The Faith that has Overcome the World - 1 John 5:1-4

2:35But also, that comes with the idea of house rules, of expectations, of how do we behave around each other? How do we behave when we get together? What's our conduct? And so that's some of what we're going to talk about tonight. We already talked about some of the things we do when we come together, but we didn't really talk about what's our attitude and look at some of those passages about how we treat each other, how we think. About each other, and what does it mean for us to be the household of God? So, two books that we've turned to a lot are Ephesians and 1 Timothy. And we're going to start in 1 Timothy, and then we'll move into Ephesians towards the end of our time. But if you look at 1 Timothy 3, remember we looked at 1 Timothy 2 extensively, talking about some of the things that we should do when we come together, we need to pray. I talked about church conduct in the assembly, about women and men. We also talked about a month or two ago about leadership in the church and looked at 1 Timothy 3 with the qualifications for overseers and deacons and what those roles are. And so, we're going to start now in 1 Timothy 3, verse 14. But before we do, let's pray one more time.

3:53Father, we're grateful that you've made us into a church. We're grateful that the gates of hell will not prevail against your church, that you build your church, that you're sovereignly in charge of your church. We thank you that you've given us so many saints that have gone before us to pave the way. We thank you for your scriptures. But most of all, we thank you for our common salvation paid for on the cross by Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

4:29We thank you for the Son of God. You that we can come together as redeemed people, forgiven people, people who can freely forgive each other because all of our debts have been erased. All of our debts have been forgiven. So we can clear each other from having accounts against one another. We thank you, Father. We thank you for the love that we have for one another, and we thank you for the instruction and your word that we're going to read tonight. In Jesus' name, amen.

5:04Well, before we start, I want to ask you a couple questions again. What is Scripture's role in the church? What should be Scripture's role in the church? That's the first question, just generically. How should we relate to Scripture? How should we use Scripture authority, right? It should be our authority. That's a great place to start. What else? Yeah, it's our guiding light. It's the truth. It's where we're going to go for our instruction. It does have instruction about salvation, of course, but it also has instruction for what we do as a church. It didn't leave us in the dark, it told us to sing.

6:00Things together. We're supposed to read the scriptures when we come together. I believe we're supposed to study the scriptures when we come together because it is our authority. If we're going to come together and somebody is going to speak, it should be about the scriptures, right? Because that person and their life experience is not our authority. Instead, the scriptures are our authority. And maybe some life experience and illustrations get put in there to help illustrate the text, but the authority lies in the text itself.

6:41Anything else? I have another question for you. All right, the next question. What is the role in our church of something like a statement of faith? Or in other churches, they might use the word creeds or confessions. I'd say it gets us all on the same page, right? It lets you know what we're going to teach in this church, what's going to come from this pulpit. It's also helpful knowing as people come into membership that this is what's going to be taught at this church.

7:20It also helps be able to put a fence around some of the teaching that happens in a church. If we have a Sunday school teacher that is going to teach, Something it needs to lie within those bounds of what's in our doctrinal statement, right? Now, hopefully, you see the connection there. We're not saying that the doctrinal statement is some kind of authority that has authority in your life over scripture. What we're saying is, as we gather, and here's an important distinction for us: as we gather, we're saying this is what we as a church believe that the scriptures teach.

7:59Now, why is that helpful? We know where we're going. Yeah, and there's not these misunderstandings. And so, a third question to add on top of this: I asked this to the young adults this past semester, and we had a good discussion: why are there denominations? Are denominations good or bad? Is it good that we have more than one denomination? Is it a bad thing that there's more than one denomination in America? Any thoughts on that? It's a good thing. Why?

8:44Yeah, that's a good point. What else? Why are there? What do you think the main reason there are different denominations? So, that's maybe a denomination that's doctrinally similar but might practically do some different things. What else? Differing interpretations of scripture, right? Any other thoughts on denominations? Well, I think we would say that there's certainly good reasons and bad reasons why there would be certain denominations. I think that sometimes there arises a denomination because somebody in a church starts to teach something heretical, and rightly that church sends that person out, that divisive person that's teaching contrary doctrine, and that person doesn't get the picture, and instead he goes and starts his own church and takes that false doctrine and starts teaching it somewhere. Well, when that turns into a denomination and they start planning more churches, we'd say, okay, that's not a healthy thing. That's not a good reason to have different denominations. If we were going to spin denominations in a more positive light, maybe in the most positive light, is maybe it's brothers and sisters that love each other, but practically are going to do things very differently, or even have some doctrinal differences that lead to practical differences.

10:12You know, for example, I don't want to give too much away about what's coming later in the summer, but let's talk about baptism for just a moment. Let's say that there are two pastors in a church, just pretend. Two pastors. In a church, and they have come to different viewpoints. They're the same theologically all the way down, except one believes that we should baptize our infants. Well, in church history, sometimes that has come to the point where one person says we should baptize infants and the other doesn't. And so the answer is, okay, I'm going to kill that person that doesn't believe that, right? And we joke, we'll see some of that in church history. We will this summer, but hopefully, that's not the godly gracious answer of these two men. Instead, it's, well, how are we going to deal with this? If we truly are convicted of these different positions, we can't do church together, right? Because some of the families in the church are going to say, can you baptize my babies? Can you baptize my infants? And this pastor, it's going to be against his conscience to baptize an infant. This pastor, it's going to be against his conscience to not baptize the infant. And so at that point, if we're putting denominations in the best light, if we're saying these splits could happen for good reasons or loving reasons, I think the best point at that situation is for one brother to put his arm around the other brother and say, Brother, I love you, and we're united in our faith in Christ. But as a church, we can't practically stay in the same house. And so at that point, it's good and loving for them to part ways, still stay close. Still love each other. Do you see what I'm saying? So, in a sense, you could say denominations are always bad because if another church was truly a good church, then they would believe the exact same thing as us, right?

12:19But I think that sometimes those denominations, even though we would disagree with those doctrinal positions, even though we would disagree with those practical differences, I think that those can still happen in a context of love. I just wanted to cover that before we jumped into the text tonight. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 3. He's just said some things in chapter 2 that they should do when they gather as an assembly. He just talked about leadership in chapter 3 and then verse 14. I hope to come to you soon.

12:53But I'm writing these things to you so that if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God. Let's stop there for just a second. So he's saying, I wish I was there with you teaching these things, I think is his point. And I hope to come to you soon, but just in case, these things are important. So I'm sending this letter on ahead. Does that make sense? I hope to come to you soon, but I'm writing these things to you so that if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God. So it is important how we behave, how we conduct ourselves when we're around each other. It's so important that Paul was. Urgent to get the letter there so they can know, okay, this is how we should do church, this is how we should behave in the church. And so Paul is writing ahead of his visit to Timothy. So that you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

13:55A pillar and a buttress of the truth. I think if I ask you the question, which of these statements is true? Is scriptural truth the foundation of the church? Or is the church the foundation of scriptural truth? I think that the New Testament, picture the New Testament, uses both pictures in different ways. Okay, so the first picture that scriptural truth is a foundation of the church. We already saw that in that first week when we went through Ephesians chapter 2. And we saw that the church is like a building and is being built upon that foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus being the cornerstone, right? So when we come together, our common foundation is that teaching that we have in common in the scriptures, with Christ being the cornerstone. Here, he uses the same picture in a different way. He says, The household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. A pillar, you know what a pillar is, right? It's holding up the roof, or in architecture back then, really more than the roof, maybe the main part of the structure it's holding up.

15:20That word for buttress, anybody else have other translations there? Support, right? Support or the pillar and ground of the truth, or you could even say foundation, or something I was reading today talked about how support, like that, if you have a foundation and it's on a hill or something, and you build up the slope to get up to the building. I just checked that word with Thomas. But you build up the slope to try and make sure that that foundation is not going to like fall off the cliff, you know. And it's that support. It's that foundational ground support buttress. That's what the church is for the truth.

16:05And I think we would say scriptural truth. The church lifts up and supports the truth. At least it should. It should be a pillar and a buttress of the truth. Verse 16, truth like this. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness. He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by the Spirit. Angels proclaimed among the nations, believed on, and the world taken up in glory. So, we'd always say that the truth, scripture, is the foundation of the church. That's why we have such common ground, to use another common expression.

16:48But also, the church is what lifts up that truth. That's one of the roles of a church: it should be a pillar to lift up that roof, that canopy of the truth, to let the truth shine out, to be that support for the truth, so that the truth can go out. Does that make sense? The pillar in the support of the truth. So, Paul has said to Timothy, I'm writing ahead so that you know how to conduct yourselves. And so, let's read through some of chapter 4 to see what he means. How do we behave? How do we conduct ourselves in the church? Look at chapter 4, verses 1 through 5. Now, the Spirit expressly says, What do you think he means by that?

17:35The Spirit expressly says. I think He means Scripture. You know, the Scriptures say, The Spirit expressly says that in later times, some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created. To be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God in prayer. So, what are some observations from that passage, verses one through five?

18:29Hard times are coming. Hard times are coming, and why? Why are they hard times? Right. Yeah, there's these people, right? Some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared. Now, if we just stopped right there and we said, okay, these are people they're teaching the teaching of deceitful spirits, they're teaching the teaching of demons, their consciences are seared. I don't know what you would expect to follow that. I would expect it to be something really twisted and, you know, teaching the church that we should murder certain people or, you know, I don't know, do really twisted things, but no. Look what he says. What is the teaching of demons? What is the teaching of these wicked, deceptive people? Verse 3, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

19:47So in the church, we need to be on the lookout for those who would deceive and come in, teach the demonic teaching of what John said, of this weird legalism, these separate rules that are apart from scripture. We need to be on a lookout for those in the church. Verse 4, for everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God in prayer. It seems like specifically he's still talking there about food, but I think you can see the principle that there are good things like marriage and food. And there are people coming into the church and trying to add in these extra rules and saying, no, this is really what it means to be a Christian. You're not going to be married. You're going to make sure you stay away from these different foods. And he's saying that's demonic. You be on guard as a church. So as a church, we should be on guard, but also, I think, on guard in our own hearts, being wary of the fact that we can make extra rules for each other or something like that. Let's go to the next section.

21:03Oh, and of course, the side application, the point of what he said in verse 4 and 5, is giving thanks and prayer, you know, giving gratitude to God because God is good and what he's created is good, and so we should receive it with thanksgiving. But let's look at 6 through 11. 6 through 10. Sorry, 6 through 10. If you put these things before the brothers, I'm going to ask you for observations again, so make sure you're paying attention. Don't zone out. 6 through 10. If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather, train yourself for godliness, for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end, we toil and strive because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe, or specifically of those who believe.

22:17Any observations in that passage? So Paul is commanding Timothy. Right, this is a letter to Timothy, a leader in the church, saying, Put these things that we've just talked about, put these things before the brothers, put these things before the church, and you'll be a good servant. Jesus wants these truths. Jesus wants the church to know these truths. So, if you put these before the church, you'll be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Verse 7 and 8, we spoke about this this afternoon in Southern Oaks, but something else that can creep into the church. Verse 7, have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather, train yourself for godliness. For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

23:22This pops up more than once in the pastoral epistles. That's why we talked about it this afternoon in Southern Oaks is because they're going through Titus, which, by the way, I meant to mention it last Sunday, and then I meant to mention it when I came up here this Sunday night. Last Sunday, a victory to celebrate a week ago the Constitution that we worked on for a long time, the new Constitution for Southern Oaks Baptist Church. Let me back up. If you're new with us, we are helping another church revitalize and make a lot of changes, and they have been. Doing an amazing job and just really godly and gracious. Well, last Sunday it was a big victory because they unanimously voted in a new Constitution. So a big victory there. So if you've been praying for that Southern Oaks revitalization, keep praying. And things are still going really well. And we've just been celebrating a lot of progress. James?

24:24Oh, they're coming next week. Yeah, that's right. So we have invited, Emmanuel has invited Southern Oaks to our July 4th grand opening in a new building. So they actually canceled their services and they're going to come and join us like they did on Easter and be with us Sunday morning and Sunday evening. So you can say hi to them. What? Oh, and the next step you can be praying for. Thank you, James. Reminding me of everything. Next step that you can be praying for is we put before the new elders that they're going to vote on in about a month. So the leadership team recommended who those elders are going to be: me, myself, and James, and two men from their church. And we'll see in about a month if they vote as unanimously as they did for the Constitution. So something else to be praying for. Anyways, back to 1 Timothy. So this pops up more than one place in the pastoral epistles: this idea of irreverent, silly myths. And the surprising thing is, this is not. Doesn't seem to be talking about, you know, Greek mythology or Roman mythology, I guess, at this point. This seems to be talking about Jewish myths, from what we can tell from the other contexts in the pastoral epistles, that there were groups that were going around teaching, of course, about circumcision. We see that in the New Testament a lot, saying that Christians have to be circumcised, but also trying to prove different things with genealogies, trying to make arguments about the law. And all of it, Paul says more than once, over and over, he calls them silly and irreverent. And I think silly is a good term, you know, stupid or silly, useless, silly, irreverent. It's not the way to use scripture. It's not coming to scripture and finding out what is the truth of this. It's coming and maybe kind of spinning off and having some fanciful debate about something that's not actually in the scriptures or just kind of loosely connected to the scriptures. And so he says that again here. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather, train yourself for godliness. That's what matters. When we become a Christian, the goal is not then to all of a sudden know a million different little silly jokes and myths and proving things out of genealogies or something like that. Instead, the goal is godliness. Because, verse 8, there's some value in bodily training.

27:00Notice he doesn't say there's no value in bodily training. While bodily training is of some value or is of little value, godliness, as a parallel, is a value or is profitable in every way as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. So you can tell the distinction there, right? He's saying, okay, if you're doing bodily training, that's got some value, but it's only going to be for the present life. But if you're training in godliness, that's going to have value for right now in the present life and in the life to come. So it is valuable in every way. And so we should train ourselves in godliness. We should work out. You know, we should, just as with devotion, a young man might want muscles, and so he works out every day and trains for that and spends the time, puts in the time and effort. I think that that's what he's telling Timothy here to do himself, to train for godliness, to work hard at this, put in the time, put in the devotion for godliness, because it has value always. And in that way, I think he's going to be a good servant and avoid these silly myths, avoid what people are getting caught up in. And you may have encountered people like that. Maybe they always want to tell you what the latest shenanigan is on Facebook or something, even if it's. Loosely connected to theology or something, and they're spending all their time there, and they're going around in circles, arguing, and things like that. And you realize they've the whole past week, that's been their time with the Lord or their time in the scriptures, is those kind of surface-level debates instead of actually getting into the word and seeing what it says for itself and chasing after godliness, pursuing that, training ourselves in godliness and uprightness and character. So that can creep into the church. So, the first thing that can creep into the church that we saw in chapter four was this idea of the demonic teaching of this legalism of abstaining from certain foods or marriage or something like that. The other is wasting our time with these irreverent, silly myths that have nothing to do with the actual truth of Scripture. Verse 11, I'm going to read 11 through 16. Verse 11: Command and teach these things.

29:32Let no one despise you for your youth. Timothy, again, he's talking to Timothy: Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, and conduct, in love, and faith, and purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given to you by prophecy when the council of Elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them so that all may see your progress and keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this. For by so doing, you will save both yourself and your hearers. So there are some personal notes mixed in there to Timothy. He had this special gift that was given to him by the council of elders, and Paul was there, and there was a prophecy that happened. So he has a special note there for Timothy saying, Serve in the way that you're supposed to serve. But he also has these general comments, I think, that are good, general comments for the church. Until I come, verse 13, devote yourself to the public reading of scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. He doesn't just stop at the public reading of scripture. We're not supposed to only come together and read scripture together. There's also supposed to be, paired with that scripture, is exhortation and teaching on what does the scripture mean? How does it apply? And we're to be exhorted as a church when we hear the word preached, exhorted to follow it, commanded to follow this word from God. So, Timothy is to practice these things, immerse yourself in them, that all may see your progress, and keep a close watch on yourself and your teaching. Any thoughts or questions on 1 Timothy chapter 4?

31:28We'll just. Back to kind of bird's eye view. If the church is the household of God and the church is the pillar and ground of the truth, well, how is the church going to be the pillar and ground of the truth? We've already talked in weeks past about how the leadership is keeping watch over the flock, protecting the doctrine and things like that. But here, I think the call is for all of us in the church to make sure that those silly myths and those fake legalism, all of those things are not allowed to creep into the church. Instead, we're devoted to the scriptures. We are as a pillar, as a foundation, lifting high the word of God, lifting high that scriptural truth, standing against false teaching. He continues, and we could just continue in chapter 5. I'm not going to, but you can tell if it's a household of God. Look at chapter 5, verse 1. He's got rules for Timothy on how he's going to interact with these different people, older men, younger men, older women, verse 2, younger women, verse 2, widows, verse 3, and following, and then some more.

32:40The elders, verse 17. So this is how Timothy is to conduct himself in the household of God. And I think there are certainly principles for us as we think of ourselves as a family. Those are all family words he's using. Look again at chapter 5, verse 1. Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father. That's a kindness, right? If we discover sin in someone's life and that man is older than us, well, we should treat him as we would our father, and hopefully you treat your fathers well.

33:13But we should be kind and gentle. You know, you say things like, you know, you don't come and start dressing down, is that a phrase? Dressing down a man and yelling at him and saying, you know, you've got to sin and things like that when you confront. Instead, you confront him gently as you would a father. You say, you know, it could just be me, but I just wanted to confront you about this and let you know this is something I saw. Maybe I'm wrong. You see what I'm saying? You use that gentleness. Younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters in all purity. You're treating each other like family, just like you would in your household. Okay? Well, next, we're going to turn to Ephesians chapter 5.

34:08Okay, so if the church is the pillar ground of the truth, and if the church is the household of God, there are certain things we're going to do together. In Ephesians, this is a book we've turned to a lot of times already. In chapter 2, we saw how God has unified all kinds of different people and the main two factions in the day of this writing. Was Jew and Gentile, and he has unified them, broken down that wall of hostility between them, brought them together into one church so that they love each other in spite of their cultural differences and things like that. He abolished the law of commandments so that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two.

34:54In chapter four, we looked at last week about how God is taking the church and building the church. In chapter two, he talked about the building, how we're built on the foundation. We already mentioned that. But in chapter four, he says that he's building us like a body, that when we're all functioning, if we're all serving each other as we should, then the body builds itself up in love. So we talked about verse 15 and 16 of chapter 4. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. So he had this picture of when we're all serving each other, when the saints are equipped for the work of the ministry and we're serving each other, pouring into each other, loving each other, that's when the body is building itself up. Up. And so we talked about last week how the ministries in our church are going to look a little bit differently than what maybe the way we grew up in the church. And if we grew up in a church where the pastor did all the work and we just come and partake and listen and then we go home, and that's our only interaction with the church. Instead, our interactions with the church are: we're all doing the work of the ministry, we're all building each other up, and so our ministries are going to look a little bit different than in that other model. Okay, but down in chapter four, verse, we can start in 29.

36:48We could start earlier, but we'll start in verse 29. Again, if we're a household, what are the house rules? How do we behave when we're with each other? So, verse 29: let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Remember, that's what we mean when we say edify one another. It's a phrase we throw out a lot as Christians to each other. Remember, to edify just means to build. So he's saying, use your words to lovingly build each other up. Not, again, just flattery, not just flattery, but true encouragement, teaching each other. Verse 30, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you receive. Sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor be put away from you along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another as God and Christ forgave you. All right, so I have a question for you in verse 30. If you're just looking at the context, what does it seem when he says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God?

37:53What do you think he means when he says that? Yeah, disobeying his commands, but I think even more specifically in this context, I think it has to do with the way we treat each other. If we're saying that the context is informing what it's saying, then the verse right before is, watch your speech. Don't let corrupting talk come out, but build each other up. Let your speech be talk that gives grace to those who hear. And then in a verse that follows, he says, verse 31, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. So if we're looking at verse 30 and he says, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. It seems to me that the best interpretation is that body idea that we're using our words. We're putting away malice and bitterness and wrath. Those are things that grieve the Holy Spirit, and instead we're using our speech to build each other up, not having invective towards each other, but. Loving each other, being kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another as God and Christ forgave you.

39:08Chapter 5, verse 1. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among the saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this: that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is covetous, that is, an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. So he's saying these things are not the characteristics of somebody who is a believer, somebody who's waiting for that kingdom, who's a citizen of that kingdom. And so when we gather, he says, it must not even be named among you. This is what's proper among the saints: when we gather, our conduct around each other is we're not talking about, not even talking about, certainly not doing these things, but really not even talking about these things, sexual immorality and impurity and covetousness. We're not going to revel in those things. That's not going to be part of our relationship with each other. We want to put those things away. That's what's proper. is to put those things away. Put away this filthiness or foolish talk, crude joking. All those things are out of place in the assembly. Instead, let there be thanksgiving. That's one of the things that we can talk to each other about, how grateful we are.

40:50Look at verse 6. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partakers with them. For at one time you were darkness. But now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true. And try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. So you see what he says there? He says that when we became believers, when we became part of the church, we left that reality of we used to be darkness. And now we are light in the Lord. Now you are light in the Lord. So walk as children of light. For the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true. So since we are children of light, then that's how we should walk. We should focus on what is good and right and true when we're together. These excellent things. Things. Now, that's not saying we can never tell a joke when we're with each other, right? We can never laugh when we're with each other. No, that's not what he's saying. But any of this filthiness that's not to be the basis of our relationship or the basis of our jokes or something like that. And there should be, in addition to levity or laughing or jokes, there should be real substance to our conversations, real substance to our interactions with each other, what is good and right and true. That's walking as children of the light. What is good and right and true. In verse 10, try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Pay attention to what God wants you to do. Use your discernment. Don't be a fool that's not thinking about any of the things that are coming out of your mouth or any of your actions.

43:01Any thoughts or questions before we keep going? I know we've been reading a lot of verses. Verse 11. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it's shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible. For anything that becomes visible is. Light. Therefore, it says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Look carefully, then, how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

43:47Verse 17, therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. So he's commanding them: don't be like the world, don't like the things that they like. Instead, call out those wicked actions. Instead, call them what they are. Call those things sin. Don't feel like you need to be like the world that constantly brushes things under the rug and doesn't want to talk about how certain things are sins. Instead, you graciously, lovingly, in a kind way, you expose things, because then when the light shines on it, it becomes visible.

44:28Verse 15, look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Do you ever think about that verse? This was, again, a major theme in our time together at Southern Oaks this afternoon from Titus. How do we use our time? He says here, make the best use of your time. The days are evil, and you're light. The world is darkness, and you're light. So make the best use. Focus on. Those things that are good and right and true.

45:04Expose. Let light do its work by exposing the sins of the darkness. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Look at verse 18. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence to Christ, reverence for Christ. What are some things you notice in that passage? You guys haven't talked in a while.

45:51What are some things you notice in that passage? A lot of music, right? What else? Yeah, that's right. We're not getting our joy from worldly things. We're not celebrating in the same way that the world celebrates. What else? There's always arguments over alcohol. There's no argument. That's right. Yeah, it's very clear. And again, I think he's here talking about the assembly. I think he's saying, when you're together, do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. And of course, you've probably heard that verse get misused. You know, they'll just stop right there and say, do not get drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit. And so they'll say, oh, you know, being filled with the Spirit, that must be a lot like getting drunk. So instead of getting drunk with wine, we're going to get drunk with the Spirit. And you've maybe heard in other denominations getting slain with the Spirit or something like that, losing control of your faculties because you're drunk in the Spirit. But we don't have to wonder about that because the phrase doesn't stop there.

47:22It's even in the grammar. He says, be filled with the Spirit. That's the command. And then he tells you exactly what he means by that. This is what it looks like when you are filled with the Spirit. This is exactly what it will look like. Is verse 19, you are addressing one another. You see how he's explaining this command. You're addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. You're giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. In the explanation, I'll keep going as he talks about the family, the wives, and husbands, and children, and fathers, and bondservants, and masters, well into chapter six. But he's saying, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and this is what it will look like.

48:17You're addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. So who are you singing to? A little bit of a trick question. If you look again at the verse, who are you singing to? To one another and to the Lord, right? He says it before and after. You're addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. And so when we come together, that's one of the reasons why when we come together, it's not just a show up here where they're singing and we're just enjoying a rock concert and making melody to the Lord in our heart, right? We are to address one another. We're to sing. Part of us standing next to each other, even if you feel awkward about what your voice sounds like, part of us standing next to each other and singing is so that we can hear each other. We are addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs while also worshiping the Lord in our heart. So we're doing these things. We're teaching each other with these songs, psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. Your heart, verse 20, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, something else, if we are filled with the Holy Spirit, is that we're going to continually be giving thanks. You know, he doesn't say just a little, he says always and for everything.

49:50All the time. That should be something that characterizes our life: we should be thankful people. We've talked before in this church how a lot of times what can characterize a Christian is grumbling. You know, Exodus 16, just like Israel, grumbling right after they're freed from Egypt. We can complain about this other church. We can complain about this other political figure. We can complain about somebody in our own church. We can grumble about how something isn't the way we want it in church. Maybe the music's not our style. Maybe, I don't know, all kinds of stuff. We can grumble, grumble, grumble. And instead, he's saying, no, that shouldn't be what characterizes us, is that grumbling. What should characterize us is being thankful always and for everything, this thankful heart, not a grumbling heart. Verse 21, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Again, I think this idea of treating others, like we saw in Philippians 2, treating others as more important than yourself, having the mind of Christ, who, though he was in the form of God, took on the form of a servant, humbled himself. Himself.

51:02We are to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Any other thoughts on this passage? Yeah, it's a good connection. And again, that emphasis of everything. You know, God is good, and He's given us so much, and we should have thankful hearts. Thank Him for it. Sometimes we can keep jokes and laughing, but every once in a while, someone might go a little bit over the line. We need to, just like you said before, need to stop those things that we hear something bad, but also being willing to accept correction. Oh, maybe I did go too far, and being able to submit to one another and say, okay, sorry, and then move on.

52:14Even when there is submission. Right. Yeah, if we're having this kind of attitude of reverence for Christ and submitting to one another, we're never going to have this attitude of, you can't tell me that. You know, you don't know what you're talking about. We're not going to have this attitude of superiority, superior period with one another. What were you going to say, Ernie? Nothing. Oh, okay. Anything else? Well, there's so much in these passages, and I hope you just get a picture. In Timothy, we saw Paul telling a leader in the church, this is what you're striving for in your church as a leader. And in Ephesians, we saw directly to a church. And we got to trace a chapter a week in both of those books as we went through this study and just look at how, as a body of believers, when we gather, it's more than just a gathering. We're not just a country club. We're not just a school.

53:32It's different. The church is the pillar and the ground of the truth, and we gather for a reason. We're meant to love each other. We're meant to pour into relationships in this church. We're meant to challenge and help each other, submit to one another, and all of these things. And that's what it's going to look like if we are filled with the Spirit. Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. Which looks like all those things that we just read. When we gather together, that's what it's going to look like. We're singing with each other with joy, we're giving thanks, submitting to one another.

54:13Any other closing thoughts? Well, as we keep going through this summer, we're going to look at some history. We're going to look at some teaching on baptism and the Lord's Supper and why we do those in the church. But I think so far we already have so much to apply, right? And I just encourage you to turn inward. You know, if you're like me, almost every sermon, my first reaction is: I'm so glad the person sitting next to me is hearing this right now, you know, or thinking of, oh, I hope this person reads this passage or something like that. I can just get so others focused in my application. And I just encourage you guys, turn inward. You know, I hope that this teaching on the church has shown some areas where maybe you have been treating the church lightly in your relationships. You're not getting close to people in the church. You're not taking the time, and it does take time. You're not taking the time to get close to people in the church. Maybe it's challenged you, and that every time you're with the church, you feel close, but it's all light. Levity. It's all silliness the whole time. You love silly debates instead of getting into real convictional truth.

55:41We just want to keep working. We want to keep pressing in. I firmly believe that this church is a strong church that loves each other. And I think that many of us cherish this church because there's such strong, loving relationships in this church body. But I think that we can always press in and always do more. We can love each other better. We can challenge each other with the truth better. We can learn together better, all of these things. So let's keep pressing in as we rejoice in our common salvation. Let's pray. Father, we're so grateful for how many words and how much instruction you've given to the church that you didn't leave us in the dark. You didn't just say, here is your salvation. Now go figure it out. Instead, you gave us so many kind instructions. You taught us how to love one another. You showed us that to love one another is to fear you and keep your commandments. You've shown us that to love you is to love one another.

56:56You've shown us so much in your word. So, Father, we pray that you would help us. To love one another, help us build those relationships, help us be committed to things that might seem like small things, but instead help us be committed to singing with each other. Help us not neglect the responsibility that we have to sing together with joy. Help us not neglect to be thankful with one another. Help us not neglect our responsibilities and our duties to watch out for those who would challenge or undermine the truth in the church, but instead help us be a church that lifts high the truth and supports it.

57:44We just pray, God, that you'd help us excel still more in all of these things. We thank you, Father. In Jesus' name, amen.