The Right Attitude Pt 2

All right, good morning. It's good to see you all. I just want to welcome you this morning and invite you to stand with us and we'll pray and we'll get started. Father, we thank you for the day. God, we just give you praise for who you are, for how much you love us, God, and for all the ways that you take care of us. Lord, we just, we ask your blessing upon this time,

Lord, help us to position our hearts rightly before you, Lord. Help us to lift a joyful noise to you and just prepare our hearts to receive the word that you have prepared for us this morning. Lord, we ask these things in your precious and holy name. Amen.

You guys can go and have a seat if you like, and we'll continue on.

Yes, Lord God, we just thank you for who you are, God, and the new life we have for you. We thank you for who you are, God, and the new life we have for you. We thank you for who you are, God, and the new life we have for you. Amen. Oh God, this is fine.

Lord, of just how much we truly need you, Lord. We need you every day. More than that, we need you every hour, every minute, Lord God. Lord God, you are the one who sustains us, Lord God. The one who gives us our next heartbeat.

We can't, we can't exist without you, Lord God. Just pray that we come to that realization today, Lord God. Amen. Outlast darkness, that's mine today. And Jesus Christ has won.

So I can face tomorrow just like you, Jesus Christ. I say that... Lord God, we just thank you for the day, God.

Lord God, we just thank you for another opportunity to praise you, Lord. Thank you for who you are, God.

God, we thank you for all the ways you take care of us. God, in the midst of all that's going on in our world and in our nation, Lord, God, we just thank you that you... God, we just thank you that you never fail, Lord. That you are faithful, God, even when we're not. Always faithful to your promise. It shines, it shines.

Cause he's laid down. He's faithful... Lord God, we just thank you for the day. And we just thank you that you will never fail. God, you are faithful. You are unchanging. You are the same yesterday. Today, today, and forever, Lord. And we thank you that we can always depend on you. Lord, that you are going to bring us through whatever situation that we're facing, Lord God.

We thank you and we praise you. This morning, as Pastor Ryan comes, Lord, I pray that your Holy Spirit would just do something awesome and mighty in this place this morning. God, overflow him with your gift of teaching. Give him the word. Give him the words to speak to our hearts, Lord. And prepare us to receive it. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's have some fellowship.

Begin the process of locating your seat. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you've joined us this morning.

A few things to take note of in your bulletin. Over on the left-hand side are all the things that go on throughout the week. Over in the middle section, just a reminder that Grief Share group starts March the 5th. Also, we still have two spots, right, two. One. We have one spot left for the missions trip in May. And so you can talk to Jana, who's on the very back row back there, if you're interested in that.

Also, we have the Family Life Services Banquet coming up on March the 9th. So I still have a handful of tickets available for that or a handful of spots available for that. I don't have any tickets right now. A handful of spots available for that. So if you're interested in attending that, please let me know. And then the new Our Daily Bread devotionals for March.

March are actually out on the table because, believe it or not, Friday is March 1st. Can you believe that? I'm just, I'm always shocked at how fast it goes. January feels like it has 78 days in it. February feels like it has two. So it's kind of amazing how that goes. Okay, those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced.

And for our responsive reading this morning, we're going to be in Psalm 85. Psalm 85. Looking at the New American Standard for this part so we sound the same. If you need a copy of the New American Standard, there should be one in a row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 85, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word.

I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Jared and the even verses. Psalm 85 for the choir director, a psalm of the sons of Korah. Oh Lord, you showed favor to your land. You restored the captivity of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people. You covered all their sin. You withdrew all your fury. You turned away from your burning anger.

Restore us, O God, of our salvation and cause your indignation toward us to cease. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not yourself revive us again that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your loving kindness, O Lord, and grant us. Your salvation. I will hear what God the Lord will say, for he will speak peace to his people, to his godly ones, but let them not turn back to folly.

Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Loving kindness and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth springs from the earth and righteousness looks down from heaven. Indeed, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its produce. And read verse 13 with me. Righteousness will go before him, and he will make his footsteps into a way.

And Father, we do praise you for your goodness that you show to us. And Lord, your faithfulness that continues to endure through the generations. And so, Father, I pray that as we spend time in your word now, that you would open up the eyes of our understanding, Lord, that we may be able to comprehend everything. Everything that you have to say to us this morning.

And we just pray these things, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would, open up in your Bibles to the book of Philippians, chapter 2.

Philippians, chapter 2.

Last week, we moved into a new section in the second chapter of the book of Philippians. We're going to be starting in verse 12. But we said that Philippians, chapter 2, in dealing with joy, is going to teach us that joy comes from having, the right attitude. The right kind of attitude. And we said that the first attitude that Philippians, chapter 2, taught us about was to have an attitude of humility.

An attitude of humility. And we said that in order for that to take place, there were four things. Number one, we were to be unified. Number two, we were to do nothing from selfish ambition. Number three, we were to look out for the interests of others. And then number four, which segues us into what we talk about this morning, we are to follow the example of Christ.

And so, starting in chapter 2, verse 12, we will pick up with the second aspect of having the right attitude. And that is an attitude of obedience. An attitude of obedience. And so, it says this in verse 12 of chapter 2. It says, So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

For it is God who is at work in you. Both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children of God. Above reproach, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world. Holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ, I will have reason to glory,

because I did not... I did not run in vain or toil in vain. Now, he brings up this subject of obedience. He says, In the same way that you obeyed in my presence, it's even more so important for you to do now. So, that brings us kind of to the point that we want to make here, and that's the joy does come from obedience. Now, most of us view obedience in somewhat of a negative light.

I'm just going to be honest about that. It's kind of who we are as human beings, right? Obedience for us usually carries with it the idea of legalism, or it carries with it the idea of rules, or it carries with it a really negative connotation, because, you know, we think, like, obedience is something stringent. But really, the idea of obedience is much more freeing than that.

The word obedience, or to obey, simply means to listen or to submit to. And always it includes an authority. To listen or to submit to an authority. Now, what's interesting to pay attention to, and this is why I said that that example of Christ is important, because it segues directly to obedience. It segues directly into what we talk about this morning. It's interesting to correlate the fact that Jesus Christ was obedient

in the same way that we are to be obedient. Because if you remember, he said, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped, but he humbled himself, making himself obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross. Interestingly enough, he now says, and now you obey in my absence, in the same way that you did in my presence. So this idea of obedience is really important.

And actually, believe it or not, obedience has a direct correlation with freedom in our life. Obedience has a direct correlation with joy in our life. I actually just came across an article this last week that was put out by Alistair Begg in Truth For Life. And the title of the article was, Purity Equals Freedom. Because when we live a life of obedience, when you live a life of obedience,

when you live a life of purity, there's a freedom that goes along with that. Because you're not worried about the consequences of things that you have done wrong if you're not doing things wrong. If you're doing what God has called for you to do, there is great freedom in that. Because now you have no fear of the wrath of God. You have no fear of whether or not you have disappointed God.

You have no fear of the consequences that come along with sin because you are living in obedience. Much of my early years in life growing up, I didn't like to obey my parents. I didn't like to do what they told me to do. And usually when I did things I wasn't supposed to do, I lived in a great deal of fear. Fear because I knew that I was doing things that they didn't want me to do.

And I'm here to tell you right now, when I started really walking with Jesus and doing what not only he wanted me to do, but what I was called to do as a son of my parents, I got to tell you, I walked in a great deal of freedom because of it. And that's the idea that Paul brings out here. Is that it's important because with freedom comes joy. And both of those things come from living a life of obedience.

And so as we look at this section, we see that there are four things that he tells us to do, four points on obedience that he makes for us, that if we want to walk in joy and the right attitude and an attitude of obedience, this is what it will mean. Number one, you are to work out your own salvation. Work out your own salvation. But we talk about verses that have been taken out.

Okay. So let's read it. Verse 12 and 13 say this. So then my beloved, just as you've always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Now, as we read that verse, if we don't take it in proper context and understanding with the rest of scripture,

we could pull that out and turn it into, what I would call works-based theology. So let's talk about, first of all, what this verse is not saying. What this verse is not saying is that in order to be saved, you must work really hard, which is what some people would say is what's being indicated here, that you need to work hard to earn your salvation. I would even tell you that what this verse is not saying is you don't have to work hard to earn your sanctification because we are told in scripture that you are justified.

That's the main aspect of salvation. That's the first. That's the first portion of salvation. You are justified by faith. When you came to Jesus aware of your sin, again, this applies to believers, not unbelievers, but when you came to Jesus aware of your sin and you said, I'm a sinner and I need a savior, please come into my heart and save me from my sins.

That's exactly what he does. And you are justified, past tense, by faith. Not because of something you've done, not because of a work that you have done. After all, we are told that it's not by works that we are saved, but by his mercy, that he has saved us. And so we are justified by faith. I would also tell you that you are sanctified by faith. Ryan, I thought sanctification is what I walk out.

Not positionally. Positionally speaking, you are sanctified. We're told in Romans chapter six, that you have been crucified with Christ. Therefore, you have been made dead to sin. The moment that you came to Jesus as your savior, not only did he save you from the eternal consequences, consequences of sin, but he sanctified you and set you apart unto himself.

And now all you have to do is live according to who you already are. You have already been sanctified. And so if it's not talking to us about working for our salvation, if it's not even talking to us about working for our sanctification, what is it talking to us about? Well, one of the things that we find throughout the new Testament is that there is this understanding that while God absolutely does the work, there is still human responsibility.

We'll call that responsibility respondability. Because now what we do is we respond to what God has done for us. Not in an effort to earn his love, but in an effort to respond to his love. I spend a lot of time around sports, as I've mentioned before, not only because I just enjoy it, but also because my daughters are involved in it. And one of the things I've learned,

I've learned about coaches over a good long career of being in sports and watching my kids be in sports is that there's two types of coaches. The coaches that love you and accept you and want to coach you and the coaches that want to berate you. They usually fit into those two categories. And I'm sorry if there's a coach in here that berates kids. It's a really bad way to handle things.

The coach that berates kids will always have athletes that are trying to earn their position. They always have athletes that are trying to earn their favor in the office. And they will never feel like they've done enough. As a matter of fact, they will always feel defeated no matter how good they do because the coach constantly berates them for all of their mistakes.

But then you have a coach that loves his athletes and coaches them. And they know that no matter what, they are always loved by their coach. And I'm here to tell you right now, the coaches that love and coach their athletes will always get more out of their athletes than the coaches that berate them. Because they are operating, the coaches who have athletes that know that they love them, those athletes operate from a position of confidence.

Because they know that no matter what, their coach is always there for them. It's no different in a relationship. I've watched people be in relationships, and I've been in some that have been bad in the past myself. And it's amazing how when you know that you are loved and accepted by the other person, all you want to do is love them back with all of your heart.

Right? And then there's those other relationships where you never know where you stand with the other person. And you're always trying to be something for them so that you can hope that you will please them in some way. And it's amazing the difference between the two because the difference between the two is confidence. And confidence causes me to respond to the love that I've already been given,

not to try to earn the love that I wish that I'd been given. Does that make sense? And so when he says, work out your own salvation, what he is not saying is, you have to earn your place with Christ. So if that's not what he's saying, what is he saying? Well, let's look at the word work out. That phrase means to carry to the goal or to carry to its conclusion.

It could also be used in this context. The student was working out a problem in math. Make sense? He's carrying it to its conclusion. And that's the idea that's being given to us here when he says, work out your salvation. Let me read it to you in a couple of other translations because I think it's a good idea. Let me read it to you in a couple of other translations

because I think it's a good idea. Let me read it to you in a couple of other translations because I think it's a good idea. I think it lends a great deal of light to it. According to Bible knowledge commentary, it means to put it into practice in daily life. To put it into practice in daily life. And again, the Amplified always brings a great deal of color to these things.

It says, to cultivate, to bring to full effect, or to actively pursue spiritual maturity. I know that really meant a lot to me. I don't know about you guys. To actively pursue spiritual maturity. In other words, if I'm to live a life of obedience, then I am to live out the faith that I claim in every part of my life. And I do that by responding to the God who saved me and sanctified me.

Therefore, if I know that it hurts his heart, I avoid it because I know it hurts his heart. If I know that it pleases God, I do it because I know that that pleases God. And I am every day actively working out, or maybe a better phrase would be living out the salvation that I already have. But there is this aspect that if we are to live as believers in Jesus Christ, we are to pursue that spiritual maturity.

We are to pursue a deeper understanding of who God is and pursue a deeper obedience to the things that he has called for us to do. He says to work out your salvation, to live it out in your daily life. But did you take note of how we're supposed to live it out? Interesting. Interesting phrases that are used here. He says to work it out with fear and trembling.

To work it out with fear and trembling. Now, again, what does this not mean? Because I know what you're thinking right now, but Ryan, you just said that we've already been accepted. We don't have to live in fear. Well, there's two different ways that you can look at fear, right? The first one is probably the way that you're thinking of it right now. And that's slavish obedience.

Fear of consequences. But you see, that's not the mature fear that's being spoken of here. Because if we are pursuing spiritual maturity, that means we also pursue the mature fear of God. And the mature fear of God is the fear that you will hurt God's heart, not the fear that he will punish you. That's not the fear that we're to live under. So if it's not that we're supposed to live in actual fear

where we're freaked out that God's going to be angry with us, what is he talking about? Well, again, it's interesting to take a look at what Bible knowledge commentary has to say here. He says, the idea of fear and trembling is self distrust. The idea of fear and trembling is to take heed lest we fall. See, I think there's an aspect of what it means to live out our daily life,

live out our faith in a daily life. And it's to have fear and trembling, knowing that I am capable of the worst things. And the world too many people don't think that they are. They'll say, well, I'll never fall into that. Listen, the moment that you say I'll never, you're about to prove yourself wrong because you'll be nevering all over the place, right? You'll do exactly what you said you wouldn't do.

The most dangerous place for us to say is, well, I'll never fall into that. It's almost like an open invitation for Satan to tempt you in that way, right? No, the idea is having a constant self distrust to take heed of myself. Lest I fall and brothers and sisters, let, and him who think he stands, who thinks he stands, take heed. Let's default. And so when he says,

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, it's with the idea that I am so desperately in need of God's help in my life because I have so much distrust for me. And that brings us to the next part of working out our own salvation with fear and trembling. And I love it in verse 13. Notice what it says for it is God who is at work in you. Both the will and to work.

For his good pleasure. If there was any thought that I misinterpreted the verse, if there was any thought that I misinterpreted verse 12, verse 13, absolutely throws any misinterpretation out, whether it's me doing all of the work or not, because notice what it says for it is God who works in you. That word works is a, is an active sort of a word. It means he is actively at work in you.

It is God who is actively working in you. And I think this is a pretty cool thing for us to pay attention to as believers, because the day that you came to Jesus as your Lord and savior, he began to work in you. He, he moved in and he began the process of making you who he wants you to be. He began the process of working in you. And now he is continuing that process throughout your entire life.

And you are in the midst of that process, but he is at work in you. And what's he at work in you doing? Well, two things. Number one, he is at work in you both to will. The, the word will speaks of desire. In other words, he is giving you the desire to be who has called for you to be. You see, we even lack that. Sometimes I just lacked it. I was talking to somebody the other day and he goes,

what do I do when I lack the desire to be in the word of God? I said, then you need to ask God to give you a desire to be in the word of God. But, but you mean I have to ask God for the desire to be in his word? Like I, that shouldn't, that shouldn't just be me. I'm like, it's all, it's a hundred percent Jesus, right? I've shared it with you before, but there's a great book.

And if you're looking for a new book to read this year, this would be a good one. I've mentioned it several times. I try to go through it every couple of years because it, it's just that good. It's called absolute surrender by Andrew Murray. And one of my favorite lines out of absolute surrender is Lord, I am willing that you should make me willing. It's that same idea.

Lord, I have a desire that you would give me the desire. And sometimes we just have to go to God and be like, look, here's the thing. What I really want right now is said, I can't tell Jesus that he already knows. Okay. He knows what the desires of your heart are. As a matter of fact, he knows what the desires of your heart are better than you do, because you'll lie to yourself.

You'll say, I would never act that way. I would never want that. And in the back of your mind, you're like, yes, I would. Right? Because we're not always honest with ourselves because our flesh is deceptive. He goes, listen, I know what's going on already. I just want you to admit it to yourself. And I want you to, to admit it to me. And we go to him and say,

I don't even have the desire to do the right thing right now. Lord, this is what I really desire to do. And I need you to change that. I need you to give me the will. I need you to give me the desire to do what you've called me to do. And God is always so faithful and he changes your desires. He changes your, your passions. He changes the things that you like,

the things that you want to pursue. He changes all of those things in your life. And as he changes those things, not only, does he give you the desire, but he also, uh, it says he is at work in you both to will and to work. That word work literally means to energize. In other words, he's giving you all of the energy that you need in order to perform the thing

that he gave you the will to do. See why it can't be anything that we do of ourselves. See why that wasn't a statement about how hard you need to work to be who God called you to be. Nah, I mean, it's a hundred percent him. You just keep surrendering. You just keep submitting. You just keep giving yourself to the Lord and then living out everything that he calls you to do according to the power of the Holy spirit.

I've watched it happen over and over and over again in my life as I've had to make really hard decisions at times. And I say, Lord, there's absolutely no way I can do this. You're going to have to take over. And he's so faithful to do so. And so if we are to have an action, attitude of obedience, number one, we are to work out our own salvation. Number two,

we are to do all things without grumbling or disputing. I would read the verse to you, but that's literally what it says. Verse 14, do all things without grumbling or disputing. You ever have things in scripture that are just so practical and hit you right where you are that you're just like, well, that's not even fair. I was looking for something spiritual.

I could apply to somebody else's life, not my own. Right. But, but that's like literally one of the most basic things that we've been telling our kids since they were like two that none of us have figured out just yet. We are so good at grumbling and disputing. So, so let's break this down and then we'll get to kind of what it means for us. The word grumbling literally means complaining or arguing.

Interestingly enough, it's the same Greek word that's used in first Corinthians chapter. No second Corinthians chapter 10. When Paul is going back and talking about the Israelites, and, and they're wilderness wanderings. And he says that while they were there, they murmured. Right. It literally, the, the, the word in the Greek could better be translated murmuring,

which is interesting because it's an onomatopoeic word. In other words, it's a word that sounds, that's pronounced exactly like it sounds. Have you ever heard like just murmuring among people when people are kind of mad? There's like, right. Isn't that great? He says, don't do that. He says, don't, don't do that anymore. All, all of that needs to cease. Do all things without grumbling.

The second thing though, is that we are to do all things without disputing. Interestingly enough, the word disputing means going to court to settle an issue. It is the second time in the new Testament that the idea of not taking another brother or sister to court is given to us. It's almost like God wants us to figure our business out without taking it before he then judges.

Because after all, if we will judge angels, can't we figure some disputes out for ourselves? Paul says in first Corinthians, wouldn't it be better just to absorb the loss and to take your business in front of everybody else? You know, or else we shouldn't solve disputes on social media platforms because you know what? Y'all may not be taking anybody to court, but I guarantee you're posting it on social media, right?

There is nothing worse than seeing somebody post ambiguous drama. Well, nothing worse and yet intriguing. Uh, somebody posting ambiguous drama on social media. I don't care what platform it's on. I don't care which one you're on, but I'm always fascinated that people post their business on there. I'm like, look, happy things, favorite meals, past memories of stupid things.

Your kids said, right? Those are things you post on social media. We don't want to see your drama on there, right? There was, I didn't see the post about it, but you know, we're getting a Starbucks up here on the North end of town. Look, I don't care if it's corporate coffee. I like Starbucks. Ryan, you should support local. I will. Okay. I drink an incredible amount of coffee.

I am going to go to steamy Joe's. I am going to go to scooters. I am going to go to Starbucks. You know how I know that? Because right now I go to steamy Joe's and I go to scooters and sometimes I go down to Starbucks. I stay well caffeinated all the time. And to see all that drama. I didn't get to see it. My wife read a bunch of it to me. She goes, Oh, you are not going to believe what's happening right now.

I'm like, what's happening right now? Oh, everybody, he's upset about tearing down the, tearing down the bowling alley. Make you mean the 10 people that went to the bowling alley are upset that it's getting torn down. Nobody else bought it and turned it into a bowling alley and they're upset about it. Then look, it's, it's fun to laugh about when it's something like an arc city ask or answered or something like that.

But friends, we're doing this to each other. Sometimes I see people from church posting things and I'm like, I know what that drama is about and you need to take it off there. Because we are to do all things without grumbling or disdain. Disputing. Now there's a question among commentators. Who's he talking about? Who were they grumbling and disputing against?

Were they grumbling and disputing against God? Were they because of perhaps the persecution that they were starting to endure? Or were they grumbling and disputing against each other? Well, CH Spurgeon wrote a great sermon. He had three main points based on this verse that there were three things that we need to not grumble and complain against. So I want to go through those three things because I thought they were really good.

I only stole the points from him. The words are all mine, so they won't be as good as his, but it is what it is. Number one, there should be no grumbling and disputing against God. Have you ever found yourself in that position where things have just not worked out the way that you want for them to? Something tragic perhaps has come into your life. Something difficult has come into your life.

There's a broken relationship in your life. And the only person that you know to blame is God. And now every day you are grumbling and disputing against God. And now every day you are grumbling and disputing against God. Every day you are complaining to God about what he did in your life. Lord, why would you have allowed this to happen in my life? Lord, what was,

what were you thinking in doing this? Lord, what would you, why would you put me in this situation? Why would these things be allowed to happen in my life? And we grumble and we dispute against God. There's the idea when it says do all things without grumbling or complaining or disputing. It carries with it the idea of resting in the providence of God. And sometimes,

when things happen, we blame God for them. If you know the story of Ruth in the Old Testament, the story of Ruth is great. We're going to get there in a few weeks on Wednesday nights. But in Ruth, there's a lady named Naomi and she's married to a husband and she has two sons and things are going bad in the nation of Israel. So they go to the land of Moab. When they go to the land of Moab,

while she's there, both of her sons marry girls, right? And one of the girls name is, Orpah, I think, and the other one's Ruth. Well, while they're in Moab, her first of all, husband dies. Second of all, her two sons die. And she finds out that things have gotten better in Israel. So she decides to go back to Israel and tells her daughters-in-law, hey, don't come with me.

There's nothing for you there. You don't have time for me to have more sons for you. Find yourself someone here in the land of Moab. And Ruth says, no, I'm going with you. I'm going with you. And when she comes back to the land of Moab, this lady's name again is Naomi. And you know what? Naomi, Naomi means, Naomi means pleasant. But when she gets back, everybody says,

Naomi, you're back. And she says, don't call me Naomi. Don't call me pleasant. Call me Mara, which means bitter. She says, call me Mara for God has dealt bitterly with me. And how many of us act just like Naomi? We say, don't call me pleasant anymore because God has been bitter with me. We may not say it exactly like that, but we might say, I don't know if I can believe that God's a God of love anymore because of what

he's done to me. Great thing about the story of Ruth is it all turns out really good. And at the end, she says, God has restored my pleasantness. God has restored to me that which was taken from me because that's what God's able to do. But he says, a lot of people grumble against God, but we are to do all things. Without grumbling or disputing. The second thing he says that we tend to grumble against is we tend to grumble

against each other, right? We, we get mad at each other. We, we complain about things that each other does in the church. You don't understand how annoying they are. You don't understand how they smack their lips when they chew their gum behind me in church, or, you know, we grumble against each other, right? And, and he says, we are to do all things without that grumbling.

Listen, if we are to be unified, then we have to stop grumbling against each other. Because after all kids, we're family. And as one of my really good friends, Jerry Horton used to always say, you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your family, right? So we got to quit grumbling against each other. And so the third thing he says that we are not to grumble against.

And I think that this one really hits us hard right now is the world. Oh man, we're really good at that. Aren't we right now? I hear it all the time. I take part in it. I confess. I grumble against the world all the time, but I hear this over and over again. I can't believe how bad the world's gotten. I can't believe how terrible things are in the world right now.

Can you believe this president that we've got that can't complete a sentence? Can you believe that there have fined Donald Trump $311 billion or whatever it was? Can you believe what's going on in the world? Can you believe that the whole LGBTQ movement, can you believe all that's going on? Can you believe how terrible things are in the world right now? And we grumble about all the things going on in the world.

And you know what? It's because we have started expecting the world to not act like the world. Listen, here's what we need to know about the world. It's bad. Okay. The world is really sinful. They're all going to do sinful things. The only thing that can change them is Jesus, right? We're really good at saying that gun legislation won't change whether or not people are killed by guns.

We have to understand in the same way, telling people not to sin won't make them not sin. Right? The only thing they can do that is Jesus. He's the only one that can change. And so we have to stop grumbling against the world because right now, you know what the world looks at or you know what the world sees when they look at the church? They're just a bunch of angry people all the time.

They just complain about everything all the time. It's not much of a witness when we're grumbling about all of the things that everybody else in the world is grumbling about. Listen, stop complaining. Start praying, right? He says, do all things without grumbling. Or disputing. So if we are to live with an attitude of obedience, number one, we're to work out our own salvation.

Number two, we're to do all things without grumbling or disputing. Number three, we are to live above reproach. We are to live above reproach. Notice what it says in verse 15. It really carries on the same sentence of doing things without grumbling or disputing. Verse 15 says, that you will prove yourselves to be blameless. And, innocent children of God, above reproach,

in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world. He tells us we're to be a handful of things if we're to live above reproach. Number one, we're supposed to be blameless. Blameless. That word blameless feels like a difficult word until we look at what it really means. What it really means is to be pure, without,

without alloy, or sincere. In other words, as believers in Jesus Christ, if we're to live above reproach, it should be what you see is what you get. I'm not hiding something back here. I am sincere in the way that I'm living out my life. Am I always going to do it perfectly? Absolutely 100% not. Because I still wear this body of flesh on me. But when I do make mistakes,

I personally fall back on God's grace, and I own up to them. I'm here to tell you right now, one of the things that the entire world does not respect is somebody that will not own up to their business. Somebody that will not own up to their mistake mistakes, especially if you call yourself a Christian. Especially if you call yourself a Christian, there should be a sincerity about us.

And so he says, if you want to live above reproach, first of all, be blameless. Second of all, be innocent. The idea of being innocent is that no charge can be sustained. Sustained against you. No charge can be sustained against you. How on earth can I be innocent? Well, there's two ways. Number one, you have your sins cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ,

and then you're made innocent. But then we're given a little bit more detail about it in Psalm 119. How can a young man keep his way pure? By taking heed according to your word. So if I want to be innocent, then I should obey God's word. I should do what God's word has called me to. And again, keep my accounts with God and man short. If I make a mistake in God's eyes,

I confess it to God. If I make a mistake in the world's eyes, I confess it to the world. Right? And so we are to be blameless. We are to be innocent. And then we are to be number three, above reproach. That's literally the phrase that's used. The word above reproach again is without blemish. It carries with it the same idea. And then the fourth thing that we are,

whether we want to be or not, is we are lights in the world. Notice what he says right here. I think this is really important. He says, among whom, uh, verse 15, you appear as lights in the world. I was just going through the sermon on the mountain, some kids not too long ago. And we were talking about being lights in the world. We were talking about salt and light.

We talked about the fact that there's two different kinds of light. There's the light that illuminates, which is what's spoken of here. And then there's the light that blinds, right? Always talk about being a runner at night. When you're a runner at night, there's two different types of lights. There's, there's street lights and there's headlights, street lights,

illuminate headlights, blind, right? We should be street lights, not headlights. We should light the way for people, not shine so brightly in their eyes that they can't see. In other words, don't be abrasive, be kind and loving in the way that you shine your lights, because you are a light in the world and a crooked and perverse generation. So what does he mean by that?

Well, we are to be, we are to be sincere followers of Jesus Christ, sincere followers of Jesus Christ. In other words, follow him with all of your heart and be sincere when it comes to people. Be genuine when it comes to people, be the real article, be the real deal because the world needs to see Christians that are like that. Christians that are loving the way that Christ has called for them to love, holding people accountable the way that Christ has called us to hold people accountable and holding our selves accountable.

The way that Jesus has called us to hold ourselves accountable because all too often in the church, we're really good at pointing out the sin of everybody else in the world, but we're not good at pointing it out in our own lives. And you know what that makes us? It makes us hypocrites. And you know what? People really don't like hypocrites, right? And don't get me wrong.

I hear people say it all the time. I don't, I don't go to church because there's hypocrites there. I'm like, well, do you go to the gym? Right? I go to the gym all the time. You know what else I eat? Donuts, right? I'm a hypocrite. Yes, I am. That's why I go to the gym because I still struggle with it. Right? But when it comes right down to it, everybody in the world,

we're all just a bunch of hypocrites because we all want to put our best face out there. Right? And I've shared this before, but that's why I always refer to church as hypocrites anonymous. Right? We're just, we're all just a bunch of recovering hypocrites trying to become who God's want, who God wants us to be. Living sincere lives. And for, for the world around us,

because we live in the midst of a perverse generation. And this is why we can't get so mad at the world because the darker that the world gets, we need to understand something. The brighter that your light shines. Right? And so we're to work out our own salvation. Number two, do all things without grumbling and disputing. Number three, we are to live above reproach.

And then number four, we are to hold fast to the word. We are to hold fast to the word. Notice what it says in verse 16, holding fast to the word of life so that in the day of Christ, I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. Now the phrase hold fast is an interesting phrase because it can be interpreted two ways. And I actually think both ways carry some weight.

One a little bit more based upon the context, but both ways carry some weight in our lives. The first way that the phrase hold fast can be interpreted is to pay attention to, or to take heed to. In other words, hold fast, pay really good attention, hold tight to it, keep a tight grip on it. That's another way it can be interpreted based upon that same thing.

And I think that that speaks to us as far as what, uh, what God wants us to learn from holding fast to the word. But the second way that hold fast can be interpreted is actually to hold forth in the pagan culture. When they said to hold forth, it spoke of a Butler who would hold forth a glass of wine for, uh, for the royalty. That's the idea of that word that was used in the pagan culture.

So the idea of hold forth literally means to give out to others. So with those two ways that it can be translated or interpreted, what is there for us to learn? Well, first of all, we are to pay attention to, to take heed to, to keep a tight grip on God's word. Again, this has been what I feel like is our theme for this year is that God's word is truth and we're to hold it as tight as we possibly can, which by the way, are we making it through numbers?

Okay, right? There's a reason why they call it numbers. It didn't get that, didn't get that name for no good reason. It's because there's a lot of numbering of things, right? Listen, endure, get through the first nine chapters and the numbers gets way more interesting. And then at the very end, they number them again, but it's not as bad as the first nine chapters.

So stick with it. But all of God's word is great, right? And we're to hold tight to it. I was having a conversation with some of the other day because I really liked the book of Leviticus. I struggled with it more this year. But I really like it. It's kind of an interesting book. And they were like, why? Like, because it talks about Jesus. And they're like,

why? It's nothing but a bunch of sacrifices and rules and regulations. I'm like, yeah, he fulfilled it all. He fulfilled it all. The chapter everybody hates more than anything is the leprosy chapter, right? The leprosy chapter is just disgusting. But do you know there's three really important things that are pointed out to us in the leprosy chapter? Examination,

identification, and restoration. Those three things are all pointed out to us in the leprosy chapter. You're supposed to identify any leprous sores on yourself. And as you identify the leprous sores on yourself, you determine, is it something I need to be concerned about or is it not? Well, the same is true in our lives with sin. We are to examine our lives to see if there's any sin or excuse me,

examination. The second thing is identification. Is it sin? Is it not sin? And then the third is restoration. Because when you're restored, when you're healed, you can go back and be a part of worship again. And so we're to hold fast to what God's word has to say, because Old Testament, or New Testament, it all has instructions for us. And we have to pay attention to it.

So many people right now are trying to figure out so many things about life. And everybody has so many questions. I even heard a pastor, a pastor say, well, you know, there's so many different interpretations. I don't know if we can really know the truth. And I'm like, stop being a pastor. Okay. Just don't do it anymore. Save the rest of us a lot of trouble.

Save the rest of us a lot of counseling and just stop being a pastor. Because we can't absolutely know what the, what the truth is. Because while there may be a lot of different ideas, there's only one interpretation. Okay. About what the truth actually is. So maybe you shouldn't have that job anymore because that's maybe not what you're made for. Because either a,

you don't know, or B, you're not willing to make a stand. We can know what the truth is. And that's why we have to hold fast to the word to hold fast to what is true, but also the loving way to present what is true. Okay. So number one, we are to hold fast. In other words, pay attention and take heed to God's word. But number two, we are to, we're to hold forth God's word to everyone around us.

We're to hold for, hold forth God's word to everyone around us. You say, I could, I could never teach anybody else. God's word. I want to tell you something. You should start by teaching a little kid Sunday school class. Listen, kids can be mildly intimidating, but they're also pretty accepting. And if you say something stupid, we'll all laugh about it and you'll move on.

They definitely will. You'll have to decide whether you do or not. Start off with, teach a little kid Sunday school class and start giving them the word of God or start with your own kids. Start giving your kids the word of God. And then going from there, start with your grandkids, your nieces and nephews, right? Somebody young who is not probably going to challenge you too much.

Theologically that you can give out the truth to start giving it to them. First of all, you'll be blessed by it because if you can explain it to a five year old, you'll probably really understand it yourself. Start giving out the word to them and then start, I'm moving up. Start again with your, maybe your coworkers, right? Because you don't have to go hang out with your coworkers all for the rest of

the evening, right? And so you leave work and game over. You don't have to deal with them until the next day. Start giving out God's word to your coworkers. Start like this. Hey, I read this really cool thing in the Bible this morning. This is what I used to do when I work construction is I'd say, uh, I read this thing in the Bible this morning and it was pretty cool.

And I thought it was kind of neat. And then questions start at that point in time. Sometimes I'd wear my Bible collar, college sweatshirt, which on the back said, study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that doesn't need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. And I'm here to tell you right now, if you want to stick out on a job site, wear a sweatshirt with a Bible verse on it.

Because the way most of the conversation started, especially with subcontractors was you don't really fit in here, do you? No joke. That was almost verbatim. What so many of them said to me, I'm like, no, I'm a little different. And they'd say, you know what? I've never understood about the Bible. And they'd start asking me questions. And we, we'd start having Bible studies.

There was a, there was a drywaller that I would come every day with a new answer to his question. Sometimes I'd say, you know, I don't know that one right now, but let me go look it up and I'll bring it back to you tomorrow. And every day at the start of the day, when he was getting his mud mixed up and ready to go, and I was working on whatever I was, I'd answer his question to the best of my ability. And we'd go on with our day.

And at the end of the day, he'd come to me with another one. I'm here to tell you right now, it doesn't take much. You can hold forth the word of God to anyone. And sometimes you're going to have, you're going to have to actually use words. I love this thing. It says, preach the gospel. And if necessary, use words. Now, listen, it's true. Your life should reflect what you say.

I'm here to tell you it's necessary. Use words. Okay. Cause you can muster up all of the peaceful look on your face.

And no, one's going to say, why are you smiling? Either that or the thing that you just farted. No one knew about it. Right. And so nobody's going to ask you why you're smiling. I don't think I'm supposed to say that. I got in trouble last time I said that. So anyway, give out the word of God. Sometimes it's going to take words. And so we're supposed to give out God's word to others.

Now I want to close with something because in Ezra, matter of fact, turn there with me, go to Ezra. I think I hadn't put it up there. Ezra chapter seven, verse 10. Ezra is a great story. We're going to get there eventually in our Bible reading. But when the children of Israel, I, after they'd been in captivity, they went back to rebuild the temple and they went back to rebuild the temple.

They didn't know what they were supposed to do in the way that they worshiped. So there's a priest that was sent back to help them learn how to worship. And that priest name was Ezra. And this is Ezra's testimony in verse 10. It says for Ezra of chapter seven, it says for Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it. And to teach his statutes and ordinances in Israel.

More than I thought about the section that we just covered about having the right attitude. I thought that encapsulates everything of what we're supposed to do to have the right kind of attitude of obedience. Number one, he set his heart to study the law of the Lord. He wanted to know exactly what God's word had to say because he wanted to follow God with all of his heart.

So he set his heart to study the law of the Lord, but he didn't just study it. He then set his heart to practice it, right? He worked out his own salvation with fear and trembling. He learned to do all things without grumbling and disputing. He learned to live above reproach. Why? Because number three, so that he could teach his statutes and ordinances to others.

He knew it. He lived it. He taught it. That's always been somewhat of a life verse for me as far as what my ministry is. But you know what, brothers and sisters, it should be a verse for all of us as believers in Jesus Christ. You should know it. You should live it. And you should give it out because God's word is living and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword able to pierce between bone and marrow.

Amen. Let's all stand just so you're aware of the next week or so. I will be here Wednesday night doing service as usual, but then Sunday and Wednesday of the next week, I will be gone at a pastor's conference. Taking some of the board with me. So I will not be here next Sunday. My dad is going to be given the message, so we should all be blessed by that. But just so you're aware of kind of what's coming up that way.

If I'm not here next Sunday, you're not like, oh, shoot, what happened to the little bald guy? So that's what's happening. Father, we come to you and we praise you for who you are. Lord, I thank you that you've blessed us with your word and that you've blessed us with the ability to study it, to know it and to live it. And so Lord, work in each person, let's hear both the will and to do of your good pleasure.

Father, we thank you and we praise you for who you are in Jesus name. Amen. Be blessed. Yes, Lord God, we just praise you. We lift praise to you this morning, God, because you are worthy of all of our praise. Father, we love you and praise you. And as we leave here today, I pray that your Holy Spirit go with us and continue to minister to our hearts. We love you.

We praise you. We thank you. Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Guys, have a wonderful week. God bless you.