Godly Character

Ten of them. Oh boy, well greetings everyone. It's good to see you all. Thanks for being so patient with us. We haven't done this for a really, really long time where we met in the afternoon, and the weather was horrible over the other direction. And then we had a hard time getting in the car after services, and that didn't help either. But the weather was just amazing. We were driving this morning, tootch services, and it was like, what are we doing out here? This is crazy. But then so many made the trek, and even the baler said they weren't coming, and then they were there. And so it was like, well, it looked good for the first mile. And then after that, it was really bad. But it finally did clear up as we, the farther west we came, or east we came, it got better and better. So that was, that was helpful. But we were already quite far behind, and lots of people going very slow at first. So it was a little tough to get around, and snow covered, slippery roads. So I'd appreciate your patience for waiting and hanging in here, and being here when we got here. weren't sure if we'd make it or not, or if anybody'd be here when we got here. It was like, well, they finished without us. I guess that's just the way it is. So it's good to see you all. Glad to be here. We faced some tough times right now, and we were hoping that we'd be able to meet with as many as we could, because people have heard all kinds of things, and you know, what are we to think about what's going on, right? We are facing some tough times. And as I began to think about some of these things, a whole section of the book of Philippians came to mind. So if you want to start, we could look over to Philippians 1.27. This is one that was pretty significant, I think, to me as I was thinking about how should we approach some of these things, and what we've heard, what are the challenges. You know, we hear, okay, these ministers are leaving, and there's difficulties around here.

How do we face these kinds of things? And this is one place that began to really touch my heart, in effect, the way I strive to look at things. Philippians 1.27, in the NIV, New International, might be a little different than yours, it says, Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel.

As I step back and think about that, you know, how do I go forward? Well, I better make sure I'm right with God. I better make sure what I have control of, which isn't very much, it's my own life, my own self. I have to be sure I'm conducting myself in a manner that honors God, that is pleasing to Him. And then the next step is there's a collective part that comes into play as well, and that's us. That's the lacrosse congregation. We have a part to play as well that we're standing, it says, which means to persevere, and it's probably a pretty good word for these times, in one spirit, and we're contending as one man. Or the NRSV says, striving side by side, working together, in other words, with one man. We're striving, we're working together, side by side for the faith of the gospel. So there is a collective sense in what we need to do as we go forward. And in a sense, what's our mindset? You know, do we have the mindset that Christ is talking about here? He inspired Paul to write this for us, certainly to the church in Philippi, but it extends to us as well. Whatever happens, whatever it is that happens, do we have the mindset for unity? That's what he's talking about here. Are we unified in one spirit? We can't say that about a lot of people right now. There isn't a mindset for unity. Can we strive side by side? Well, evidently, some can't. It's just not the way it's going to be. But what about us? What about us right here? You see, we've got to ask ourselves, am I living in a manner worthy of the gospel? That's the way Paul worded it there. Are we standing firm in one spirit? Are we God's people here? Or is this going to divide us as well? Are we striving together for the faith? Do we have a mindset for unity in the cross? It's a pretty simple question, isn't it? That's what he's asking here. If we bring it down to home, right here, I don't care what's happening out there. I don't care what they're doing over there, or what he's doing up north, or over we used to hear. It doesn't affect us. How does that affect how we worship God right here? How does it affect how we care for each other right here? How does it affect anything that we do in our worship on the Sabbath? You get right down to it?

It doesn't. It doesn't. Nobody's told me what I have to say, what I have to preach, or what I'm supposed to do, or anything like that. We have to come right down to the basics. And that's, okay, how do we do that? How do we have that kind of approach, have a mindset for unity? Well, I think he gets at it here in the next chapter, chapter 2, verse 1. He says, if there's any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection of mercy. So here's how he starts to get into it. Is there encouragement from being united with Christ? Talk about unity. If it doesn't start with our Savior, there is no hope for unity. So he points us right there. Is there a consolation? Is there encouragement in Christ? Can we be comforted? Well, I'm not comforted by the circumstances that are going on. This is not comforting. I mean, this is confusion. This is unsettling. But if we look at what is comforting, what is encouraging, you know, I can have my sins forgiven. I can be at one with the Father and with Jesus Christ. I can be encouraged because He called me and chosen me, and He wants me to be a part of His family. And I have a greater family of His, a spiritual family, when we come to church. Is that comforting? Is that encouraging? Is there fellowship of the Spirit, He asks? Is there fellowship? Well, here's where that fellowship begins, right here. And so, if there's tenderness and compassion, are there those things? Hopefully, as we think of each other right here, we can put names on these words, you know, and they make sense. And I can think of instances where, she helped me, or he served, and he did this, or she did that, and, you know, what a blessing that is. And so, I think we should answer, yes, there is consolation, of course. And then we look forward to the ultimate consolation is being in the kingdom, the ultimate. What a blessing that would be. So, the answer to all these is, yes, there are these attributes. There is comfort, there is encouragement, not in circumstances, not in difficulties, but it's getting down to the things that we can really count on, really count on. So, we have Christ as the example of all of these qualities. And, of course, in a sense, that's a little bit of a challenge for us, too. In a sense, we're asked, are we, then, living examples of those qualities? Is that a good description of who I am? Am I comforting? Am I encouraging? Or, am I contributing more to the problems than I am to the solutions? You see, and he's telling us, well, you know, we've got to be tender-hearted, we've got to be compassionate, we've got to exhibit those kind of characteristics. In fact, if you want to hold your place here, go over to Romans chapter 15, verse 4. There's an interesting example. Maybe Paul had these same things in mind, because here he is writing to the church in Rome. Oftentimes, these are called the prison epistles. He had been in prison when he was writing Ephesians and Colossians and some of these. Here, as he's writing to the Romans, he says some of the similar kind of thing, a little bit differently, though. Let's see what we find over here in Romans 15, verse 4. Let me move this back. Does it seem a little loud? Maybe John has no problem with this.

Or like my dad would say, he can't hear out of one ear and he's deaf in the other. So, other than that, he's fine. Here, Romans 15, verse 4. Here Paul points back to the past. He says, everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. So, we're looking at the Scripture, especially the Old Testament he's referring to here. So, he says that through endurance and encouragement of the Internet, oh no, doesn't say of the Internet, does it?

Through the endurance and encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. You see, everybody wants the truth. Everybody wants, well, I know what's happening here or there. I've got all the facts because I read this blog or I read that website or I saw that current crisis or whatever it is. Was that what we rely on? We rely on somebody's version of what they think the truth is? Or, you know, where do we find truth? Where's the truth? I hope it's not me. I'm not the truth. This is the truth. I'm truthful as I refer to this, and that's it, you know, because I'm a sinner, just like all of us are. The real truth is here. It's not found anywhere else. Everywhere else, we find maybe a version of the truth, and everybody's version of the truth can be different. We've got to be careful about that. So the real truth is only found in God's Word. So when you want endurance and encouragement, it comes through the Scriptures, God's Holy Word. And so He says that in verse 5, may the God who gives endurance and encouragement, look at the results, give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So if you're following a man, if I leave and you follow me just because I'm your minister, I have totally failed in serving you. Totally. I mean, that would tear me apart to think that you would be following me. That's awful. It's not right to divide the body. Where do you find that appropriate in the Word?

See, that's a challenge. We've got to know what the truth is, and the real truth is not on the Internet or not somebody's story. That's perception. Have you ever been in a situation where perhaps you've been in the same discussion or you've been in the same meeting at work and you walk away and one guy's got this impression of what happened and then the other one's got this impression of what happened? That's their perception of reality. Or any of us been married.

Is it the truth? Well, it's what they've experienced. I try to talk quite a bit about this in the Bible study I did at the family weekend. You have to be very careful about that. What do you know to be truth? The truth is the Word of God. That's what truth is. So we've got to be very, very careful. And so how does it affect us? When you bring it down to flesh and blood reality, we want to be encouraged.

We want to be enduring. And so we've got to make sure that's what we're striving after. And we've got to make sure personally that I get the log out of my own eye before I start judging everything that might be out here. That's what it comes down to. And so that requires a different perspective. It requires a godly perspective, a Christ-like perspective. If you flip back to Philippians, that's very similar words, aren't they? Flipping to Philippians 2, verse 2.

How is it possible? How is that possible? He says, "...fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind." You see, there it is again, this constant theme of unity and togetherness. Paul writing to a congregation of God's people saying, be Christ-minded, have love for one another, be together, be of one accord, of one mind.

And that's instruction for us today here in La Crosse. You know, if we're going to fill up Christ's joy, or like Paul's writing here, we're going to satisfy that. If we're going to accomplish that, if we're going to complete it, then we need these qualities. We've got to have like-mindedness. We've got to be of one accord. We've got to be of one mind. That's a necessity. And does that mean we have to be affected by whatever swirling around us?

No! Do we allow society to influence us? Well, hopefully not. Hopefully we kick that out, and that is not something that influences how we relate as God's people right here. Do we have a responsibility to each other as part of the body? Absolutely we do. I mean, we're told here, this is what will make Christ happy. This is what is satisfying in God's eyes, is that we are like-minded and that we have love.

We have love, and we're of one accord. That's a similar mindset, a mindset for unity. And you can look throughout the New Testament over and over and over again in all these epistles that were written to the various churches.

It's amazing how often this theme is sounded over and over and over again. It's really remarkable when you start looking for it, it just jumps out at you all over the place. So we have to exercise our mind. In fact, it means like-mindedness, have the same opinion. Well, I can't agree with you. I don't have the same opinion. Well, wait a second. Are we basing the opinion right here? Is that where we're basing it on? Or something else? You see, too often times I think we get sidetracked and we don't focus on what we really know. What we really know.

Hang on here and go over to Colossians chapter 1, because sometimes I think we forget where the battle really lies, where the battle really lies. Paul wrote to God's people in Colossae. He said, here's what we're fighting. Notice what he says here. He says, Since the day we heard it, we don't cease to pray for you and ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. There's the right focus. We're focused on God's will.

Verse 10, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. That's my responsibility as being called out, as receiving God's Spirit. I need to be working on those things and striving to be more like Christ. That's what's pleasing to Him. That's what's honorable to God. As I'm more like Christ, I'm striving to do this. So he says, verse 11, strengthen with all might according to His glorious power.

For all patience and long suffering with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. That's where our ultimate reward is, the blessings that will be given to us when we can finally be a part of the kingdom. And so verse 13, he says, He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of His light. Or translated, He's conveyed us to the power of His light.

You see, that's the fight. We're not fighting against society. We're not fighting against other members. We're fighting against Satan the devil, the power of the darkness, the prince of the power of the air, the God of this age.

That's where the fight really is. It's not against anyone else. It's against spiritual wickedness, is the way Ephesians 6 says. Spiritual wickedness in high places. That's where the real battle is. It's not between people. And so we have to be very careful that way, that that's where we're fighting and we're relying on God and His Word to get us through. That's the challenge that we face.

So how can we possibly do that? How can we avoid all the difficulties and the conflicts and the influences that are all around us? How can we grow as individuals and stay together as God's people?

You know, hopefully it's not because of me. There better be a better reason, or you know, we're not really doing what God wants. I think it keeps coming back to our mindset. You know, do we have a real love for each other? Do we really have a real concern and a care?

Hopefully we do. And a lot of it then comes back to Philippians 2. Once again, if you go back to Philippians 2.3, we'll just pick up where we left off there. Remember, we read about these qualities that we need to have. The qualities that bring peace, the qualities that bring joy, the environment of growth. But how do you make it happen? How do you make that happen? How can we be like-minded? How can we be of one accord? How can we be of one mind? Well, see, he gets into that in verse 3 where he says, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. So those are pretty powerful words. Let nothing! Don't do anything, in other words. Don't do anything through selfishness. Or in other words, everything you do should be outside of self. Lowliness of mind. So if we're going to develop the qualities of joy and peace and like-mindedness and one mind, then we've got to add these three things. We've got to be growing by living the big three that are mentioned here. We've got lowliness of mind. That's one of the big ones. Esteeming others better than ourselves. That's the second one. And the third one, look out for others' interests. We can't be wrapped up in just our own selfish interests. He says that isn't Christ-like. That's not acceptable. So lowliness of mind, he lists first. It starts in our mind. It starts right between our ears. That's where it starts. I mean, what's our point of view? What's our perspective?

You know, who comes first in our life? If we think we're the right ones, I'm right, and they're wrong, what have we really learned? What is really our perspective? Is there still room for growth? Is there still room to change? You see, I don't know that we can grow in grace and knowledge and think so highly of our own opinions. How's that possible? You see, and what motivates us to do what we do? And why do we do what we do? Is it because we don't think that we're such hot stuff? You know, are we motivated to act because of our lowliness of mind?

Isn't that what Christ did? Isn't that what Christ did? He emptied himself. He emptied himself of the Godhead. He and the Father were together, and He left that and became a man. Talk about lowliness of mind. His motivation was to be that living, shining example for us and to die for our sins and to lead the way. I think we could say all of Christ's motivations was with that attitude of a lowliness of mind, and that's what we're supposed to emulate. So how great is my opinion? What I think about the leaders in the church, is that what really counts? What I think?

What my opinion of the council is?

How does that affect me as I worship God right here in La Crosse?

It's not an issue, is it? It is not an issue. We were talking in the Winter Family Weekend, and we got to thinking about all the things that are happening. I wish I would have thought of it, but it was an interesting comment one of the fellows made. He said, just imagine all the time that people are spending on Facebook and on these different blogs and on the crisis and on the shining thing and all these other things. Just imagine if they took even just half of the time they're spending on that and got out their Bible and read their Bible as long as the time they were spending on those other sites. Do you think that could have an impact in the church? Wow. Absolutely. Absolutely. And it just tears your heart out to think those kinds of things. We want to get the goods on the other guy. It's like, where is that a godly thing? Is our God powerful and strong enough to sort this out?

Can we wait and hope and look to God? Or, I have to decide something right now.

You know, one of the ministers—I went to as many ministers as I possibly could while we were there and said, I don't want you to go. I want you to go. I want you to stay. I don't have a problem with you. I want reconciliation. I want to work together. Why do you have—well, I have to make a decision. It's like, why? How does it affect you? And the thing that really tears me up is if I'm a minister of Jesus Christ and he's given me part of his flock to look over, if I were to leave, sure, a bunch of people might follow. But what about those that don't? That's God's—that's part of his flock. And as a minister, I don't care what they're doing out there. This is our little local little flock, and I'm in charge of it, and I'm leaving some behind. Or what about those that just get so frustrated, disillusioned by it all, they say, well, ministers can't figure it out. What am I supposed to do? I am out of here. And they lose hope, and they lose hope, and they're lost. What a sad state. And then those ones that don't follow them, you know, one fella said, well, the sheep can follow me if they want to. He said, that's what shepherds do. You know, I thought Christ said, you know, I got the 99, but I'm going to leave them for a minute. I'm going to go get that one, and we are going to be a flock. We are going to be together. I think that's what... And so, it really tears me up to think of that. Because I don't see how I can stand before Jesus Christ and say, well, isn't 60% good enough? I got most of them. That scares me. That really scares me.

Just makes me feel terrible. And so, I wonder, I hope and pray that I can have a lowliness of mind to really have a heart for service, to really have a concern and a care. That's what we need for each other. Because it ties in so well with the sustaining others better than yourself. You know, what would we be fighting and arguing if we really thought the other guys better than me?

You know, what's... How do you look at things? You know, that is a remarkable word there. It means that I have judged this to be true. You know, I judge that you are better than me. You're valuable, in other words. I'm counting you and your opinions and your feelings and your thoughts better than me. And that is just an amazing thing. You know, do you think, my kids are better than me? How would that change how I treat them? Or my parents are better than me? Or you, as brothers and sisters in Christ, you're better than me? You know? Wouldn't that just change things? I think... I mean, here's a tough one for us guys. Women. Women are better than we are.

Well, that's how we're supposed to look at it. And why? Same thing, ladies. Would that... How would that change our perspective, you know? If we really would then listen to the other, you'd esteem and value their input, their guidance, their thoughts. You know, right then, you never would be this, well, that young whippersnapper. What's wrong with them? Well, that's not the issue, right? You know? Or they're just an old codger. What do they know? If you esteem someone better, age, age doesn't matter. Gender doesn't matter. This perceived rank of, I'm here and you're there, it would all be irrelevant. None of that would matter.

Because you really, truly do judge them. You truly do believe them to have value, to be better than you. You've given that individual a value in your own mind, and it becomes very obvious. And the amazing thing is, that's what God has done. I mean, Christ died for us. You think He values us? Doesn't He say He doesn't want any to perish but all to come to repentance? I mean, that's a remarkable thing when you think about that. It's not like, you know, we judge that on our own and we say, oh, look at how terrible they are. Wait, God's given them value. God sees the potential that each and every one of us have. And He sees those things as they already are. And so He says we should have that lowliness and gentleness. In fact, you just might write down Ephesians 4.1. There He lists all those characteristics that fit right in to what He's talking about here in Philippians. You know, Paul probably had some of the same thoughts, that we're supposed to be lowly and gentle and long-suffering, bearing with one another, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit. You know, if you don't think the other person's valuable, you don't think they're worth it, you don't think they're better than you, you're going to say, all right, see ya, I'm out of here. Right? Because they're not important. It's not as big as an issue. They don't know. They're not that. What they're doing is not as good. And so it's a challenge for us to try to put on the mind of Christ here. Because, you know, is anybody going to get away with anything? If we were to step away from the cliff and say, you know, is God powerful enough to fix this? If somebody is misbehaving, if someone is an ethic, can God fix that or not? Boy, King David sure thought he could. You know, he ran around out there in the wilderness for years waiting for God to take care of the problem. He never killed Saul, even when he had the opportunity to, a couple of times. He could have killed him. He could have killed him in the cave. He walked straight into his camp when he was sleeping and could have ran him right through with a spear. And the interesting part about that is all his buddies are saying, look, the Lord has delivered him into your hand. Yes! David said, no, he cut his garment. Remember he cut his robe and he repented later for doing that. Just cutting his garment. He waited. He hoped. He looked to God. And so, he looked through the Psalms. I was really surprised as it jumped out at me how many times David was talking about, I wait and I hope and I look to God. I wait all the day. Over and over again, he looked to God's guidance to sort this mess out. And eventually, God allowed Saul to be removed. David didn't have to take it into his own hands. And then there's also an amazing story in David's life as well when he got so off track. Can you imagine what we'd say about David on the internet today? Well, that lying, adulterous murderer, he is unbelievable. How can he be in charge? He's awful. He's unethical. He's an adulterer. A murderer. He was a murderer. And you know, they all knew it. You ever look at that letter that he wrote to Joab? Joab, make sure Uriah dies.

You think the rest of the army knew that David commanded that they pull back and let the guy die? Everybody knew that. Well, did the army revolt against David and say, oh, that's outrageous! How could he do that? How could he be such a lying murderer? He stole his wife.

They didn't revolt. All the people, when suddenly, well, Bathsheba used to be, now she's over in the...

Everybody knew, hey, what in the world is going on here? They knew David was not acting properly. Well, did all the people of Israel rise up?

Nope. You see, if we were to cut short the story right then, we would have been hanging around the lake of fire, ready to throw David in. There he goes. Might as well throw him in. He's unethical and he's awful. And boy, there is no hope for him.

You see, it wasn't until after that that he became a man after God's own heart. Did David get away with something because it was a secret? Not at all. God knows those secret things that I can't judge and I don't know about. I can't understand. Romans 2, 16 says exactly that. God knows those secrets and he's not going to let anybody get away with that. We all have to stand before him. You know, it's just like when David was chosen. He said, don't look at the guy's outward appearance. God doesn't look at the outside. God doesn't have to read the internet to find out what's going on. He knows the heart. He's going to take care of this. None of us get away with anything. We're all a bunch of lousy sinners and we need to repent and change and draw closer to God. And if God would have said, David, there's no hope for you, he would have never become the man after God's own heart. So when do you cut that short? When do you say, enough is enough? Forget it. They don't get any more opportunities to repent or change.

See, there's God once again saying he's not willing that any perish but all come to rip. He gave David time to change. But that's a hard thing to do as human beings, to give somebody an opportunity because, oh, I remember that time he lied. He may have gone to that person and been forgiven and gone before God and repented. God washed it totally away. Oh, but I got it down right here. I remember that. I remember what you did. You said that and you did that. And we've got a record of wrongs. Who keeps a record of wrongs? Boy, when they're repented of, God certainly doesn't. Not at all. But if we do, we do. Satan inspires us, I think in some ways, to do that sort of thing. And that is just not right. It's just not right. Nobody's going to get away with anything. God says, even if you suffer, if you do good and suffer, he says, fight back because you've been wronged. No, it doesn't say that. It says, take it patiently. Take it patiently. This is commendable. This is love. If you ever look up that passage in 1 Peter 2.20, it says, this is love. This is charity. It's that same word that Paul uses over and over again. If you have not charity, 1 Corinthians 13, love, love, the love chapter. That's that same word. If you're really going to show love to God, you're going to take it. And you're going to take it patiently. Why? He uses that example because Jesus Christ set the ultimate example. And that's an amazing thing when you begin to think about it. Looking out for the interests of others is that next thing that he talks about. Can you really look out for others if you don't esteem them better than you? That's what Christ did. That's exactly what Christ did. And you know what's the amazing part when you think about it? Christ was better than us. If there was ever anybody that could say, I'm better than you, Christ was perfect. The only one that ever was perfect. He was better than everybody else. He was unrightfully beaten and scourged and crucified. And he didn't deserve any of it. He's better than us. And yet what did he do? He took it patiently. He died for our sins.

That's just an amazing thing when you think about it. He set the perfect example. He was looking out for us. He was looking out for our interest so that we would have an opportunity to be a part of the family. And that's the mind we're supposed to have. If you look at verse 5, Philippians 5, isn't that what that's getting at? Let the same mind be in you. This mind. What mind? The mind that was in Christ Jesus. That's pretty amazing. That's what our goal is. I'm supposed to think like Him. I'm supposed to act like Him. I'm supposed to have that kind of a mindset.

I'm supposed to be unified with Christ. Right? It says in verse 6, though He was in the form of God, He didn't regard equality with God as something to be grasped or He didn't consider it robbery or something to be exploited. In other words, Christ wasn't going to hang on to that just to be a part of the Godhead, just to be with the Father. He wasn't willing to hold on to that, but He was willing to let it go. He was willing to empty Himself, it says in verse 7, taking the form of a bond slave or a servant. A servant, not even a hired hand, but a slave. That's what it's talking about there. A slave in human likeness. And He humbled Himself, it says, where He was obedient to the point of death. See, that's the amazing part. He was better than us. He still is better than us, but He could esteem others better than Him. Why? How could He do that?

I think because He could see, He knew God's plan. He could see the value in us. He saw us as future brothers and sisters, future spirit beings in His family, and He values us for the potential that we have. And so our response has to be that, well, we shouldn't be good people or even good Christians. Yeah, that's a nice goal, but you know, it's a bigger goal than even that. Because Christ said, become perfect as My Father in heaven is perfect. So good is not what God's after. God's after perfection. God's after perfection. And so that's what we're striving for. And putting on His mind is the way to achieve that, having His mindset. He's the ultimate example in this whole process of humility, esteeming others, understanding this whole concept of looking out for the interests of others, being lowly of mind. Boy, what a fantastic example we have of that in Jesus Christ.

And if you don't have that mindset, we just have to look to the example of Satan in the third of the angels. Have you ever wondered, wow, what was the story on that one? And here you have a being who was perfect. Lucifer was perfect in all his ways, it says. But somehow, his story was so intriguing or so interesting that he could get one over on a perfect God. God was perfect. And yet, all the angels had to have known that. So what was the story that he used to turn them? I don't know, but it must have been pretty underhanded, pretty cunning, pretty sly.

So we've got to have this perspective of looking at others better than ourselves, valuing their opinion, valuing who they are.

It's got to be a part of our thinking. And so in verse 12 he goes on, Therefore, my beloved, as you've always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it's God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure. That means we're doing right when nobody's watching, when nobody would know the difference it would seem. But God knows the difference. God knows. He judges those things. We're going to be held accountable for you. And so do it all without complaining and disputing, it says in verse 14. Don't grumble. Don't argue about these things. And we have not been a good example of this overall in the church. We haven't been. But can we be here? Yes, we can. He says, should change our perspective that we become blameless, harmless children of God without fault, where? In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. That's the potential that we have. That hasn't changed. We can still be that example. Could you imagine that example? That we stay together because Christ sacrificed his life for us. Because God is not divided. Jesus Christ and the Father were not divided. Can we be an example for that? Because it's right, because it's good, because it's what God wants, not because of all these outside influences. And there's going to be a lot of them. Our friends, our families. Do they come here? Do they meet here? Well, no, they don't. We're the body in lacrosse. Bodies stay together. If they don't, it's hard to survive. It's really hard to survive. And so that's what he tells us here. Hold fast the Word of life. Aha! The truth, the Bible, the Scripture. Hold fast to that Word so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I've not run in vain or labored in vain. So there's our perspective. It has to be that. That we've got to do everything that we face with that kind of a mindset. And so, is that what we're about? Do we consider the others? Do we consider each other and how what we say, what we do affects others all before we whine and complain or give the latest news on things? You see? It's an amazing challenge for us. Can you imagine arguing and disputing with someone that you esteem highly? That doesn't mean you wouldn't disagree at times. Yeah, you can disagree. But you've got to do it in a godly fashion, right? With an effort to work things out. You see, if we're a functioning family, if we're the family of God, it means we've got to be a functioning family. Functioning families don't always agree on everything. But functioning families work out those disagreements so they can go on and they can prosper and they can be agreeable. Dysfunctional families have the disagreements. They can't figure out how to solve them and they end up in a divorce. That's the simplicity of the whole situation. And so, are we going to be a functioning family? A functioning spiritual family? Or not? You see, I think if God's Spirit has transformed us, then we've got to exhibit godly characteristics in our life. Not just be good people or nice people, but godly people. Christ in us, Galatians 2, 20. It's not that I'm doing anything good. It's Christ in me. That's shining through. That's the life I live. That's what I'm all about. And so, that's a totally different point of view from the world. Totally different. But that's the view that God wants us to have. Those are the kind of glasses that we're supposed to see each other, our church, the greater context of the world. We're supposed to see that in our view. And so, that's what God wants us. He wants us to have that perspective. Maybe one final scripture. Colossians 3, verse 12.

Talk about the things that we know and how it should affect what we do. This is a powerful passage. We can probably conclude with this one. Colossians 3. And we'll pick it up in verse 2. Let's look down to verse 12. This is the NIV, so it might be a little bit different. Verse 12 says, Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, NIV says, Therefore, is God's chosen people. We have been chosen. God chose us and called us to His way. It says, holy and dearly loved. You're dearly loved. It says, put on. Or the NIV says, clothe yourself. Those are the same words that were in Ephesians about the armor of God, that were to put on or were to clothe ourselves in the armor of God. Were to clothe and put on, just like we get up in the morning. What is our mindset? What is our attitude? Just like pulling on our socks, putting on our shirt. We're supposed to clothe ourselves or put on compassion or tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness or gentleness, long suffering or patience. Verse 13, bear with each other and forgive whatever anyone has a complaint against another. Forgive the grievances you have against another. Why? Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Verse 14, he goes on, but above all these, over all of these virtues, put on love. Clothe yourself in love, which binds them all together. It says, in perfect unity. Or New King James says, which is the bond of perfection. You want perfect unity? Bind your heart and your actions and your mind with love. Outgoing concern. And so then, it's not going to make the rest of it so hard if that's our perspective. It says, let the peace of Christ or the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you also were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and monishing one another in Psalms, in hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. It's so much a part of what is on my mind. It even comes out as I'm humming and singing throughout the day. That's the idea. Do you think David had the psalms on his mind as he's being chased around the wilderness? Well, sure. I'm sure it was. But that's how ingrained it in us. It should be that that's our perspective. I am going to be thankful. I'm going to be peaceful. I'm going to be kind and humble and gentle because it is so on my mind. And so that's what we're supposed to do. And then verse 17, he says, whatever you do, whatever it is, whether word or deed, so whatever we're doing or we're talking, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. That should guide our life. That everything we do will measure up to the standard of Jesus Christ. That we are putting on the mind of Christ. We are acting in accordance with what God teaches us. What the real truth is, the truth of the Word of God. And that will affect how we think, how we act, and what our actions are in dealing with other people. So let's make that our goal. We can do this. We can be together. We can honor each other. We can serve each other. We can have the mind of Christ. We will just continue to focus on what we really know for sure.

And that's the truth. The truth is God's Word. So let's stay so close to God and His Word. And you're right. It'll be okay.