But thank you for coming. I'm glad you're here. And we're just thankful to God for what he's doing. God's moving in people's hearts and that's what matters. So you that are on Zoom, I hope that you're able to make it as much like church as possible. But I'm gonna mention tonight that it is not church. It is not church. You're gonna see that tonight. Look at the first two verses of chapter five. First Timothy chapter five. 1 Timothy chapter 5, rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father, and the younger men as brethren. The elder women as mothers, the younger sister with all purity. Now I'm just going to keep reading a little bit more to get the context. It says, honor widows that are widows indeed. But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home and to quiet their parents for that is good and acceptable before God. So let's have word of prayer. We'll get into this section. Father, I pray that you bless this time. I pray that to be meaningful and heartfelt for all those that are hearing. Whether they're here or they're at home sick watching. I pray God that you'd use this to touch our hearts We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. This is the 14th lesson out of 1st Timothy So as you go back if you missed any of those they're all available should be on the sermon audio We're looking at verse-by-verse study, and the Lord has been gracious to us, not necessarily to tell you all the information. This is not a teaching class on the book of 1 Timothy, initially. It's meant to be, let's find out what God wants us to know from this passage. Let's ask God for his help to put it into practice in our life. Go back to the end of chapter number two. I'm sorry, chapter three. Go to the end of chapter three, and you'll read in verse number 15 what we call the theme verse for the book of 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy, it says, but if I tarry long, Paul says, I want to come to you, but if I'm held up, if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And so this is the theme. Paul is out there with his disciple, Timothy, and then we find another book, 2 Timothy, and then Titus. But he's training these young men, they were very young, and he's training them to go and to take the pulpits of the churches that God had allowed Paul to establish. Timothy is gonna go to Ephesus. Later we'll turn to the book of Ephesus for some thoughts tonight as well. But one thing we know is that this book was written to set things right. Trying to say, Timothy, a church is not what I think it is, it's not what you think it should be, it has to be what God wants it to be, amen? And that's what he's trying to tell us. The beginning of, one of the emphasis of the book is doctrine. Doctrine means teaching or truth. And doctrine is mentioned I think 12 times just in the six chapters of this volume. And it's amazing what God allowed to be emphasized because false teaching was going to be very prevalent. And so we dealt with that a couple Thursdays ago in verses 1 through 5 of chapter 4, where he talked about doctrines of devils and doctrines of devils. They're listed there, but they're talked about as being seductive. Is there anybody here that if we gave heed to the devil would not fall to seductive doctrines? And the answer is no. We all are dependent on the Holy Spirit to understand the Word of God. And then he talked about from verses 6 through verse number 16, what we preached last week, where he says if you're going to be a good minister, a good preacher, here are some characteristics. You with me now? Everybody's caught up with me now? But he's going to go back to that topic. He's going to come back to it. Look at verse 17 of chapter 5. He says, let the elders, remember the elders are another word for the pastors. Pastor, elder, bishop, minister, we're all the same person. And he said, let the ministers that rule well be counted worthy of double honor especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. So he specified here the elders of Presbyteros, is the Greek word, and the elders here are discussed, what is the conduct of a good elder? And so when we get into that, we're gonna preach from the last part of this, verse 17 through verse number 25, about what is the good conduct of a preacher. Timothy, how are you supposed to conduct yourself? But in between there, from the beginning of chapter five, all the way to verse 16, in the same context, he's dealing with what can be titled, and what I found the title to be, various relationships. Various relationships. So verse one and two is our text for tonight, but it's in the greater context of verses one through 16. From verse three through verse 16, What is covered there in that passage is an interesting study of what verse three talked about, honor those that are widows indeed. What is a widow indeed? And we're gonna get to that, it's an interesting thing. It's both interesting, enlightening, and instructive. It talks about the passion that we ought to have for the widows. It talks about their conduct, what makes them who they are, and what kind of life they should have lived to become so. And so it's the church's responsibility to care for them. But there are some restrictions, and we'll find that out tomorrow. I'm sorry, next Thursday. But in this first two verses of this passage, we have very enlightening words. Rebuke not an elder. Now he's obviously talking about the older people. So the word elder is the same word as we find talk about pastors. But here it is talking about the age of the individuals that he's speaking about. And he uses this with regard to the older men in verse 1 and then the older women in verse 2. So let's categorize these things. We have in verse one, rebuke not an elder, but treat him as a father, right? So we have some instruction. And the younger men, there's another category, we're gonna list these in my outline in just a minute. Verse two you have, and the elder women, so we have three different categories, and then the younger as sisters, we have four basic categories that he divides that, and then he goes into the subject of the widows indeed. Really, I call this the various relationships because I want to center on the fact that a lot of life is made up of relationships. Depending on what kind of work you do, even if you are working with your hands, a lot of that comes down to a working relationship with the person that has hired you. I'm thinking of a carpenter. I've got a carpenter lined up to come over here Tuesday to take care of a couple things that I want to have them done just right. But his work is dependent upon the relationship of me and trusting that he will do the work satisfactorily, and he's trusting me to give him his paycheck. Do you know much of life is made up of relationships? Relationships. And so in a church, churches are made up of relationships. I want to emphasize that tonight because the passage says it, but because we deal with this issue and it needs to be addressed. So you're successful as a Christian in this level, in your church, depending on how well you handle your relationships. And I'm not talking about the word relationship, I'm talking about interacting in any kind of level. We have four of these categories mentioned that we'll talk about. Four different people that are spoken about. Timothy, watch out for this, watch out for this, take care of this, and treat these people this way. Church is made up of a family. The Bible even calls us a body. He says that every member of the body is fitly joined together in order that we might accomplish something. What are we trying to accomplish? Well, we're trying to accomplish the Great Commission. That's kind of the instruction manual, or let's say purpose, of every individual church. Go ye therefore, and he says, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And then he says, teaching them to observe all things. So this is discipleship. We're to go and find faithful people to tell them the gospel. and then teach them what the Bible says so that they can go on to find God's will and to accomplish that for their lives. So I was out last night. I went over to Jerome. They have one of my friends, Brother Tim Knutson is a pastor there in Jerome Bible Baptist. They've been here a couple of times and been interacting with us and helped us as a church. been a help and I just like to pop in just to go to church on a night when you know it's nice to have some people in church right and we had some good fellowship and you know I came home I guess I was passing by I was thinking about the Lamborns I was passing by their house about 11 o'clock last night, their exit on the highway, their American Falls, and just listening to some godly music and praising the Lord. But there's one thing he preached last night that has stuck with me that a lot of what the responsibility of a pastor And I'm meaning this in terms of people are attached too much to the individual because we're really just to help people get on with God, to go His direction. So he made this illustration that our responsibility is to go find these people and say, hey fella, come this way. and through preaching salvation and then teaching them how to become a good Christian, they're coming like, hey, come here, and they're coming towards you as an individual, but then at some point, you're turning them, now look, there's Jesus, follow him. And it sort of has a motion like, hey, follow, come out of there, come and listen to the message. And they're coming to the pastor, and there's a lot of times a great attachment there. But then our responsibility is to take them in meekness, giving them a path where they, hey, now there, keep your eyes there, Jesus is your goal. Okay, not me, Jesus. So we're in the greatest work in all the world. There isn't anything that's more important. I like to read the news, and you like what's happening in some of the various appointments, the cabinet positions, and what they're, it seems like each one is getting appointed, then a day later, you hear them in the news making some kind of change. that the liberal news media is crying their eyes out about. But all of that is happening and all of it has an effect upon our world, but the greatest work is right here in the house of God. This is the most important thing. People don't hear the gospel, where do they go when they die? They go to an eternity in hell. Christians that grow, they get saved, but they don't grow, and they don't learn what they should learn, they're susceptible to all sorts of wrong directions. So it's not that pastors are trying to lord over the people, we're actually trying to dismiss the attachment to an individual by saying, come this way, and hey, there's Christ, stay in that path. We're trying to not be the one, we want you to know God and to stay right with God because you just know him, you love him. There's no other reason, there's no other reason that should be necessary. It's your heart in love with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's an amazing thing, when that's true. So various, we are successful as a church if we conquer the things that hinder smooth relationships in the house of God. Now, it's probably the most, okay, it's probably the most important thing that you can understand. It is a big subject. I was preparing this saying it's impossible to discuss everything about this in one particular sermon concerning relationships. It is probably the biggest challenge you'll face. The Bible talks about being a body and fitly joined together. We all have to work together. Can you imagine if you were trying to build something and your elbow decided, I'm not going to work anymore? I mean, it would just be the end of your progress. What if your heart said, I don't like this beat, I'm going to hit a different beat? You'd be in the hospital. Or if it stopped beating, you'd be in the morgue. Everything that is in your body has to work together for the body to function. And you and I, we are making up each local church as a body of Christ, exemplified by chapter four of Ephesians and other places. And the Bible says that we're supposed to work together. And where there is conflict, and there will always be conflict. Why is there conflict? Well, the Bible says in Proverbs, only by pride cometh contention. So it's going to be the result of somebody's pride. Like if you have conflict with me, it could be my pride, it could be yours, or it's probably both. And the greatest challenges you're gonna face are trying to maintain the unity when those conflicts are there, when you have a disagreement with a brother or a sister in the house of God. So, I wanna get into this, let me just, if you're following me, say amen so I can, every now and then, it keeps me knowing that you're with me, right? So, you know, it needs to be said that I enjoy hearing the word amen because then you're getting one point, move on to another, move on. Otherwise, I feel like maybe I should repeat it and try to explain it a different way. Okay, you understand that? That's why amens are good. The Bible teaches that. Now, I wanna talk first of all about, my first point is the disposition. the disposition. One of the greatest challenges you face is not when everything is good, but when there is conflict. I mean, can I say it this way? Any one of us, even the worst grump in the whole church, which might be me at times, Rachel, sometimes, I ask my wife sometimes, you know, I mean, I get tired like you did, You work late. I got in last night, it was 11.30, 11.45. Had some things to do before I went to bed, I don't know, 12.15, 12.30. Back up this morning, I don't know, it was like six o'clock. I slept in. Six o'clock this morning. I get tired and grumpy like you, but it is exactly when the conflict comes that we are challenged in this area of unity. The disposition is the key. If you think that relationships are working in the world, you've missed the whole point. With a divorce rate that is more than 50% of everybody that even bothers to get married, loses that marriage into divorce, I don't think the world is significantly winning the battle on conflict. And so if you enter conflict as a Christian who's supposed to be blood washed, bought by the Lord Jesus Christ, changed by the Spirit of God, but if you enter it with the same techniques and the same disposition and the same pride as the unsaved people do, then you're not going to succeed in the conflicts of life. You're gonna fail. The conflicts of life. This, look at what it says here at the beginning. It says, rebuke not an elder. So here's the disposition, here's what I'm seeing. Timothy, you're a young preacher. He was a very young preacher. Put in charge of one of the best churches of his area in Asia Minor. Ephesus is an outstanding city. Its ruins today are interesting. Debbie and I took a tour of that one time. It's in what is today the country of Turkey. Ephesus was a big town, big library, big theater, and big problems, but they had a great church. And here is this young Timothy being sent to become the pastor, and we see it in chapter four, verse 12, where he says, let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in those six areas, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, and in purity. He says, this young preacher don't Rebuke the older men. That's what it says, right? Rebuke not an elder. Now the interesting thing here about rebuke is that this is a different Greek word behind this, slightly different from the same root word, but not the same word as we find in 2 Timothy 4 in verse number 12, where there it says, preach the word, be instant, in season, out of season, reprove and rebuke and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. So the pastor is told to rebuke from the pulpit All right, I was talking to somebody today that comes on Sunday morning. The rebukes of the pulpit, the pastor who comes bluntly and lays down, thus saith the Lord, is accomplishing the plan of God. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort. But there's a slight difference in these two different words. The original word for verse number one of chapter five has to do more stronger than the word in chapter four of 2 Timothy. It's an interesting thing to me. This word means to chastise, to abrade. Sometimes in its root, it even means to strike, in the root meaning of that word. So here is the tendency of youth, at least when I was young, I was around some others that were preachers that were always yelling at people. I'm talking about one-on-one. And it becomes a tool, you think. Well, the Bible says that a preacher's supposed to rebuke each other. And so church, you come into church, and if I think something's wrong, I'm gonna peel your ears back. Is that the disposition that he's told to have? So there comes a very clear idea that the word rebuke in 2 Timothy 4, where we're told to preach the word, be instant in it, season out of season, it means to censure. It means to say something about, very strongly about sin. But there's a clear teaching here that there's one way for a preacher to preach, but in person, that's not the way to deal with conflict. Now if you're a success at this, regarding being able to ream people out, I was really good at it. In fact is, the angrier I got, Terry, when I was younger, the more fluent I became. Like I became, I used to pride myself in it. So think about it, if your tools to fight with people become a point that you're pleased and you have pride in, there's something wrong with your disposition. It says rebuke not, don't strike, don't chasten, don't lash out. And people fail at this. Why do people fail at these kind of relationship problems? Because normally they're only thinking about themselves. That's really the issue. How do I feel? How is this going to affect me? What about my space? What about my vehicle that you just opened your car door and smashed into? Right? And so we think that the solution is to raise our voices, get angry, and lash out at a Christian. And the Bible says that's not the disposition of a Christian. Not just here, but in other verses. and you're not succeeding in your Christian faith if the Spirit of God cannot have the opportunity to tame those passions in your heart that are just left to run alone. Well, I just lost my temper. A Christian doesn't have that ability. You got in the flesh is the answer. It isn't just I lost my temper, I sinned, I got away from God and I got into the flesh. Not my loss of my temper, I did wrong. But I'm fearing that in general with conflict, what Christians have done historically is that we have carried the same tools from our unsaved experiences into Christianity. And the Bible says we're not supposed to treat each other that way. Take a quick look over in 2 Timothy, go like a page over and look again at chapter two, verse number 22. 2 Timothy 2.22, he tells later, now there's approximately 10 years, as we believe, between the writing of 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy. So we believe it's like 58 AD that the first one is written, and about 68, the winter of 68, 69, right after 2 Timothy is finished, Paul is beheaded by Emperor Nero. So he comes at Timothy again with this message, In verse number 22, flee also youthful lusts. Go down with me to verse 24 is where I meant. And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men that he likes, or that agree with him. No, it says all men have to teach patient. Now here it is, in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves. if peradventure God would grant unto them the repentance, the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. So every, go back to our text, and I'll just say that every interaction is a mark, an opportunity to display the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Now, what is the fruit? In Galatians chapter five, it says, but the fruit, singular, of the Holy Spirit, so it means it's one thing. You get the Spirit, you have the attributes that he produces in your life. You don't get to pick and choose. Well, I like the word love, but not so much about temperance, self-control. It means you're not filled with the Spirit of God. So the being filled with the Spirit of God will produce. Now, it takes time to change the habits because we're so carnal, we're so fleshly that we go back to our unsaved lives and we borrow from there the temperament to deal with problems. Somebody doesn't like what you're doing at work. And you just, you rip into them. Why? Because that's what everybody else does at work. Yes, but what makes you different? If you're not acting different as a Christian, how are you any different than the world? They should, in everything that you do, notice, hey, that there's the Christians, there's the world, and it's far apart. They're very different. But Christians are not doing that. I mean, the first thing they do when something doesn't go their way, right? And we act like we don't have any self-control, but the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, verse 22, is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. The fruit singular, And it's been described as like the love is the fragrance of the fruit. Love joy, joy is the texture of it as you taste it in your mouth. And peace is its core. and on and on and on. I could look up and read for you how somebody, a pastor, Gregory Mantle, has put together a great description of one piece of fruit in nine aspects. So if the Spirit of God is in you, there ought to be a difference in your life. And the question is, if you don't have the Spirit of God, are you really saved? Because saved people are not to walk after this world, but are to walk after the next, living in the Spirit. So you have to change, and change is difficult. But we're not changing to be like conforming to a pastor, remember? It might be that the first person you see on your way to the cross is a preacher or a soul winner. but we're directing them this way, but at some point we say, now, hey, there's Jesus, get your eyes on Him. That's what we're, we're trying to bring the unsaved to the cross and follow Jesus, that's the Great Commission. I love that, because it's not us. But if there is a difference between those that are saved and those that are not saved, one of the key illustrations is our interpersonal relationships. So if you're gonna be a Christian in a lot of ways and you're not a Christian in conflict, what good was your Christianity? Whoa. I'll say it two or three more times if you don't say amen. I mean, think about this. We talk about, in terms of Christianity and its veracity, you know, the fact that that means truth, or rather the truthfulness of the topic. Like, we really believe the Bible. I believe the Bible, I'm a good Christian. Yeah, the Bible says, show me your faith by your works, or what good was your faith? You didn't get saved by works, but your salvation, working in your life, should produce a difference, and the Lord describes it for us. And much of it comes down to interpersonal relations. So what makes a Christian a Christian? Like, oh, well, they don't go get drunk. They don't sleep around. Could we make a list? Thou shalt not, right? He doesn't cuss. Right? That makes a person a Christian. And so you've taken on these attributes of a Christian, and how are we, are we dressing ourselves this way? Like I'm gonna act like I'm loving him. And then you get into conflict, and you know, the fangs come out, and the veins on your face start sticking out, red everywhere, your heart's beating, and you're ready to rip somebody's jugular vein out. How is that really proving that you believe? So what you believe ought to change your life, and I'm gonna say it further. I didn't invent this phrase, but I love it. You only truly believe what you act upon. If it isn't changing the inside of your heart and it doesn't come out from your heart to all the parts, so it's easy to take on attributes like this attribute and this one and pull them together. I can put on a show for a while. but it is surely tested when it comes to conflict. And if you are number one in your life and interest, let's just say, when the conflict comes, you'll be able to tell. You'll be able to tell. Oh, you read that verse, the instructions to a pastor, that we're supposed to, with meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves, right? I mean, if I went over to this wall over here, can you follow me with that thing? And I'm like, Like some people that have trouble emotionally and mentally do, I'm just like, bang, right? And then I, would that be funny? He's like, Pastor, that's pretty funny. Bang! And then blood starts running. If I started doing that for real, wouldn't somebody think, Pastor's lost his mind, somebody better stop him. I'm certainly opposing myself. My health is not going to be benefited that way. Right? As the verse says, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, and the sins that people get into are more harmful to their lives and their family than hitting your head against a wall. This is senseless, but the other is devilish. The other is wicked. You get into some sins and it's like you're not even giving your children a chance to come to Christ. All they're learning is this fake Christianity that you go to church on Sunday, all ready to go, boy, I look like a good Christian, but your heart at home is yelling and screaming and hatred. The disposition of a Christian should be altered. Now maybe this is the only point we'll get to, because of time, but I want you to go with me to, let's, What, let's go to Romans chapter 12. Go to Romans chapter 12. These passages are really sweet on the surface, but they're reproving when you really understand what's being said. Okay, verse number nine, okay. This is where it begins to turn outward. If you've read this, you know that it deals in one and two, verse one and two, with an upward relationship. And then three through eight deals with your horizontal relationship within the house of God. And then verse nine through 21 deals with interpersonal relationships, first with the saved and then with the unsaved. But notice in verse, the beginning of it, verse number nine, let love. Oh, I'm loving. All right, let love be without dissimulation. Oh, what a great word. Anybody at all know what that word means? Like, I gave you all dictionaries, so we should actually look these up. So what? Fake. The word dissimulation is putting on a show, right? I'm not saying you should have known that. I'm saying we sometimes read the Bible and we're not stopping to actually examine the words. This is my message I'm preaching. So we talk about love and it was a problem way back then. Paul said, he's writing here under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, hey, your love is not really love if it is fake. How do we talk, how do we know if something is fake in your heart? Well, let's talk about it. He says, he begins a statement there, and then he goes on to talk about how you treat one another. Look at verse 10. Be kindly affection one to another. Oh, pastor, I do that. Yeah, we do that until there's conflict, and then we act like the devil. I'm saying that's love that is faked. If you cannot control your passions and anger under conflict when you're tested, how dwelleth the Spirit of God in that? I mean, I know, because I've lived it. I'm not saying you're not saved, but it surely isn't an evidence that you are saved. You can resist the work of the Spirit of God in your life. That's easy enough. Just don't be faithful to God. You can be saved and be disobedient. But once you have walked the road of having the spirit within you, he begins to mold your life so that when somebody blows up at you, in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves. So come on up here, Zeke. I'm not a visual person. I'm a linear thinker, I'm an analytical. So this is out of character for me. So somehow I want you to look at me, maybe point at your dad, and act angry, quit smiling. Is that possible for him to do that? Just do that, okay? He blows up at me, and I'm like, holy cow. Like, why would he ever do that? I say, pastor, nobody blows up at a pastor. It happens all the time. I don't wanna say every week, but it's probably averaged every three weeks. You say, people do that? Yeah, they oppose themselves. Because that anger isn't helping. He's not being benefited by being angry at me. Do I love him? He's my son, right? Your people in the church, do I love the church people? Absolutely. But my love is not without, my love is without dissimulation. It is real. So he gets angry, disposition at me, shake your fist at dad. Right, he's not used to that. I don't wanna get spanked. You're like 40 years old, I'm not gonna spank you anymore. Right, you shake your fist. What should be going through my mind? Well, I'll tell you what goes through most people's mind. Why are they treating me this way? I'm gonna win this argument. And what happens? The incredible hawk comes out. Do you remember that when they did a play about me on the basketball court? They made this whole big thing that I was so angry on a basketball court that something happens to Pastor Whitaker when he plays basketball. And they had like half my face, me, half of it, Lou Ferrigno. Okay? I mean, I lived a reputation, everybody's like, they did it to be funny. I said, well, I wasn't funny, it was true. But it was about me, I'm gonna win. So the disposition of a Christian is, he's angry, act angry. There you go, hold him up there, don't let him down. What should be going through my head? I love this guy, what does he need? What can I do to help him? In meekness, now what can I do? Well, I don't know anymore, I'm getting old. But I think I can still at least hold him down and sit on him, I'm heavy. But meekness is strength under control. It's not talking about what you can't do. It's not acting wimpy just to be wimpy. It's actually acting strong, because Christ was called the meekest man that ever lived. And the fact is that strength, the greatest strength, under the control of the Holy Spirit, does not need to be proven to be true. I don't need to prove that I'm bigger, stronger, smarter, whatever. I'm probably not. But I don't have to prove that. So he gets angry at me, my heart should say, I truly love this guy. and my love is without fake, so what does he need? Not, what injustice is he giving me? I'm gonna get him back. I'm not saying not to defend yourself if somebody's gonna harm your family. I don't wanna get into that. But I am talking about the general disposition of Christianity needs to change. Something isn't right when the first time somebody disagrees with somebody, they start yelling at them. What does it mean? It means your love that you showed before that time, right, was with dissimulation. It was proven when it was tested in anger that that love was not to be found. And it usually comes down to the individual who loses his temper is saying, what about me? Well, what about you? In that passage about having meekness and instructing those that oppose themselves, where is Timothy in that? Where does, but what do I get? You get stepped on, Timothy. Welcome to the ministry. You get lied about, you get gossiped about, and a pastor gets all of that and yelled at and he is forbidden to lash back because the whole purpose is It says, lest God would paraventure give them repentance, and they would be kept from the snare of the devil. So love that is real is not interested in defending myself. Did you do that? Did you do that, pastor? I'm not sure, but let's find out. But the disposition of the world that we carry into Christianity is the opposite. No way, you dog! I would never act like that. You're acting like that. It's amazing to me how this area of people's life demonstrates a real obvious problem and missing element in their hearts. So let's say he gets his fists up, he's mad. My heart, keep them up, don't stop. My heart is tempted to be angry, but I'm forbidden to be angry because Don is not on the throne of my heart, God is. And my heart says, what does this Christian with lots of capabilities, lots of ability for God, he is going to fit in the body of Christ, he's either an eye or an ear, we need this guy. But what does he need from me to help him stop opposing himself? Rebuke, not an elder. Go sit down, thank you. I don't have a lot of time, but I'd like you to look, if you will. It continues in this passage. Would you please just read chapter 12 today or tomorrow morning? Go with me to Ephesians chapter four, and I wanna demonstrate that there is a strong push of the Holy Spirit to move your life to change. In verse number, oh, it's hard to pick the, look at verse 15. But speaking the truth in love, and if you go back to the previous verses, it is telling you that Christian growth produces this. Like it says we grow up into us into the image of Christ in verse number 13, 14. And it talks about the unity of the faith. But speaking the truth in love means if you're not speaking the truth in love, you're a very immature Christian. And if you ask me, that's my assessment of not this crowd necessarily, but of the typical Christian in America. Carnal, immature, babes in Christ. Sensitive to, oh, well, look what the church, the pastor said this. So sensitive. That's a good indication that there's a me problem. And they're not growing, so they don't speak the truth in love, they speak the truth in hatred. So we go on, look at verse number 21. If so be that you have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning the former conversation, which is your behavior. Conversation is always behavior or conduct. The old man. So there's an old man. We all know this. It's all my sinful nature. It's the old man. Put it off. Right? That's what God says here. It's corrupt according to the deceitful lust. Verse 23. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind. If it's the spirit, not capitalized. It's not the Holy Spirit there. It's talking about your spirit, which is the root and seat of your attitude. So be renewed, get a new attitude about life. And then in verse 24, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. So one thing we can say here is if a Christian is walking with God, there's a difference. And you can say, Pastor, I'm walking with God. Yeah, yeah, really good and easy when everything is smooth. but really walking with God is having your heart in the hands of God when it is challenged by conflict. Challenged by conflict. Now, I like verse 25 and following, but he starts to illustrate areas of this. Okay, so verse 25, we're supposed to put away lying and speak truth. Verse 26, you be angry and sin not, let not the soul. If you can be angry and sin not, hey, you know what you've done? You've submitted yourself to the Holy Spirit. You put off the old man, neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more, but go get a job. That's what the rest of the verse says. Verse 29, don't cuss, but help one another with your words. In verse 30, if you don't do these things, it says, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, who is stuck in your heart, whereby it says you're sealed under the day of redemption. He is stuck there. You take him into the halls of dirt, you drink things that are wrong, you look at things that are wrong, you go places that are wrong. Holy Spirit is dragged through there. You're angry, you're wrathful, you're not living in the Spirit. He's stuck in your heart, and he's grieved. So what is his conclusion in this passage? He says in verse number 31, let all bitterness, why? Because bitterness is often the reason that there's anger. There's a root, there's something down that is an unresolved bitterness that when you touch that subject or that pattern, you've hit a wound. And they scream bloody murder. But they aren't living in the spirit. So bitterness, it says let it go. and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. That's hatred. Christians have hatred. Yeah, I've seen Christians in conflict that are no different than the world, and I know the world hates each other. And you're demonstrating the same effects. He says, let these things go. And what does he say? So he's telling you in this passage, he's always saying, get rid of stealing, go get a job. I like that, you need a job. Okay, he said, quit cussing, start saying things that'll help people. That's what it says, but what does it say about this? Let all these things go, and verse 32 is the key, and be kind one to another, even in conflict, even in good times, even when it's convenient, even when you're tired, even when you're grumpy. In other words, we don't really, if we're living in the Spirit, we don't even have the right to be grumpy, why? Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice. In everything give thanks. In everything give thanks. We only give thanks on the good things. Like hey, I got a good plate of food here. You ought to give thanks. Thank you God that you so love me to recreate a nature in me that isn't controlled by the passions of my anger. Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. What he's saying in there, be kind because you don't deserve the forgiveness God gave you. Hey, when people are showing themselves, maybe they don't deserve my kindness, but I don't deserve his kindness. And without his kindness, I was going to hell. That's what I deserve. So I'm not such a big britches, am I? I'm not so important. And the Bible says where the wood is taken out, the fire ceaseth. And when your heart is not filled with explosive material and somebody else tries to ignite it and there's nothing explosive in there, you won't burn. But if you put the Holy Spirit who wants to take control of your life to really transform, it's the answer to every problem. Not just anger, but it's the answer to every problem. Why are you struggling with what you're struggling with? I'm not talking about physical problems, but I'm talking about like any sinful problem. Person's addicted to, let's say, heroin. Well, what's the problem? You're not walking with God. You say, but I need to have extra medicine to help me overcome heroin. Actually, if you learn to love God more than you love yourself, you wouldn't believe you need that. And sooner or later, your body will agree with you. It'll stop that. It'll be hard. I'm not a medical doctor. I'm not talking about going cold turkey on some of those drugs that everybody's on in these days. But it should be the goal. I don't think it's doing anybody good. Except making a lot of pharmaceutical companies very, very rich. So if your life is not changed by your Christianity, how real is the Christianity? Can we go back to 1 Timothy, I'll close the service here. Look at the text and I will just mention these other points. So my first point was disposition and I'm gonna stop at that point as far as preaching. My second point was the departments to investigate who are the fathers, who are the brethren. That's an equality verse word, by the way. We're on an equal, the pastor is not above his people. I have to preach and you're wrong to not show respect. but I am not to lift myself up. And you know I fight that. Ladies in the church, the elder women, and the younger. And then the last point, not only the departments, but look at the danger. He says, with all purity. With all purity. If I had time, I'd go into a lesson, the part of the lesson that talks about what that means. And again, it's the same thing. If your heart has been changed by the Holy Spirit, then in your heart there will be purity toward one another. And I know that people are sometimes careless about the way that they dress. I preach that a woman should be modest. You know why? Because chapter two said that they should be. You can go back to chapter two, it talks about that. But here's what I mean. Get the lust out of your heart. If ever a place a woman should be where she feels completely safe to the eyes of men, it should clearly be around Christians. Get your heart right with all purity. It's a sad world we're living in when things have become, for instance, the telephone and the internet has made things that are unclean so very accessible. Get your heart right with God. Get your heart right with God. A true Christianity will take those pieces in your heart and start to bring them under the control of his spirit. Where there was impure thoughts, God puts purity. With all purity. So I have other notes in here, but the Lord led us another way to emphasize this first point. but it comes down to these instructions are really meant. This is not a game. This church that we do is not just a practice. It is our life being brought under the real control of God. Is it real or if it's not? Because if it's not real, let's go find something better to do. But if it is real and we know it is, then what we're doing here is like performing surgery where your heart comes to the place where it's real. Not dissimulation, not fake. And that dissimulation, look at chapter one in verse number five. We've already dealt with this, but look at that last word. It says in a faith unfeigned. It's a synonym to the word hypocrisy. The Bible throughout the beginning to the end is against looking good but not being real in your heart. Even your faith is supposed to be sincere, supposed to be real. Would to God that he couldn't point out an area where we are not under the control of the Holy Spirit of God. Let's have a time of invitation. Would you stand with me? I know our attendance tonight is probably at a record low in many, many, in these several years, we haven't been this low on a Thursday. I'm gonna credit it to a lot of sickness that's out there. I hope that those that are at home would listen well, but it's not, one of the reasons why that's not assembling is you can't have relationships over technical devices. The assembling means physically. So as soon as you're well, get back to church. But has the Lord smote your heart today about having a real faith?