difficult.
Why? Because there was a an absence
of wisdom that comes from someone just simply being a
little bit older, but also being a little bit older and mature in
the Lord. And so we have to approach these
men in the church with respect for their position, who they
are. Leviticus 19 speaks about having
respect for the elderly in verse 30.
Two, it says. Stand up in the presence of the
aged, show respect for the elderly, and Revere your God.
And he says, I am the Lord. Now let me show you what God
just did right there. He put respecting the elderly in
the same sentence as revering your God.
Why is that so important for us to understand?
It's important because when you disrespect the elderly, you
disrespect God in a sense. Why?
Because He has told you to give them full respect.
So we need to see the seriousness of that and to avoid
any disrespect toward them at all, right?
They may not be able to walk like they once walked.
They may be slower in mobility, they may be slower in speech,
but they are far more worthy, because of their age, of our
respect in the Word of God. God himself demands that we
respect them, so avoid any disrespect toward them at all
First, Peter, 55, says. In the same way, you who are
younger submit yourself to your elders.
Now, he doesn't say the elders. He's not talking about the
elders of the church, the presbyters.
He's talking about older men and he's talking about gaining
wisdom from older men. I can tell you this, most of my
close friends in this world are older than me and that is on
purpose. I learned a long time ago by
reading through the Proverbs that if I walk with the wise I
will grow wise, but if I walk with fools I will become a fool.
I'm thankful for the men and the men of God that God has put in
my life to teach me that I may glean wisdom from them.
However, if I would have approached them with some
haughty know it all attitude, I would have never learned
anything from them. And so I have to show humble
respect for the elderly men in this church.
As the leader of this church, I pray that you would hold me to
that. Why?
Because anything else is of my own pride.
And, and we know first Peter continues in in verse 5 of
chapter 5. God opposes the proud, but he
shows favor to the humble. May we, as younger men, humble
ourselves before those older men.
Giving them the utmost respect, avoiding any disrespect toward
them, even if we are correcting and rebuking and training them,
May we show them the same honor that we would show to our
earthly fathers. And we show them the same
obedience that God requires in Exodus 20, verse 12 when He says
to honor our earthly fathers, may we honor the older men in
this church as our fathers. Now I can tell you this, I
didn't always fully practice what I'm preaching right here.
In fact, I was unaware of the magnitude of this teaching when
I was a young minister. I was 21 years old.
I knew everything as all 21 year olds do.
I was God's gift to ministry. And all those older people
should just shut up and listen to me because they they've
already expired. They've got nothing to offer.
I remember in a deacon's meeting in a Baptist Church, our pastor
was casting his vision for the next thing that God would have
us to do as a church, or so we thought.
We had a meeting with the leadership of the church and one
of the elderly leaders in the church stood up and basically
said, pastor, we don't think this is a good angry.
And I still to this day don't think that those men were right.
But it wasn't my place to correct them or to rebuke them
harshly. I just simply took that upon
myself and I stood up in that meeting and I, as the know it,
all 21 year old that I was, got up and I harshly corrected that
old man, that outdated carton of milk who was no longer useless,
useful. I corrected helmet in an
inappropriate, unbiblical manner.
I said, who do you think you are?
Trying to decide for this church what they're supposed to do.
You need to listen to your pastor.
And that's disrespectful to him. And I sat down and
unfortunately, that man probably never ever respected me again.
If if he had ever respected me, which he probably shouldn't
have. Little did I know I ruined I
ruined her or hindered that relationship that I could have
had with this man. I remember that next Monday
morning I came to church and I got there and soon as I got to
the office the secretary buzzes me and says the pastor, Brother
Brown, would like to see you in his office.
I thought, yeah, he's about to give me a high 5 because I stood
up for him in that deacons meeting when they were running
all over him. And I walked in that office and
he said just like this, sit down young man.
I sat down and he actually pointed me to this passage of
scripture to which I'm very thankful that he did because I
was young and stupid and didn't know a thing.
And he said, do you see? We're not to rebuke an older man
harshly. You did more harm than you did
good. He said I don't need you to
defend me. God and his word will defend me.
I don't need you to fight my fights.
And I learned that day or I began to learn the importance of
not rebuking an older man harshly.
Then I had to avoid any disrespect for those who are
fathers to us in the Lord. I have to show them honor and I
can't have a haughty attitude towards them in my pride because
God detests that. In fact, Proverbs 30 verse 17
says the eye that mocks a father that scorns an aged mother will
be pecked out by the Ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the
vultures. What is God saying there?
There's consequence when you disrespect those.
Who are fathers in the Lord? Just as there are consequences
when you disrespect your earthly fathers.
Instead, what we ought to do, we ought to value their wisdom.
We ought to see it for what it's worth.
We had to look at every older man in this church and we ought
to ask ourselves, what can I gain?
And what can I glean from someone who has had more years
on this earth, more years walking with Christ, than I ever
could begin to think about having?
What can I gather from them? Job says this in Job 12/12.
He says it's not wisdom found among the aged.
Does not long life bring understanding?
He's asking rhetorical questions.
We know that it does. Those of you who have lived 40
years longer than I have, you have 40 years more of wisdom.
And for me to take the attitude of you're just old and dumb and
I'm young and smart is for me to air and me to disrespect God and
his word and me to disrespect those who God has given to us as
a church to be fathers. And guides and leaders for us in
the area of. Wisdom and so we have to avoid.
Disrespect. When we do confront or rebuke or
counsel, we should admonish gently.
Again, Paul's not saying that an older man shouldn't receive
correction. He's not deserving of
correction. He's simply saying there is a
proper way of doing this. There's a proper way that you
can give a sound counsel and a gentle, non threatening manner.
Colossians 46 says let your conversation be always full of
grace, seasoned with salt so that you may know how to answer
everyone. It is about gently conversing,
giving sound direction and sound counsel in a way that is non
threatening, non obtrusive, not disrespectful, but God honoring
Second Timothy 2. Verse 24 says, And the Lord's
servant must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone,
kind to everyone. You know what that means as a
pastor and as the pastors of this church, the elders of this
church. We are responsible to be kind to
everyone, to the smallest child in the nursery and to the eldest
person that we may have to help out to their car every Sunday.
We are to show kindness and respect and when we have.
To correct, we are to do that with the same kindness and
gentleness, never treating them as if they're stupid or
insignificant as members of Christ's body.
Don't we see that far too often in the church, right when the
elderly get to a certain point where seemingly they have
nothing to offer the Lord? And it's not that they don't
have anything to offer the Lord. They just can't offer the same
things that they once offered in their youth.
They can offer so much more in the area of wisdom and guidance.
So many times in the church. When they get to that point,
they become to us insignificant and useless.
And you know what? They're already struggling with
that to some degree anyways, aren't they?
Right. The older man who could at one
time do many things that he can no longer do, someone has to
help him get dressed, someone has to help him get to the car.
Someone has to help him get out. Or a quick to say that that
person doesn't have a place in the Kingdom of God if we're not
careful. However, what Paul is saying is
they have a very important place in the Kingdom of God and you
need to gently encourage these older men.
You need to modest them and encourage them even if you have
to. Correct them.
Let me just tell you, there's nothing more difficult to deal
with than a cantankerous old man.
It's true, and there's an easy fix from both sides.
Don't be cantankerous. And if someone is cantankerous,
don't give them that in return. Give them gentle rebuke.
Admonish them gently because there's too much of this going
on in the church. When you handle it correctly,
you know what you do, you evade any further controversy, any
further anger, any more division that could happen.
You approach it the way that you should.
You actually strive for unity and you promote unity.
And is that not what we're supposed to do as leaders in the
church? We are to to promote unity.
That that is part of our job. That is a very important part of
our job. And what you don't want to do is
you don't want to cause dissension because you speak to
an older man harshly. Even if you are correcting them
and rebuking them. There's a way to do it.
How? Proverbs 15, one very simple.
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up
anger. If I learned anything in law
enforcement, I learned how true that scripture right there is.
We apply it in our lives, right? I would get on scene, someone's
upset, they want to fight everybody.
They're mad, they don't, they don't want to go back to jail.
This is about to be a bad situation.
And you know what I learned? Instead of running up there and
telling them that I'm the police and they better do what I say,
when I would see they were out of control, when they were in
their emotions, I would walk up and say, hey, man, are you
having a bad day today? Why don't you tell me what's
going on, man? We're, we're going to get this
all sorted out. Everything's going to be fine in
the end. Just calm down, dude.
There's no sense in any of us getting upset.
You know what I learned very quickly?
A gentle answer turns away Wrath.
So. When you have to confront even
the elderly in the church, that old man, that cantankerous old
man, confront him gently so that there's not any further
escalation. Because right, many times we
approach a situation and the situation is escalated and then
we jump in there and we escalate it more with our attitude or our
words. The best thing to do is, hey,
man, let's just calm down. We're all on the same team here.
And for the sake of Christ, we're going to handle this like
Christians. We're going to handle this like
men of God. Let's talk about this.
Let's work this out. And there's no sense in any one
of us getting upset. And when we're done, we're going
to pray and we're going to unite in Christ and we're going to let
this be the end of this. May we see the older men of the
body of Christ as fathers, and we're to honor and we're to
respect even while we're rebuking and correcting them.
He moves on secondly, using the second term to describe the
family he's talking about, the young men here and concern for
young men he says treat younger men as brothers.
So, he says gently encourage the older men as our.
Fathers, but then treat younger men as brothers.
When I think about brothers I I think of how many times in life
I desire to have a brother. I always thought it would be
cool. I was sandwiched in between two
sisters and I always thought it would be cool to.
Have a little brother so that I could teach him the ropes right
so that I could pick on him and then I could beat other people
up who tried to pick on him and say I can pick up my brother but
you can't. But I never had the privilege of
saying that or doing that. But I, I have been able to
observe families that are brother rich and, and, and I
what I mean by that, they're full of young boys and I'm very
thankful. For the Macmillan family and I'm
going to. Embarrass them right now.
Brad is even here and I'm I'm thankful for him because he's a
good Big Brother. Now watch him he he will line
his pesky little brothers out very quickly, but he will also
defend them just as quickly when someone else comes after them.
Of course, I'm only talking about playground stuff.
They're not gangster, but I love to see that.
I love to see that brotherly love.
It gives me insight into how I am to love the young men of this
church as a pastor and how we as pastors and leaders in the
church are to do the same, to relate to them with real
compassion. I think that's important,
especially, again, this is in the context of possibly
correcting or rebuking or giving wise counsel to these younger
men. And we have to see them as
brothers. And and in.
Order to be a good brother, you have to relate to your younger
brothers with compassion. Remember what it was like when
you were in their? Shoes so, so often we forget
that, don't we? We get a little older and a
little wiser and we forget what it was like to be that young man
way back when. We have to, we have to
recollect, recollect the the difficult struggles of being a
young man, right? The lusts of our youth, so
quickly we forget about that right We just look at the
younger generation and we say man, what is wrong with this
younger generation? Let me help all of you older
wiser people, same thing that was wrong with you.
Their propensity to sin it may come out in different.
Flavors, it may have different takes in our culture now, but
it's still the same. And So what do we have to do?
And those of us who are leading in the church and having the
proper concern and compassion. For the young men in our church,
we have to view them as brothers in need of someone to to nudge
them along and to help them through the same struggles that
just a few years ago you were. Going through the same
temptations, the same battles were to help them, Colossians 3
verse 12 says. This, therefore, is God's chosen
people, wholly and dearly loved. Clothe yourself with compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 says.
Bear with each other and forgive one another.
If any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive as the
Lord forgave you. And over all these.
Virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect
unity. Now, if that's instructions that
Paul's giving to the church at Colossae, in general, those are
instructions that fall upon us in viewing our younger brothers
in Christ, the younger brothers in the church.
We are too. Clothe ourselves with compassion
and kindness and humility and gentleness and patience.
I told you before that I pastored a church full of young
people. It required great patience.
Why? Because they are learning how to
live. They are learning how to live
life, and they are learning how to live the Christian life.
And we have to be very careful when someone is learning this.
Just as that Big Brother does with his little brother.
Just a few years ago, Big Brother was struggling with the
same thing. He can't just slap little
brother in the back of the head and tell him how stupid he is.
Big Brother can now take the role of leadership in his life
and he can show them this is the way to do this better.
Let me help you out. Let me have some compassion on
you and where you are. Let me encourage you without
condemning you. 1st Thessalonians 511 and Ephesians
429. They both speak of building our
brothers up through encouragement.
Where's this in the church? It is.
It is almost non existent in many churches.
I'm thankful it's not here. I get to see it all the time.
I get to see the older men in this church encouraging the
younger men as brothers, and it is encouraging to me as a
pastor. But so many times we see the
opposite of that right? The older men in the church, the
leaders in the church, often looking down upon those young
men in their struggles instead of encouraging them to be what
Christ died for them to be and desires for them to be.
So in order to do this, we have to resist the urge of being
overbearing or self-righteous, especially those of us who are
leaders. I can tell you this.
When we go through the pastoral epistles, as as you have seen,
I'm preaching to myself a lot, and that's OK.
I preach. I preach to you guys all the
time. Thank you for letting me preach
to myself for a moment, but I have to be.
Very careful so that I don't become overbearing or over
righteous, my approach to these young men.
But I can still maintain what Ephesians 42 says to be
completely humble and gentle. Be patient again, bearing with
one another in love, just as we saw him say there in Colossians,
humble and gentle. If we're going to truly show
concern for the young men, we have to relate to them with
compassion. And we can't have compassion
until we walk in humility. So I would encourage all who are
in any place of leadership to see these young men as their
brothers and to do what Scripture has pointed us to do,
resisting theirs to be too overbearing, too self-righteous,
but approach them in truth coupled with love.
Does that know what scripture tells us to do?
Ephesians 4-5 to tell the truth in love.
Now I know the trendy thing to do now in the church is to be
bold. And there is a.
Lack of boldness. I'll be the first one to tell
you that. But I want to also make very
clear to all of us this morning, boldness does not have to be
brutality. I can be bold and I can tell my
younger brother in the faith, the truth, and love, and I don't
have to beat him up in doing it. I can simply come alongside of
him and say this right? I'd have to get honest and
transparent, and I'm OK with that, though many people aren't.
Hey brother, not too terribly long ago I struggled with this
same thing. If you don't mind, can I share
with you how the Lord showed me and how He empowered me to
overcome this struggle? You know what?
That's non threatening, isn't it?
That's not brutality, that's actually using some wisdom to
help. Care to show compassion for your
younger brother in Christ? Approach them.
Truth and love. Here's the truth.
I'm going to do it in a manner that's loving and compassionate
to you. Again, boldness does not have to
be brutality and I wish people would understand that.
You can be bold without being brutal, but you must learn to
tell the truth in love. We must do this with our younger
brothers, those young men, if we're truly concerned for them.
Treating younger men, as Paul says, as brothers, relate to
them with compassion. Secondly, we see this about the
younger brother. Redirect them with care.
They need redirection. But use wisdom and how you do
this. Use wisdom and how you correct
them and how you rebuke them. It's crucial that you do.
Why? Because if you don't use wisdom,
you will actually drive them away from the church.
You will actually drive them away from the family of God.
You will offend them and you will in fact, at times embitter
them. Proverbs 2512 says like an.
Earring of gold, or an ornament of fine gold, is the rebuke of a
wise judge to a listening. Ear a wise judge.
We're to be those wise judges to those younger men, those
brothers in Christ. We're to give them wisdom that
they value, wisdom that they value.
That can help them and carry them through whatever situation
they're in. Now, you may say I don't have a
whole lot of wisdom. Well, the good news for you is
James says if you lack wisdom, ask and God will give you the
wisdom that you need. When that younger brother is in
need of wisdom and perhaps you don't feel that you possess that
wisdom, go to God in prayer. God, I know that you've promised
to give wisdom where wisdom is lacking.
Lord, I admit I lack wisdom. Give me wisdom from your word
that I may instruct and encourage my younger brother in
the faith, redirecting them with the proper care, being careful.
Please listen to me, being careful never to belittle them
or act as if you've never been in their shoes or if you are
above stumbling in the same manner.
Never, ever act like that. That is nothing but pride.
Never talk to them as if they are stupid.
Never make them feel small. Let them know that we are all
tempted with sin and there are occasions when we fall to sin
and redirect them with the same care that you would want to
receive if you were being redirected from your temptation
or from your sin. Galatians 6 verse one says
brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live
by the Spirit should restore that person gently.
Gently, but watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the
law of Christ. What is the law of Christ?
Love the Lord you got all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
Love your neighbor as yourself. He's saying to us, when we see
that brother who is caught in sin, we ought not to glory in
the fact that they're caught in sin.
And perhaps it's a sin that you've never been caught in and
you need to stop. And you need to humbly thank God
that you weren't caught in the same sin, because you know full
well that you were tempted with it.
And then to come back and to. Gently, as Scripture says,
gently restore that person. Lead that person out of sin by
the power of the Holy Spirit living in you, carrying his
burden, just like that big brother's going to carry the
burden of that little brother. Carry his burden, he says.
In this way you'll fulfill the law of Christ.
You'll show that you love the Lord your God with all your
heart, soul, mind, and strength. And you love your neighbor as
yourself because you're willing to bear with them when they're
burdened, always taking the greatest care and the greatest
concern for their soul, leading them out of their sin, leading
them out of their struggles, pointing them to Jesus over and
over and over again. How many times should we point
to this? Struggling brother to Christ.
I don't know how many times if your younger brother was about
to walk off a Cliff, would you point him the other direction?
This. The answer is simple, isn't it?
Until he gets it. Until he turns around and if he
refuses to turn around, you grab him and you drag him back until
he understands. That's how we're to treat the
younger brothers in the church, always taking the greatest care
and the concern for their soul because we don't at the end of
the day know exactly where they are spiritually.
James 5 speaks on this verse 19. My brothers and sisters, if one
of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring
that person back, remember this. Whoever turns a Sinner from the
error of their way will save them from death and cover over a
multitude of sin. Remember in dealing with these.
Professing believers that we see as brothers, we could
potentially by being that Big Brother to them, we could
potentially rescue them eternally.
Now we know this, that ultimately Jesus is the one who
rescues us, but it is our duty to continually point them to
Christ, to continually remind them that yes, maybe you have
felt 1000 time. But God's grace is sufficient,
Brother, I'm going to help you back up.
We're going to get back up, and we're going to keep marching
forward. We're going to keep our eyes
fixed on Jesus, the author and the perfector of our faith
together. You never want to push them
away. You never want to push them away
by embittering them, looking down on them, making them feel
as if they can never get it right for you to continually
urge them toward Christ with the greatest encouragement and care
that you can give them. I pray that we care about our
brothers and nothing. Again, I know that much of this
sermon I am preaching to the choir.
Much of these things we already do, and we already do them well.
And here's the thing, we can never settle for that.
We can never say, OK, we're just going to become complacent.
We have to keep thinking on these thing nurturing that
younger brother. So Paul covers here concern for
young men, gentle encouragement for the older men.
And now as we continue in verse 2, Paul's going to transition to
the females in the church. And he says this in verse two,
older women as mothers. Here's how you ought to care.
For and to view the older women in the church and he says
mothers, this is our relationship to the older women
in the church. He begins with older women,
again using that analogy of a mother and a mother who deserves
honor and respect. That is what we are to give them
in the church, honor and respect toward the older women.
This is our Third Point and that third familial relationship that
we're talking about that Paul is discussing here.
Proverbs 2322 says listen to your father who gave you life,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.
Do not despise your mother when she is old.
Now we know that it's talking about our earthly mother, but in
what Paul is teaching here to Timothy, who will then teach
this to the Ephesians, he is talking about mothers within the
church, those older women. Now we are to.
View them with that kind of honor and respect, the same
honor and respect that we have for our earthly mothers now.
I know. Again, just as the fathers and
our day and culture, it's hard for us to understand because we
don't see that as a position of respect, right?
But it is many people. Have forgotten the position of
mother as a position of honor. You would not be here without
her. Be thankful for that.
If for no other reason, she deserves that honor.
And here's how we're to approach the older women in the church
with honor and respect, seeing them as our mothers.
And I can tell you this, I didn't have a great relationship
with my earthly mother. My earthly mother was not a
follower of Christ, My knowledge.
Other than maybe a mere profession, I didn't have a
great relationship with her. But I am.
Thankful for the mothers that God has raised up in my life, in
the churches that I have been a part of, those ladies who I have
been able to honor and to respect as my own mothers.
Those ladies who have. Cared for me and cared for my
family and poured in to us far more than they should.
What I mean by that is there was a time in Arkansas where I
started a lemon icebox pie competition and it cost me about
£25, right? Because those mothers in the
church and one of them made me a lemon icebox pie and I am either
a lemon icebox or a Key Lime guy.
I don't like a whole lot of sweet.
Stuff I like a tart pie, so that's just for free.
But this lady made me a lemon icebox pie and I told her I made
a mistake and I said that was the best lemon icebox pie that I
had ever had. Now, the mistake was not a lie
because I didn't lie to her. It really was.
But she went back, obviously, and told the other ladies in the
church that Pastor Kirk likes lemon icebox pie.
And he told me that I made the best one that he had ever had.
So you know what happened to all the moms in that church?
They were going to prove otherwise.
So I received. An abundance of lemon icebox
pies and felt that often at times forced to lie, though I
never did. But there was a lot of pressure
to tell all of them that theirs was better than the last.
However, in that I saw the love and the kindness and the care.
Those mothers in the church who would just bake a pie or cook a
pie or whatever you do with a pie, I guess you bake it.
I would bake a pie and give that to me and to my family.
Sometimes I would share. And I began to value them and to
see them as mothers because there were times where I would
pray for my own mom when she was still alive and I could have a
godly mom and a mom who loved Christ.
I never got to see that, and I'm OK with that.
Lord has healed me. I have come to grips with that.
But you know what? One day I came to this, that
where my earthly mother was deficient, God was sufficient
and he gave me many mothers. And I'm thankful for that.
I'm thankful for those of you who are here who are older than
me in life and in faith that you do serve that role in my life.
And I pray that I would honor you and I would respond to you
even when I have to correct you. Then I would respond to you
properly in tenderness because that's what the scriptures
require of us. If I'm going to honor you and
respect you as my mother in the church, I have to respond in
tenderness. Do the respect that you deserve
that. And that is how I ought to come
to you even when I am having to correct you, right?
Maybe there's a theological difference or there is a an
issue of sin in your life. And from time to time, we as
pastors just have to do this undertaking.
We have to correct others. May we do it wisely.
May we do it as we respond in tenderness, due to the honor
that the older women in this church deserve and that older
women in general deserve. He says see them.
As mothers and honor them just as you would honor your earthly
mother. God thinks this is important.
In fact, it is the command that he gives.
Honor your father and your mother that your days may be
long upon the earth. It's the command that is
attached to a promise. So that command applies in our
familial relationships in the church if we're to show proper
respect to everyone as Peter commands us to do in First Peter
chapter 2, verse 17, this surely applies to the older women in
our congregation, those mothers who pour into us and who love
us. We should show them that love
and that honor and that respect in return.
Paul exemplifies this, doesn't he?
If you think back with me to Philippians, when we went
through Philippians verse by verse not too terribly long ago,
and we saw in chapter 4 a little discrepancy that was going on
between two women, Yoda and Senta Key.
And there in Philippians chapter 4, Paul actually shows us how we
can respond in tenderness even when there's conflict and
there's a need for correction. He says, Therefore, my brothers
and sisters, you whom I love and the Lord and love and long for
my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord.
In this way, dear friends, I plead with Yodia and I plead
with Sentaki to be of the same mind in the Lord.
Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women,
since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel,
along with Clement and the rest of my Co workers whose names are
in the book of life. You see what Paul does there?
He responds in complete tenderness to the fact that
these two ladies. Are causing dysfunction and
disharmony in the church. And you know what he reminds
them of? We're all on the same team here.
He reminds them that you're a Co laborers in Christ with me.
You're Co laborers in Christ with me and with Clement, with
those there at the church, at Philippi.
There's no need for this division.
So he shows honor and he shows respect while correcting them.
What wisdom we can glean from that.
He corrects them while at the same time being tender and kind
and gracious to them. We are to respond in tenderness,
and we are to reflect God's grace as we honor and respect.
The older women in the church as our mothers, what does it mean
when we show them grace to to graciously honor them above
ourselves again, So often we think that then they're old,
they don't matter. They're not not contributing
much. They're insignificant.
We forget what God tells us to do.
He tells us in Romans chapter 12, verse 10 to be devoted.
To one another in love. Honor one another above
yourselves, even if that one another is an elderly woman in
the church. Love her and show honor and
respect to her, just like you would your earthly mother.
You can bet Timothy, who received this, who had a
grandmother and a mother who loved him.
Paul's already testified to that in his writings.
You can bet this meant something to him.
That I am to love these women at Ephesus, to honor and to respect
them like I honor my mother who raised me and raised me to know
Christ and to know the word of God, showing them grace,
constantly treating them as Jesus said what the golden rule,
the way you want to be treated in Matthew Chapter 7, verse 12.
Do everything. Do it to others in everything.
What you would have them do to you.
This sums up the law and the profits.
Everything you do. Treat people the way you want to
be treated. Now I know this when I'm old, I
don't want treat people treating me as if I'm insignificant and
can no longer contribute. You already feel like that on
your own to some degree anyways, the older that you get.
I know instead what we ought to do as they age.
We ought to grow in our honor and our respect toward them,
offering them grace upon grace upon grace, exemplifying God's
goodness to the body of Christ. Relations 610.
He says, Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to
all people, even the elderly, even the elderly women, seeing
them as our mothers. He says especially to those who
belong to the family of believers, especially in the
church, especially here, Paul says to honor and respect and to
show that honor and respect toward older women.
We are to view the older women in the church as mothers.
Our perspective is right that will allow us to give to them
the proper honor and respect that they deserve.
Why do they deserve it? Because God says it is a
position of respect and go back all the way to to, to Exodus
chapter 20 verse 12. He doesn't say honor your mother
and father. If they do honorable thing he
says honor them. And the same goes in the church.
We're to honor the older women in this church as our own
mother. Lastly, Paul will here complete
the family order in the church. He says verse 2, the second part
and younger women as sisters. He says view the older women as
mothers and the younger women as sisters with absolute purity.
So he has said. Be gentle as you encourage the
older men. Show concern for the younger men
as if they were your younger brothers.
Give honor and respect to the older women.
And now he's saying have moral purity toward younger women.
Paul now turns to this category of the younger woman, and he
uses this term absolute purity. You know what Paul's saying?
He's saying see them as women with all of their femininity and
all of their emotional weaknesses, acknowledge them as
women, as sisters, and have 0 inclination or thought as
pertaining to them sexually. Now, I know that there are many
churches who they're not even going to entertain even
discussing this portion of the scripture here.
They're going to somehow figure out a way to jump over it.
We're not going to do that. That's why I love about
expository teaching. You get to it.
You have to preach it. Here it is.
What is he saying? That you have to view the
younger women in the church from a morally pure mindset?
He gives instruction on how to do that.
Rightfully viewing them as sisters.
Why is this important? It's important because the
disgusting nature of incest ought to be a deterrent for
anyone of sound mind in their relations to other and
especially here younger women. Scripture condemns incest in all
forms. Leviticus 18-9 it specifically
says do not have sexual relations with your sister.
Don't have sexual relations with your sister.
This is the forbidding of incest.
It ought to be. Disgusting because it is
despicable. He's reminding us that no one of
noble character would ever entertain sexual flirtations or
make sexual advances on their little sister.
We would all know that to be disgusting behavior.
You say, Well, pastor, do you really think that a pastor or
leader in the church would have a sexual desire toward a younger
woman? Absolutely.
Not too long ago, a man that I respected in the Lord, who I
gleaned from his teaching in his 70s, he had an inappropriate
relationship with a 27 year old girl simply because he refused
to see her as a sister. Now I can tell you this, every
man in this room, every man, I am not an exception.
Every man in this room could have a sexual temptation.
Is that not true? He could lust sexually after
someone else. We all could and we all have.
And I can tell you this, even in my younger years when I had all
of these new hormones that I didn't know what to do with and
and didn't know how to control them, I lusted sexually after
females. And all of you who were honest
here today would say, me too. Now, I'm not going to ask you to
do that because some of you are sitting next to your wives and
she's going to ask a whole bunch of questions over lunch and you
don't want to answer. But I have never one single time
looked at my sister and lusted after her sexually.
Why? That's not normal.
So Paul is wanting to make this point, and he's wanting to make
this point very clear, that if we'll view younger women in the
church as our little sisters, we will have a whole different take
on it. If that sexual thought pops into
our mind, we must rightfully view them as those sisters,
avoiding that incest within the body of Christ.
And isn't proper perspective the key to purity in all the?
Areas of our life, right? If I view sin as sin and I view
sin as offensive to God, and if I love God, I am going to resist
that sin because I love God. Why?
I had the right perspective. So Paul's giving Timothy
perspective here. He's saying, you know what, yes,
that younger woman is far more attractive than the older woman
in the last part of this lesson, and so you're going to be more
prone to be sexually tempted with her.
But in absolute purity, see her as your little sister.
And when you see her as your little sister, things are going
to change. In your mind you were going to
see her as a potential for incest, not a potential for self
satisfaction. Rightfully view them as sisters,
refusing to entertain any appropriate desires toward them
at all, he said. Absolute purity.
That is in thought and in deed. Absolute purity.
I remember hearing a preacher, I don't remember exactly who the
preacher is, but I remember hearing a message that was very
impactful on me as a young minister.
This preacher shared of an instance where he had a young
lady, a young married lady in his office and he was actually
counseling her, giving her marriage counseling.
And he was just going about his normal business of going through
the Bible and instructing her on how she used to be the wife that
she needs to be and helping her through her problems that arise.
And yes, they do arise, don't they?
Married couples have problems, and sometimes we have to seek
the advice of pastors. Now, pastors and leaders in the
church, please pay attention to this.
For people who may be a pastor down the road, you know, not yet
that you're even going to be, that God's going to call you
into that. And this is a helpful tidbit for
you that I learned from this man.
And he said as he was there, he was talking to this girl all of
a sudden in his sinful mind, because his sinful mind is still
existing just as mine is, just as yours is.
He began to notice how beautiful she was and then it went from
the fact that she was beautiful to sexual faults.
And as he's telling the story, he said that I couldn't get her
out of my office quick enough. And he said she left my office.
I scheduled appointment with her and her husband.
And he said he cancelled the rest of his appointments that
day. And he locked himself in his
office with a sign on his door, do not disturb.
And he devoted himself the rest of that afternoon to praying
that God would help him with this lust that he had in his
flesh. What wisdom we can gain from
that type of attitude. One who refuses to entertain
inappropriate desires. That because that's really what
got King David, isn't it? He looked out on the roof.
And that was not the first time that he had seen a woman bathing
out on the roof, but he began to entertain it in his mind.
Over and over and over again. Then lust took over.
Then the next thing you know, a man after God's own heart is
summoning another woman to have sexual relationships with him
that he is not married to. He commits adultery and we know
ultimately murder and why? Because he refused to see her as
the sister that she was. When we see them as.
Sisters, our whole perspective ought to change.
It ought to help us to refuse entertaining any appropriate,
inappropriate, or sexual desires that we may have.
It ought to cause us to watch our conduct and our conversation
with younger women closely. Isn't that important?
Why? So that they don't get the wrong
idea. Did you notice there are younger
women in the church who could come to any of our pastors for
sound advice? I pray that they would find
sound advice. And we invite you to comment, to
talk to us about things. But sometimes they get the wrong
idea. And here's how they get the
wrong idea. This woman's struggling in her
home because her husband is not the godly man that she knows
that he ought to be or that she desires.
Him to be as I've said it before and I'll say it again, the thing
that a woman who loves Christ wants more than anything is a
man who loves Christ she. Didn't care about your muscles.
She didn't care about your money.
She wants you to live for Christ.
And so this woman comes and she doesn't have a man who lives for
Christ. And then she sees as you're
counseling her and you're giving her this good advice from the
Scripture, she sees you as attractive because the one thing
that's missing from her life is a godly man.
And then she sees this as an opportunity to have for herself
a godly man. You think that it doesn't
happen. It happens all of the time in
churches. Pastors fall because people have
the wrong idea. A woman comes with the wrong
idea. She comes for counseling and he
goes beyond that and goes to her own.
Desires for this man of God, and so we have to be very careful of
that. We have to be very wise in that,
making sure that we don't relay the wrong message.
Pastors, in our counseling, what do we need to constantly do?
When he's the need to constantly point her to Christ and her to
her husband and her to her husband in Christ, treating her
as that little sister who no way in the world would we ever
entertain any kind of impure relationship with her at all.
Now, I know for some of you this is uncomfortable stuff to talk
about in the church. And I think because the church
is so afraid to talk about it, it's an epidemic in the church.
So we're going to talk about it. We have to refuse to entertain
any appropriate desires so that no one gets the wrong idea, so
that the wrong message is not relayed.
We have to maintain a healthy distance in our interactions
with the opposite sex, both in conversation and in conduct,
right? For instance.
When we think of them as little sisters.
Is there anything wrong with hugging my sister?
No, I'm not going to kiss my sister in the mouth, right?
It's just not going to happen. Now, you might do that.
That's just weird. I'm not doing that.
And so it's all about that. Perspective and seeing that so
that we can watch our conduct, so we we can maintain healthy
distance, we can maintain a godly relationship.
So we have to refuse to entertain any appropriate
desires that we may have. Guys, the worst thing that you
can do is pretend like you don't have desires.
When you do have desires, that's the worst thing you can do
because you know what? You don't address the desire.
You just pretend like it's not there.
And things that we pretend like they're not there, those are
usually the things that sneak up and bite us.
Acknowledge it and go to the Lord Lord, as that pastor I
share with you a moment ago, Lord, I have a problem.
My problem is this. I didn't intend on lusting.
My sinful flesh began to lust after this woman.
And instead of being afraid to admit that to a God who already
knew, he got on his face and said, God, you know, and I need
your help with this because I cannot resist this on my own.
And he waited until God supplied him the help that he needed,
until the Word became alive in his life, until he began to see
her as a sister again, not as something that would fulfill his
sexual longing. We have to safeguard ourselves
from any and all impure temptations and attacks because
they're real and they do come Job 31, one Job took this
attitude. He said, I've made a covenant
with my eyes not to look lustfully after a woman.
Job knew this by by the time it comes into my eyes, I'm in big
trouble because it's going to go into my eyes.
It's going to go into my mind. And if I'm not careful, this is
going to root in my heart. So jokes and I've made a
covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully after a woman.
I don't even want to give it a second glance when I see
something that I know could lead to this.
I have to safeguard myself against it.
I have to resist it. Matthew 26 verse 41.
The Lord taught, taught it like this.
He said, watch and praise so that you will not fall into
temptation. The Spirit is willing, but the
flesh is weak. Don't think for a second that
any of you in here, in your flesh are strong enough to
resist the temptation of sin. And especially for men with
young women and the temptation to sin sexually, don't think for
a second that you're above that. None of you are.
None of us are. Must watch and pray so that we
will not fall into this temptation.
Ephesians 611 says for us to put on the full armor of God so that
you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
You think the devil's not scheming against the church
leadership, trying to get church leaders to think of young women
as something other than little sisters in the Lord?
Of course he's scheming. Of course he's plotting.
He seeks to destroy all that God is doing through His church.
Therefore, we must see the importance of guarding our own
hearts. Proverbs 423 It says, above all
else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Protect your heart, because once this temptation seeds in your
heart, you're in trouble. Psalm 11911 You know what?
I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin
against you. It didn't say I've hidden your
word in my heart that I might not be tempted sexually by a
younger woman. He said, no, I've hidden your
word in my heart so that when I am tempted with sin, I won't sin
against you. And what does this word say
pertaining to this? See the younger women as
sisters. So when your mind goes to
anything sexual, all of a sudden default is now.
Oh no, gross. That's incest and that's
despicable behavior and it's unacceptable.
According to God's Word, set yourself boundaries and rules.
1st Thessalonians 522 says reject every kind of evil, even
the appearance of it. Reject every kind of evil.
Set yourselves boundaries so that you don't do anything that
could potentially lead to evil or do anything that could
potentially look like evil. The pastors here, they've all
been taught when you're meeting with a female by yourself, you
should close the door and black out the window so that no one
suspects anything going on. No, should never meet with a
female behind closed doors. In fact, I'll say this, I won't
ride with a female who is not my family in a car alone with her.
I'm sure not going to go to lunch with you.
It's funny that there are people who actually do that, right?
We have some salespeople who calling us females.
Would you like to go to lunch with me?
Absolutely not. I don't want to go to lunch with
a female. Why?
Because I'm not above temptation.
But besides that, it appears to others as something that could
be potentially. Evil.
We have to avoid that, and leadership has to take that
seriously and to safeguard themselves, setting biblical and
realistic and wise boundaries. And then as we refuse to
entertain appropriate, inappropriate desires, we have
to constantly be mortifying any impure thought or lustful desire
that should come about. If lustful thoughts happen,
don't be surprised if they do. Let me say that again.
Don't be surprised if they do. That's it causes to long for
glorification all the more. I'll be thankful when these
thoughts are no more, but when they do and if they go unchecked
as they did in the life. Of David, you can rest assured
that more often than not, they're going to lead to sin,
and so safeguard yourself by mortifying your impure desires
the moment that you have them. 2nd Corinthians 10 verse 5.
What does it say to do? Take every thought.
Captive. Take every thought captive to
make it obedient to Christ. And what does that look like in
looking at First Timothy 5 verse 2 when you have that lustful
thought? Take that thought captive.
Process it. This is not from my new nature,
this is from my flesh. And I must die to my flesh.
I must crucify my flesh. This person that I had this
thought about is my sister in Christ.
Take that thought captive. Make it obedient to Christ.
Christ, I'm going to obey you. I need strength from your
spirit. You said that sounds like you're
admitting weakness. You are.
Stop thinking that you're strong.
He who thinks he stand, take heed lest he fall.
When that thought enters your mind, remember this.
You're capable of fulfilling that thought.
Run to God and say God, I cannot do this on my own.
Let me see this woman as a little sister.
Let me avoid incest and impurity in any way.
Why? Because that's what Your Word
says that I am to do. Guard your hearts and your minds
in Christ Jesus, taking every thought captive, making it
submit an obedience to. Christ Galatians 516 says this.
It says so. I say walk by the Spirit.
And you will not have any desires of the flesh.
It doesn't say that. It says walk by the Spirit and
you will not gratify or fulfill the desires of your flesh as
long as you are in this earthly tent, this fleshly vessel it is
going to have. Desires.
What should you do? Walk in the Spirit and if you
walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of your flesh,
but you will fulfill the will of God as you take every thought
captive, making it obedient to Christ, mortifying the impurity
and the impure thoughts and lust of your flesh, taking them
captive, crucifying your sinful desires.
Galatians 516 says it, Walk in the Spirit, you won't fulfill
the lust of your flesh. Colossians 35 gives us
instruction. To put to death, therefore
whatever belongs to your earthly nature.
What's the things that belong to your earthly nature?
In case you think you're above this sexual immorality,
impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
All of the things that we would think of as despicable, our
flesh is capable of leading us into.
So we can't give any room to the flesh.
We must put it to death and then we must do as Paul says in
Romans 13, verse 14. He says rather, instead of
entertaining your flesh, he says, rather clothe yourselves
with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not.
Think about how to. Gratify the desires of the
flesh. Don't think about how you can
gratify the desires of the flesh.
Remember when you were lost and all you had was your flesh, and
you would think of new ways to gratify your flesh.
How can I gratify my earthly cravings?
How can I make this happen? Paul Giving.
Instruction to the church instead of that because you've
been freed from that life, he says.
Clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ and don't think
about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
What are you to do? You're to focus on Christ, to
fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of your
faith. Walk and moral purity in your
life, especially in regard to what he's saying here, moral
purity toward younger women in the church.
And so may we have that proper view, and may that proper view
of younger women in the congregation direct our
relationships with them as our sisters in Christ.
I receive them for what God says that they are.
And may that deter us from any temptation to go outside of
God's will and to enter into a wrongful sexual relationship
with them, whether that's just sexually in the nature of
flirtation, or if that is further deviation into sexual
immorality and adultery. Let us be aware of that.
Let us be safeguarding ourselves and wise and handling these
things. So Paul has outlined for us the
family of God. And how do we care for the
family of God? Even in our correction and our
reducing and our counseling, What are we to do?
But we're to gently encourage the older men, to not rebuke
them harshly or have concern for younger men, as we have for
younger brothers. We're to honor and respect older
women as our mothers. We're to have moral purity
toward the younger women in the church.
That's our responsibility as leaders.
I told you as we open this morning, hold us to this.
This is our responsibility as leaders.
But it's also your responsibility in your life to
view each element of the church the way that you ought to view
it so that you don't fall into any sin or any temptation.
So to the leader here today, any of our pastors that are present,
any of our elders, any of our reach group leaders, I pray that
you pay attention to this. I pray that you obey the truths
that we have seen today. May that even in leading a
reach. Group, you would gently
encourage the older men, even when they get it wrong and you
have to correct them. Do it gently and you would see
that younger man who's struggling, not as a young kid
who just can't get it right. Just seem as that younger
brother where you once were. You'll give him that direction.
To that older woman in your group who is hard sometimes to
deal with, I pray that you see her as your own mother.
You remember the words of Christ when he spoke to John and he
pointed to his own mother as Christ was leaving this earth.
And he said, here is your mother, here's your son, take
care of her like your own mother.
And then to the younger women, don't think for a second that
you're above temptation. Make sure that that relationship
is morally pure as the word of God has demanded to the believer
here. Accept nothing less your life
and from the lives of your leaders to the unbeliever.
Perhaps you realized today talking about all these family
terms that you're just not part of the family.
You're not, You're not part of the family of God.
And I want to make that very clear in a day, in an age where
people say that we're all just children of God, you're not.
You must be adopted into this family and you're adopted into
this family only through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now I pray today that you who
are an illegitimate child wandering through the world, a
son of Satan and the Son of sin, see your great need because you
are a Sinner and you need to be forgiven and washed clean clean
of your sin, to be cleansed from head to toe, inside and out
through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
I pray that you see your need for that today, that God in His
mercy and His grace would do only what God can do, and that
is to turn your sinful, unbelieving heart unto Him.
That He would give you faith to believe, and that belief would
be marked by true repentance. As you turn away from sin and
unbelief and you turn to Christ. I can promise you this, Everyone
who turns to Christ, whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord, shall be saved. I preach today.
And if God would grant you that grace, that God would grant you
that mercy, that you would obediently follow Christ as your
Lord and Savior and be saved, saved forevermore.
Let's pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus, we
thank you so much for your word. We thank you, Lord, that it
doesn't have to be entertaining, It doesn't have to be exciting.
It's true. What I pray that today truth
would hit us or it needs to hit us, that Your word would do
exactly what You have designed Your Word to do for this
specific service at this specific church, at this
specific time, for Your glory and for Your honor.
But I pray if there'd be someone here who does not know Christ,
that you would graciously draw them to yourself to receive
mercy and forgiveness today. We'll be careful, careful to
give you all the praise for it. We pray these things in Christ's
name. Amen.
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