and and and and All right, thank you. an an an Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a pleasure to be here. Oh my God! Yeah. Yeah. All right. Okay. Good morning, Grace Community Church. If we could begin moving into the sanctuary. For the back there, we're going to be starting here quite shortly. Actually, immediately. So come on in. Our call to worship is going to be Psalm 45. So while the last people are sitting down, you can turn in your Bibles to Psalm 45. Is it not on? OK. Is that? Oh, gotcha. Testing, is it working? Can everybody hear me now? In the back, I think too, that sounds good. All right, so again, Psalm 45 is gonna be our call to worship. Picture Christ here as the king. This is ultimately who it's talking about when we're talking about the king as we move through the psalm. And then when we hear about the princess or the bride, this is obviously going to be the bride of Christ. So this is ultimately what it's talking about as we get into the psalm. So let's read it. Psalm 45. To the choir master, according to lilies, a mask yield of the sons of Korah, a love psalm. My heart overflows with a pleasing theme. I address my verses to the king. My tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. You are the most handsome of the sons of men. Grace is poured upon your lips. Therefore, God has blessed you forever. Gird your sword on your thigh, oh mighty one, in your splendor and majesty. And your majesty, ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness. Let your right hand teach you awesome deeds. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, the peoples fall under you. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. Your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From ivory palaces, stringed instruments make you glad. Daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor. At your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir. Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear. Forget your people and your father's house, and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him. The people of Tyre will seek your favour with gifts, the richest of the people. All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold. In many coloured robes she is led to the king, with her virgin companions following behind her. With joy and gladness they are led along, as they enter the palace of the king. In place of your fathers shall be your sons. You'll make them princes in all the earth. I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore, nations will praise you forever and ever. What a beautiful picture here of Christ coming in His splendor and His majesty. Our husband. We are the church. We are the bride who He is decorating, who He is making beautiful. Even now, He's making us beautiful. What a wonderful picture we have of who God is. In verse 4 particularly, which stuck out to me. This is our king. He rides out victoriously. He is conquered. But he rides for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness. What other king rides out for those causes? We don't look at earthly people. If we look at presidents today or captains. Do they ride out? Do they conquer for these things? Truth? Meekness? Righteousness? These are the qualities that adorn our captain and our general in a sense. It's wonderful to see that. If this is our king, do we also then embody these characteristics? When we live out our lives, because we are in the spiritual battle as well, this decorates our captain. Do we live our lives for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness? I hope these three qualities adorn us as a people of God. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, you are indeed lifted up this day. You're lifted up every day. But what a privilege it is to meet as a people gathered together, as your people meet across Alberta, across Canada, even across the world. Your church in different places, Lord, lifting up the name of Christ, exalting Him. Lord, what a majestic Saviour we have. What a captain we have. Who has already rode out victorious. Who has conquered death. Lord, what a bride He is adorning as He bestows her in beauty, Lord, that He is giving to her through sanctification. Lord, what a privilege it is that Christ loves His church so much that He beautifies her. And Lord, I would just ask that we would be a small picture and a small part of that, even today, as we lift our voices to You, as we hear Your Word being preached. God, may You come to this place with the power of Your Spirit. That words we sing today would not just be wrote or just things that we do over and over again, but our hearts may truly be in it today. So God, meet us in this place through your word, through worship. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, good morning. I want to extend another warm welcome to the visitors among us. I know a number of visitors come in this morning. I'm Pastor Charles. This is Pastor Nathan. Pastor Ryan will be preaching in a little while here. And there's one more pastor among us, Pastor Marvin. So just a warm welcome to you. What a wonderful song we just read. And this morning we have a very clear theme that is kind of emerged from our texts and our songs, and that is the Bride of Christ. And the Bride of Christ, elect from every nation we're gonna sing in a little while, especially chosen by the Father for salvation through the blood of Christ. And you know, Caitlin just leaned over to me and whispered, she said, is it ever weird for you to think of yourself as a bride? Maybe a little bit for some of us men. And in the song it mentioned the princesses But this isn't weird like that. This is a beautiful thing. The most beautiful love story in all of redemptive history is Christ's love for his church. And I was reflecting on the very first verse of our first song, Fairest Lord Jesus. And it very much reminds me of almost like wedding vows in a way. Fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature, son of God and son of man. Thee will I cherish. Thee will I honor. Thou my soul's glory, joy, and crown. Those are a beautiful pledge, beautiful words to our King, our Savior, our bridegroom. So let's stand and sing them together. Son of God and Son of Man, thee will I cherish Ye will I honor, Thou my soul's glory, joy, and proud. Fair are the meadows, fair are ♪ And on us pray ♪ ♪ Jesus is near ♪ ♪ Jesus is near ♪ ♪ He leads the woeful heart to sing ♪ There is a blue light, and all the dreaming starry most. Jesus shines brighter. ♪ Jesus shines through ♪ ♪ Let all the angels ♪ ♪ Reverend voice ♪ ♪ Beautiful Savior ♪ ♪ Lord of the nations ♪ ♪ Son of God ♪ Amen. Beautiful. Beautiful singing. Loud singing. I love it. I want to read you something before we sing More Love to Thee, O Christ. This is from the last chapter of the Gospel of John. Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? And he said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And he said to him, feed my lambs. And he said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? And he said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And he said to him, tend my sheep. He said to him a third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he had said to him a third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. And Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. I wonder how we would answer, and I think I know how most of us would answer if Jesus asked us, do you love me? And I think probably like Peter, you would think to the moments when you had forsaken your Lord as well. And you wouldn't say it to your Lord, and you'd say, yes, Lord, I do love you. And this song again is, this is our opportunity to say to Christ, we love you, and we want to love you more. Let's sing. More love to Thee, O Christ, more love to Thee. Hear, Thou the prayer of me, One and empty. This is my earnest plea, Lord, thou know Christ to thee. Lord, thou to thee. Lord, thou to thee. Once earthly joy. of peace and rest. Thou be alone, I see, if what is best. ♪ There shall be more love, O Christ, to Thee ♪ ♪ More love to Thee ♪ ♪ More love to Thee ♪ ♪ Let sorrow do us part ♪ ♪ Till it's worth every man pain ♪ ♪ Sweet are thy messengers, O God our God ♪ ♪ See their refrain ♪ ♪ Then they can sing with thee ♪ ♪ All our love, O Christ, to Thee ♪ ♪ All our love to Thee ♪ ♪ Lord of to Thee ♪ Then shall my nature's breath ♪ Whisper Thy praise ♪ Lest me a parting cry ♪ My heart shall bring Let prayer shall be, Lord of the Christ to Thee, Lord of to Thee, Lord of to Thee. Well, good morning. It's great to see you all. Great to be here. It's great to be in a place where the Lord is being worshipped and where the Lord is being focused upon because really that's what it's all about. In spite of the fact that it's wonderful to be among the people of God, and to be encouraged by that. It's really the Lord in more love to thee. Thanks for those comments, by the way, Charles. That was a blessing. There's a lot that's gonna be happening in the next little while as we kind of get back into our fall and winter routine. And I feel challenged this morning because I tend to miss things. when it comes to announcements. But today, rather than leaving Dianne until the last, I'm going to ask her first. Well, ladies, we're getting to the point where the study is ready to begin on the Book of Esther. And all the books are gone. So if you haven't gotten your book yet, and you would like a book, please text me. My number is on the newsletter. Or just see me right after church, because I'll order you one. But please don't hold off. It's coming. September 9th is our kickoff time here at the church, which is a Thursday at 7 o'clock. All make it come because it's going to be the beginning where we get into the context, the history. How did we get the Book of Esther? So it's going to be a wonderful time. And girls 12 and up, you are invited to come to that. And please make sure if you haven't got an announcement, a newsletter, it's on the back by the mailboxes. So please go get one. It has the schedule of the study in the back here so you can be sure. Leaders, just a quick reminder that we will be meeting right in front here, right after the service. It won't be long, but I really need to have a chat with you. Looking forward to seeing all of you Thursday, September 9th. Great. Thanks, Nathan. Thank you, Deanne. And I'd like to ask Hannah up to talk about Sunday school, which is going to be resuming. And we're very excited about that on September 12th. On behalf of the SUNY School teachers and helpers, I want to extend a warm welcome to all our children and their parents, well to all of you today, but for SUNY School. We're looking forward to starting classes in two weeks, Sunday, September 12, for all children ages 4 to 18. We're thankful to be able to start again and are looking forward to interacting with our children around the Word of God. This is our future generation, those who will take up the gospel and proclaim it to the nations as Jesus commanded. They're our future kingdom builders. Our heart's desire as a Sunday School ministry is to be able to echo the words of 3 John, I have no greater joy than to hear my children are walking in the truth. Sunday School is a ministry that has at the heart of it the desire to come alongside the parents of our church. and to disciple, teach, and train our young children. Ultimately, our goal is for our children to obtain a faith and a hope in our God and Savior, and then to grow deeper in their knowledge of Him, as well as the outworking of His kingdom in their daily lives. It is our desire to lay a foundation from the truths of Scripture that will support you, parents, as you teach and train up your children to be Christ-followers. The curriculum we use comes from Truth 78, To quote, True 78 is a vision-oriented ministry for the next generations, that they may know, honor, and treasure God, setting their hope in Christ alone, so that they will live as faithful disciples for the glory of God. We want to encourage you to bring your children to Sunday school. We want to encourage you to allow the opportunities for discipleship and learning to happen between teachers and students. We know that we as teachers need strength and grace to live in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called, to rightly divide the word, and to bring it forward to children in a clear and understandable manner. So please continue to pray for this ministry, for the teachers and helpers, as we seek to live out the hope that is within us, and to instill the truths of Scripture in our children alongside you as parents. It is a blessing and a privilege to teach, but it is also a responsibility that we don't take lightly. Join us in prayer for our children, that God would use Sunny School to work savingly in their hearts and to build his kingdom in them and through them. As always, there are a few changes happening this year. I will send out an email this week with details about classes, teachers, curriculum, any other relevant information that you might need to know as we gear up to start this year. And if you have questions at all about the classes, about helping out, or anything else, don't hesitate to ask me. Thank you. Thank you, Hannah. All right. There's a number of other things going on. Quizzing is starting next week. That's September 7th. That's a Tuesday, right? Yes. So for the youngest age to start is? Turning 11 by March 1st of next year. Turning 11 by March 1st of next year. So if you're able to bring your kids turning 11 on March 1st, Quizzing is a great way, organized and social, and even a competitive way to memorize the scriptures and get it deep in our hearts. So that's starting next week. We've got prayer meetings going on Wednesday nights. Those are ongoing, continued on, but this week it will be online only. So there's a GoToMeeting link that will be sent out. Sometimes we think that GoToMeeting or Zoom is so last year. But, you know, God uses it as a means to bring our geographically spread out church together and to lift up the needs of his church, his purpose, and his mission, both locally and otherwise. So it's really easy to join. It's not something that you have to, like, put out there yourself. If you're a little bit shy, you can just join, or you can join in prayer. You're very welcome to do that. And it's always a blessing. The church website, lethbridgebaptist.org, for some of you guests here this morning, you may have visited that. I don't know how you've come to us. But do check it out. It's been recently updated. And some people have made a lot of effort. I think Christina has made some efforts on getting that up to date. And check it out. You've been here a long time. Sometimes we take the website for granted. We forget that it's even there, right? But look there. Check it out. Interact with some of the various features on that website. And we hope to really make it kind of a hub for information going forward as well. All right. And then next week, we're hoping to celebrate the Lord's Table again. And for those of the church family that are here regularly, our members, and also our regular attending visitors, you know that we celebrate communion in what's kind of called a closed communion. What that means is that we, although we would love to have everybody here celebrate with us, we do want to make sure, especially as the shepherds and elders of this church, that those who celebrate with us have a true faith in Christ and a commitment to Walking in his ways and also commitment to his church So we'd like to talk to you if you're interested to come back again next week and celebrate the Lord's table with us Just to talk to one of the elders Beforehand it's not a an interrogation or but we do want to hear that you sincerely want to worship Christ and remember his death as we celebrate because we believe it's a very holy and a special time for our church that we need to be one body celebrating together. So we are available prior to the services and even if you want to talk by phone we're happy to chat with you and just talk to you about why you want to partake with us. So that wraps up the announcements. And now let's, I'm going to open the word of God. We go through a portion of scripture consecutively in addition to the preaching of the word, just so that we are as a church, hearing the word of God. Paul and the Holy Spirit tells the elders to devote yourself to the reading of the word of God. And that's one thing we want to do here this morning. So we're in Matthew chapter five, and I'll start at verse one. Jesus, seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain. And when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And I want to just say a brief introduction. When we're reading the Sermon on the Mount, I think some people think about it like the Book of Proverbs, where there's a bunch of maxims and just isolated sayings that you can take and understand and appreciate, but it's hard to connect that. But what's actually going on is that this is a fulfillment of what Moses said, I will raise up for you among you a prophet like me. Jesus here is giving the law. The law for his new covenant people. And that also might sound a little bit like, I thought we were under grace, not under law. But you have to understand that undergirding the Sermon on the Mount and the second law giving, or the law giving for the kingdom of God, is this understanding that it's a kingdom that is an invisible kingdom, a kingdom that dwells in people's hearts, that God has brought people from death to life and brought them into that new kingdom through His work and through His atoning work through the lawgiver, right? Jesus, our Savior. So, none of these commandments can be truly kept or followed or obeyed apart from our relationship with our King, our Lawgiver, our Saviour, our Husband, our Bridegroom. So as you hear this, think about this as Jesus giving His glorious commands. The One we love is giving us the way of the Kingdom, the principles of the Kingdom. hear them and may it be in our hearts that we say, yes, Lord. Yes, Master. Yes, Savior. Yes, Supreme King over our lives. So Jesus opened his mouth and taught them saying, blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn. for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth. But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a stand. and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota Not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council. And whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift before the altar and go first be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court. lest your accuser hands you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny." So you can see here, Jesus is giving his gracious commands. And they're not commands that just deal with the outward, external actions of people. or a broad perimeter for their actions, but it gets to the heart. And it searches our hearts, and it gets in right where it hurts. And we fall before Him and say, Lord, search our hearts, teach us, show us, and lead us in the way of everlasting life. All right, we're gonna bow our hearts and our heads together and pray. for our church, and for the church around the world, and for grace upon us, for Christ's name to be glorified, and for us to be truly salt and light in this world around us, and carry out the mission that He has given us. Our mission that we're Praying for that we support is Reach All Nations. And that mission in India is being led by a man called Vijay Misala. His wife's name is Abigail. And I think they're returning to India from the US fairly soon. So keep them in your prayers. And we'll pray for our youth ministry as well. Please bow your heads with me. Father, we are reminded once again that this is not an issue of mere externals or traditions or preferences or light convictions even, that we are gathered here, but it is a matter of the heart where You have worked in us. You brought us from darkness to light and You call us to be worshipers of you together in a church family. And so we lift our hearts to you this morning. We call upon you to work in us, strengthen us, equip us, and change us, and mold us, and shape us by your word so that we would truly be able to live out your gracious and holy commands. Through your grace, through the one who has bought us by his own blood, who kept each one of your commandments, Father, perfectly, and whose righteousness alone gives us right standing before your throne. Father, we pray that you'd work in us today. You'd help us to tremble at your word, and yet bring joy, joyful worship, joyful deeds of thanksgiving to you. Father, we ask that you would work mightily by your Word today. And Father, it would bring us no greater joy than to see people saved in our midst today. That they would come, that those who have never bowed the knee before you, perhaps some of our children, or perhaps someone who has for a long time been among us and has not bowed the knee to Christ. or perhaps someone who's here with us for the first time, that they would meet Jesus today in all of His love and His authority, His glory, and His saving power, and they would be born again through faith in Him. Father, we do pray that you would minister to those who are suffering deeply today. Lord, you know every heart. You know all our troubles. You know our weaknesses and our sins. The things that we battle against in our flesh every day. And Lord, I pray that you would grant us healing. You are our healer, Lord. We call upon you to come and to strengthen and to touch our hearts, Lord. And to restore, to build up, to wound perhaps, Lord, but also to bind up and give new life. Father, I pray your word would be powerful in our hearts today. We do pray for the mission of this church, Lord, the mission of this church among our youth, whether that be through the youth ministry. And Father, we thank you for it. We thank you for all the young people that come and for the leaders. I pray that you would strengthen them and use that ministry mightily. Father, whether it be through quizzing and the storing up of God's Word in young hearts and lives, that it would be a lifelong impact and that those verses that they learn would form the foundation of their faith through years and years to come, that it would bear much fruit. Father, we pray that you would be with the mission of Reach All Nations and with Vijay and Abigail and their family, Lord. as they seek to train leaders in India, pastors and teachers, as they seek to minister in the city where they are. Lord, I pray that you would just work mightily there. Father, we think of our persecuted brothers and sisters in various places, especially Afghanistan right now. And Father, how our hearts weep when we hear of some of the brutal tactics that are being leveled against the Church. And how many of them are giving up their lives even more for the sake of Christ. And yet we hear, Father, to our amazement and perhaps even to our shame that in spite of this they are not retreating. They are going forward and that the Church is actually growing. Lord would you strengthen our brothers and sisters there and in so many other places in the world where they feel every day the slander and the malignment and the persecution that is brought against your people. But help them to know your blessing and your joy and your strength in it, that they would in fact find it riches and honor to suffer for the name of Christ. For great is their reward in heaven. Lord, we pray that you would strengthen them and strengthen us, Lord, to be faithful and to carry out your mission and ministry here in Grace Community, where you have called us. And in whatever way you have called us to serve, Father, be merciful to us. Lord, I pray for Ryan as he brings the word this morning. would you strengthen him and accompany him with your spirit. Above all, Lord, receive our worship in Christ's name. It's only in his blood we can come. Wash and cleanse us, and may it be a pleasing aroma to you. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Please stand. Before Ryan Thumbs, we're going to sing two more songs. The Gospel of Grace and the Church With One Foundation. Lord God, to the praise, now before thy beginning, ♪ Our souls to redeem the unfashionable plan ♪ ♪ That holy and blameless man unto his praise ♪ ♪ By right we adopt him to show for his grace ♪ The gospel of grace in the fullness of time. God sent a Redeemer who knew me no crime, would die for my sin, and then conquer the grave. He was given to save. The gospel of grace, he bled dead in my skin. ♪ It told me of Jesus and pointed to Him ♪ ♪ When faith and repentance invaded my heart ♪ ♪ Forgiveness, O pardon, my God, it implied ♪ now rewrites thee each day. In sin and in failure, his favor will stay. For not through self-loathing nor deeds that are done, But only if Jesus accepts this one. The gospel of grace, when I take my last breath, will be my one comfort to bear me through death. ♪ And should I die peaceful or suffer great pain ♪ ♪ This gospel, a church we have built, will remain ♪ ♪ The gospel of praise for eternity gone ♪ ♪ Will be our delight and the theme of thy song ♪ ♪ With saints from all nations of joy to proclaim ♪ ♪ All glory to Jesus, the Lamb who was slain. ♪ ♪ The gospel of grace, O how precious did be, as bread to me. ♪ of my knees. So until the day when I look on your face, for deeply believing the gospel of grace, The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord. She is risen. ♪ To his holy pride ♪ ♪ With his own bloody martyr ♪ ♪ And for her life he died ♪ ♪ He let from every nation ♪ ♪ Yet one for all the earth ♪ ♪ One Lord, one faith, one birth ♪ ♪ One holy name she blesses ♪ ♪ Our days, one holy moon ♪ ♪ And to one hope she presses ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? My citizens, let us love them, my heresies best friends. Let saints their watch are keeping, their cradles around. ♪ And soon the night of weeping ♪ ♪ Shall be the morn of song ♪ ♪ The church shall never perish ♪ ♪ Her dear Lord to defend ♪ guide, sustain, and cherish this river to the end. Oh, Mary, those that made her and those that gave her will. ♪ Against her foe or savior ♪ ♪ She ever shall prevail ♪ ♪ With joy and tribulation ♪ ♪ And to all doubt her war ♪ of peace forevermore. Till with the vision glorious, ♪ The great church victorious shall be the church at rest ♪ ♪ Yes, she on earth hath union with God the three in one ♪ ♪ And share sweet communion with those whose breasts you feed ♪ Amen. Have a seat. Well, good morning. If you're able, please open up your Bibles to 1 Peter 3, picking up from where we left off last week. We'll be reading this morning verses eight through 12. It was my intention to preach through the entirety of this summary section. However, I do have a sneaking suspicion we will probably just look at verse eight, continuing with the theme that has been providentially set for us. Namely, this great love that Christ has for his bride, and how he uses her, actually, to reflect his resplendent glory to the nations. That's through the church, providentially, we read in Matthew 5. That Christ extends his kingdom, that the church, not individuals, but the church gathered, Christ's elect people, are salt. salt is gathered and then spread, that we're a city on a hill, and that as we live righteously, as we live godly lives, others see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven. So I do think we'll focus on verse 8, but please stand for the reading of God's Word. We pray that this reverent posture is not merely outward, but as we stand, we show our reverence for the Word of God, and we would bow not only our hearts, but our wills to what God has inspired for us this morning. Hear now the word of God. Finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may inherit a blessing. For whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. This is God's word. Please remain standing as we pray for a blessing on it. Father, we are so grateful for your word. We're so thankful that in your kindness to us, you not only inspired it through the holy apostles and prophets, but you have preserved it for us, inherent, sufficient, all that we need for life and godliness. And so Father, we have gathered this morning to feed on the living manna May Your Word do its work in our hearts and may it ultimately point to who You are and what You have done for us in and through Your Son. O God, we pray that You would cultivate within us a greater love for Thee, more love to Thee, O Christ. May this be our urge and plea, but Father, would You also give us a greater love for what He loves, His bride. Would You help us to see one another as Christians As Charles read for us providentially from Psalm 45, oh, how glorious is the king in his majesty and his regnant splendor. But oh, how beautiful is his bride who basks in his glory and reflects his generosity and love to those around. And so, Holy Spirit, would you pour out the love of God afresh into our hearts? May we receive afresh and be reminded and stirred up by your love for us, but oh, Lord, that it might result in a greater love for you, Father and Son and Spirit, and also, as we have already seen in 1 Peter, a greater brotherly love, that we might live in such a way together that the world sees and the elect are drawn, and they would glorify God on the day of visitation. Help us to live holy lives together as your people in a contrary, naysaying, dark, depraved, hostile, Christ-hating world that we might be salt and we might be light. Father, help us. This is impossible apart from the new birth, and it is impossible apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So pour out on us a fresh grace upon grace in Christ Father and for his sake and in his name we now ask. Amen. Please be seated. Peter is moving naturally as it were from one household to another. Last week we reminded ourselves that in these application section, or the practical section, if you will, Peter's applying all of the glorious theology that he's laid out for us in chapter one. He turns the corner in chapter two, verse 11, where he addresses these believers as beloved. not merely beloved by Him, but ultimately beloved by the triune God, the Father who foreloved and foreknew them, and the Divine Son who gave His blood for them, that they might enter into covenant, but also the Holy Spirit, who sets them apart for Christ, sanctifies them, and continues to make them into the image of Christ. Beloved, he says, I am urging you in the present tense as sojourners and exiles to do two things. And this is reminiscent of Paul's own strategy for sanctification. Two things, put off Put on, put on, put off. And Peter says here, I want you to do two things. I want you to abstain and I want you to maintain. Clever, they rhyme. I want you to abstain from fleshly passions. And though we have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there's still a battle that wages. The battle of the Holy Spirit who is conforming us into the image of Christ. But there is still resistance in this fallen flesh that still desires its old ways. It still desires to maintain sovereignty on the throne. And so Peter says there's a battle going on, Christian. Not only out there as the world slanders and mocks and reviles you, but a battle within. If you want to win the battle out there as you're slandered and mocked and persecuted, it starts with the battle within. You need to abstain from these old ways, this old conduct that you inherited, this futile conduct, vain conduct, useless conduct that you inherited from your forefathers. I might say you've inherited from your culture in university, that you've inherited, perhaps if you didn't have Christian parents, so you grew up like me, without the tutelage of the word of God. Abstain from these fleshly desires, or as the ESV translates, the passions of the flesh. They wage war against the soul, which the spirit, the true self, is seeking to sanctify into the image of Christ. It's a battle, and it's not easy. And I want to show you this morning that it's a battle, and we need one another. We can't do this on our own. We were never designed to fight in the flesh and against the flesh by ourselves. This is not a solitary battle. We actually need one another. So abstain from those fleshly passions. Maintain your godly conduct. You see that in verse 12, present participle. Keeping your conduct among the Gentiles honorable or literally good. Kalos, he keeps using that Greek word. Why? As you abstain, as you maintain, that when they speak against you as evildoers, or you could translate, though they speak against you as evildoers, seeing your good deeds, they will glorify God on the day of visitation. When Christ comes back, some will receive his return as Christians. Verse six of chapter four, this is why the gospel was preached to those who have now died. that some of them might be saved for when Christ returns. Though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. So understand, living rightly is powerful. Doing evangelism is not just standing out on a corner, preaching Christ and Him crucified. It is that. It's not less than that, but it is much more than that. That we adorn the gospel not only as we proclaim His excellencies with our lips, but we also adorn the gospel, as Peter says in chapter 2, as we live it out and proclaim His excellency with our lives. So chapter 2 verses 11-12 is sort of the thesis statement of the practical exhortational section. And then he talks about how we are to have good conduct under ungodly rulers and leaders, or ungodly masters, or perhaps even ungodly husbands. Last week we saw how husbands are to conduct themselves honorably as the head of the household. So Peter moves from the natural household versus 2.13 to 3.7, to the supernatural household, the church. The church is dear to Peter. You remember in Matthew 16, Jesus says, Peter, God has revealed to you an amazing thing, that I am the Christ, and I've died for my church, and I'm gonna call you Peter. And upon you, I am going to build, not a whole bunch of ragtag individuals, I'm gonna gather out my assembly, my elect, my called out ones. I'm gonna gather them in. For it is through the church that I'm going to reach the world and fulfill the promise of Genesis 12 made to Abraham. So how you live is important, and I do want you to take away this. How you live with your brothers and sisters in the context of a local church is essentially important, vitally, it's not optional. If you love the world, love the church. If you want to do outreach, understand that outreach flows out of in-reach. And so this is how Peter summarizes this practical section. Finally, all of you, if you're using the New American Standard or the LSB, the Legacy Standard, says, now to summarize, totellos, the end. Finally, Peter, the long-winded preacher, not as long-winded as others, but he finally, he puts a little bow on the practical application. Finally, to sum it up, there are five traits that you need to have as a church. Five traits that this new temple is adorned by. Chapter two, verse nine. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood. You are a holy nation, a unique people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Well, this is how we do it together. This is how we show Christ to the world. As Charles was up there leading, I was quickly thinking of the verse that came to my mind. 1 John 4, verse 12. Listen. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. What is John saying? No one has seen Christ. No one will see Christ physically until he returns, as he promised, as the Son of Man descending on the clouds, coming to judge the living and the dead. He is going to return. But until then, no one will see him physically. However, what John is saying, you want to see Christ? You want to see him physically? You will see Christ through his church. Just as the Father sent the Son to reveal Him, John chapter 1. So now the Father and the Son have poured out the Spirit upon whom? The Church to reveal the Son. Yes, imperfectly, I get it. But we have still been commissioned to be the body of Christ, the hands, the feet, the splanchnon, the lips, the heart of Christ. Don't worry, Caitlin, I'll explain that word to you. She's like, what's splanchnon? I'll explain that because it's actually used in this text. But I am still trying to build my case, or maybe Peter's case. The church is important. Finally! Maybe you're not a husband. Maybe you're not a wife. Maybe you don't have a job. Maybe you're young. If you're a Christian, Peter's saying, I gotcha. Here's the drip pan that catches everybody. Nobody gets to wiggle out of this section. Finally, all of you. Literally, finally, everyone. Okay, so please don't say, hey, listen up, husband or listen up, wife. I'm talking to you. Because Peter's addressing all of these sojourners, all of these elect exiles. Matthew Henry says this, thanksgiving is great. And we get to proclaim to the nation's God with our thanksgiving. Thanks living is better. So I'm not saying you have to pick and choose, but if you want to proclaim His excellencies, we do it through thanksgiving. We sing songs of adoration. We praise the Savior now and ever. We lift high the name of Christ in song with our lips, but thanksgiving, says Henry, is even better. We show to the nations. The powerful transforming greatness of Christ through the gospel as it transforms us. As it changes our affections. As we become Christ-like. We begin to love what he loves and hates what he hates. And oh how he hates sin. But you know what he really hates according to Proverbs chapter 6? I learned this from Tony. Chapter 6. There are six things that the Lord hates. Seven are abominations. So six and six. It begins with an inclusio. He hates divisiveness amongst the brothers and those who sow discord. He hates sin, but he especially hates the divisive sin that breaks up his body, which is why many in Corinth were dying as they celebrated, or at least said they were celebrating Christ. Well, not only do we hate what Christ hates as we're conformed into his image, we begin to love what he loves and oh, how he loves his bride. Please don't let people trash talk the church, and please ask for God to forgive you if you fall and pray like me to sometimes disgrace her with your lips. Yes, she's a work in progress, but Christ is washing her, and he's gonna present his bride to himself with glory, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Oh, to see the church as Charles encouraged and exhorted us from Psalm 45, through the eyes of faith and hope. So, let's see then, how do we live together as Christ's people? Yes, we give thanks together, but let us work together for thanks living. Seeing is believing. We need to present to the world an alternate reality, an alternate citizenship, an alternate country. We need to show them through our one anothering as Christ's people that Christ is glorious and Christ is worthy. Christ has called us not to merely receive a blessing. We'll pick up on this probably more next week. Look in verse nine. On the contrary, blessing. For to this you were called. He didn't just call us to be like Pac-Man and just constantly gobble up blessing and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and gorge and eat and gorge and sup and feast We feast on Christ and receive his blessing and then share that blessing. There's that old hymn, blessed to be a blessing. And that's what I think Peter's saying here. Yes, praise God for the electing call that brought you out of darkness. Yes, you were called into his marvelous light. But you're not to keep that light, as we saw in Matthew 5, hidden. Rather you share that light and you share that blessing in the context of a local church which then spreads concentrically outward into a dark and needy world. So blessed to be a blessing and as Nathan was reading I thought This section, at least verse 8, is Peter's brotherly beatitudes. We read about Christ's beatitudes in Matthew 5 this morning. Well, Peter has some beatitudes as well. How are we to be a blessing to our brothers and sisters? How are we going to build them up? How are we going to portray and proclaim Christ to the nations with our thanksgiving, with how we live our lives? Peter is just 5. Please don't think these are exhaustive. But since we're preaching through 1 Peter, I'm going to stick to these five. I'm not going to jump outside too much. But if you want to live in such a way that the nations will see Christ in our midst, that they might see our good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation, here are five. It's a good verse to memorize. Here's how I memorized it, at least in the ESV. Does anyone know what a USB stick is? Maybe I'm not old. Maybe we don't even use those anymore. Hey, I'm almost in my mid-40s, just bear with me, all right? So there's these little things you used to put into your computer that you would save stuff on. It was called a USB stick before the cloud came. Figure out another USB, okay? And then heart, mind. This is what Peter says. Here are five ways that we are to live together. No one has seen God, but as we live this way, people begin to see Christ in us, the hope of glory. Just like 1 Corinthians 13, these are all seen and exhibited and lived out most perfectly in the person and ministry of Christ. And as we are conformed into his image, we should see these increasing in our life. This is a great barometer for your sanctification. Yes, scripture memory is great. Yes, reciting catechisms is fantastic. Yes, quoting psalms and hymns and spiritual songs is fantastic. This is a great barometer. Are these characteristic fruits characterizing you. He's talking to the church with the hopes of winning the world. I'll say it again. Outreach starts with in-reach. Finally, all of you, first, have unity of mind. Or I have here, we are a blessing to God's family first, as we cultivate gospel harmony. Finally, have unity of mind. Let me give you a couple of other translations from this Greek word. The NLT and King James say, be of one mind. That's okay. The legacy standard and the NIV say, be like-minded. Better. I really like the new American standard and the net. Be harmonious. And the Greek word homo, together. Homo. And then phrone, mind. Together-minded is how I would translate it. Or harmonious. It's the only time the Greek word is used in all of the New Testament, but this thought of having the same mind or the same attitude, the same mindset, pervades all of the New Testament. Which made me think, why is this often commanded, or why is this seen as such a virtuous characteristic within the church? Why, right, when you keep repeating to your kids, clean your room, clean your room, clean your room, it's probably not because the room is clean. Right? So be of the same mind, be of the same mind, be of the same mind, have one mind, live in harmony, think one thing. Why do you think that's repeated so often throughout the New Testament? because the church is so often scattered. We're so disparate in our affections and our yearnings and our longings. It's like in Corinth. I'm of Peter, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Christ. That would be me just sort of saying that on Facebook. Hashtag of Christ alone. And Paul says, are you not fleshly? The same Greek word that we're to abstain from, sarkikos. Fleshly is divisive. When they're gathering for the Lord's table, the rich are here and the poor are there, and one's thinking that and one's thinking that. If we are to be building one another up, if we are to display Christ to the nations, it starts with being of the same mind. Or as the ESV just says here, finally have unity of mind. This is important. Let me give you a couple of the examples. Philippians 2.2. Before he says, I want you to have this mind, namely the mind of Christ, Paul says this, fulfill my joy that you think the same way. That's almost identical in the Greek to what Peter says here. That you think the same way by maintaining the same love, being united in spirit, thinking on one purpose. And as we're going to see perhaps, the terrible illustration of euodia and syntyche, they were thinking this, and she's thinking that, and they're over there, and their gospel harmony was disrupted, and gospel ministry was therefore retarded, or slown down, or hampered. Trust me, I'm gonna say what the one thing is, or the one mindset we need to cultivate, but Paul cares about the gospel going out into Macedonia, and so he says, complete my joy, not by filling up the offering plate, fill it by thinking about the same thing and having one purpose. Romans 15, 16, following right after that divisive chapter, right? You eat meat, you eat vegetables, you think this day's most important, I think that day's most important. He says this, now may the God of perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind, or the ESV says, to live in such harmony with one another. He's talking to Christians. According to Christ Jesus. You forget who Christ is? You forget his purpose? You begin to put yourself on the throne and your purpose is ultimate? There's going to be a lot of infighting. You're going to have a really ugly orchestra. All out of tune. All playing solos at the same time. Trust me, I was in guitar bands and rock bands in high school. Ugly, when the bass player's doing a solo and the drum player's doing little fills all the time. No, no, no, no. Stick to the script. When you have the same mind, Paul says, continuing in Romans 15, so that with one accord you may, with one voice, glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1, I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. Last one, there's many more, you can come and see me after. He closes to these divisive Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 13, 11. Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, be restored, be comforted, be like-minded, ta'ato frone'el, does have the same mind here, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. So you should ask, what is the same mind? Over and over, whether in Philippians, or in 1 Corinthians, or 2 Corinthians, or Romans, What's the same mind? It's the same mind that Christ had. Philippians chapter 2. Let this mind set be in you. Let this thinking, same Greek word, be in you, which is yours in Christ, ESV, or which was also in Christ, other translations. Who, though being in the very form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped after or exploited. He gave up himself out of love for the good of those whom he loved, for those the Father gave him. That's the mindset, Christlikeness. So how do you imbibe a Christlike mind? You hang out with him. If I want to become a good electrician, I hang out with John. I start to think his thoughts after him. But I don't get that from neglecting hanging out with John. And so it all comes back. And I'm gonna apply this repeatedly. It's verse two of chapter two. Long for the pure spiritual milk that by you may, what? Grow up into salvation. Or in Ephesians four, grow up into the maturity of Christ. Get in the word of God. Exercise the means of grace like the Lord's table and gathering together and one anothering. This is how we cultivate the one mind. We get to know the one mind of Christ together. When others are vying for supremacy rather than agreeing upon Christ's supremacy, it's a cacophony. So I thought of the illustration of a symphony. I'm not in a symphony, I'm not in an orchestra, but I have seen that what happens at the very beginning, the conductor stands up and what does he do, Hannah? They all tune to the fork, or if he's got perfect pitch, he hums out an E or whatever they hum out. And they all take time. You can hear the violins. Gotta make sure we're all in tune. And they all make sure they're on the same page, right? If Tony's doing a violin solo on page five and I'm still on page two, my bass line is off and it's ugly. And so they're all in tune and on the same page. And I think that's what Peter's saying here. To be of the same mind, to have one purpose, Or as Alistair Begg says, that we all together keep the main thing the plain thing, and the plain thing the main thing. You know what happens when we lose sight of Christ? We start focusing on all kinds of secondary and tertiary, and those are important. But Christ is our unity, Ephesians 2. Not our eschatology. Not our view on gifts of the Spirit. Those things are important, trust me. I have a very strong opinion on all of those things. but we unite together with one mind for the sake of Christ and the advance of his gospel. So I would say the one thing, the one mind we fix ourselves upon is Christ in the gospel. So that's the first thing. Have unity of mind. It'll be hard. If I'm all about end times and you're all about women pastors, Marvin's not, all we're going to do is fight about that. Romans 14 says, welcome one another, but not to disputations. Welcome one another, Romans 15, even as God and Christ has welcomed you in the gospel. So we want to be not just a gospel-centered church on our website, but actually in our life together. That's a powerful witness to the world. It's a compelling community. Excellent book, I commend for anyone to read if they want to see the value and necessity of the local church to the mission of Christ. Second thing, second fruit we might say that we would seek to cultivate is gospel sympathy. Gospel harmony, gospel sympathy. Again, just let your eyes look down at the text in verse eight. Finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy. So put your listening ears on, I'm really gonna impress you with the Greek word here. The Greek word for sympathy is sympathes. Now you're all Greek scholars, you can say that you learned Greek this morning. It's two words, just like every other one of Peter's five traits here, it's made up of two words. Sum, together, or with, right? Husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, why? They are joint heirs with you, or together heirs with you of the grace of life. Sum, okay, that's the same word, together with. Pathes, which just means to feel, or to be affected by. So, sympathy requires being with others. And this morning, I'm always texting myself. Please don't think I'm playing video games in the morning. If you're like, why is Pastor always texting himself on Sunday mornings? It's because ideas come to my mind. And we need to be with one another if we are going to feel with one another, be affected together with one another. Here's a good definition I found last night. Sympathy is feeling what others feel so that you can respond with sensitivity to their need. It's the picture of suffering with another by entering into and sharing their feelings rather than simply by having compassion on them from a distance. Or as Alistair Begg said in the sermon I listened to, we may have pity from above, but we can only sympathize from beside. I like that. You need to be with people, which I want to encourage you. Whether you're a guest here and just visiting and you have another home church, please don't just show up to church out the door. How can we get to know one another? Is Cliff here this morning? Cliff's not here this morning. If you're not in a grace group, can I encourage you to talk to Cliff or Pastor Charles? Right? It's so hard just sort of showing up, getting the information dump, learning a few Greek words, getting yelled at by the pastor and leaving. But when you gather together, oh, when you're with one another, when you see someone opening up their heart about some trial they're going through, the spirit is activated within God's people. And we begin to minister. And so it's impossible to sort of cultivate gospel sympathy in isolation. You cannot do it online. You cannot have this with virtual church. Virtual sympathy is offensive. The sympathetic individual manifests an affinity, association, or relationship with others such that whatever affects one affects the other. 1 Corinthians 12, 26. If one member suffers, says Paul, all the members suffer with it. Remember, it's the body, right? My family knows that if I have a sore neck, everybody knows about it, right? Or if I like chip my toenail or something like that. If one member, this is when the body is functioning as God designed it to. If one member suffers, I know 100% this morning there are many, Christians in this auditorium suffering. And they need sympathy. And as we show that sympathy, the love of Christ is manifested. And we're not trying to show it off to the world, but it's inevitable. You can't hide it under a hill. And the world will say, I wish someone cared for me the way those Christians care for one another. Romans 12, 15, rejoice with those who rejoice. Sympathy is not just shedding tears of pain with others, but also shedding or sharing tears of joy. It's entering in to another's feelings or what is affecting them. So Paul commands the congregation in Rome, rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. It's hard to weep with those when you don't know what is causing them to weep. So can I encourage you? See, this takes a lot of work, right? For the sympathetic God to so identify with his people, The eternal Son of God had to incarnate Himself. Yes, the Lord, the Lord of God, compassionate. The Lord, sympathetic. Yes, true in His nature. But He entered into our own experience. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Right, Hebrews 4 says, He can succour us. He can come alongside us and comfort us and minister to us because He knows what it's like. And we need the body. And it's how Christ ministers to the body. And so I want to encourage us to be that costly church. It takes time, I know. And maybe you don't get to watch Sunday night football, or Sunday afternoon football, or have your Sunday afternoon siesta. I'm not against, I kind of am, against a lot of this. I'm becoming more Sabbatarian lately. Not theologically. Let me just keep on with the note. But it's costly. And I think, so here's a rant. Maybe. I think what we've experienced in the last two years is the fruit of having a low understanding of the Lord's day and the Lord's people. We don't matter if we gather. I'll miss it. No big deal. I'll get them next Sunday. I'll be with them online. I get it. I know not everyone agrees with this. But maybe the reason you disagree with us is because we've bought into this idea that Christianity is all about me. Or maybe an hour for a week, it's the Lord's day. It ain't my day, it's the Lord's day. And he wants to beautify his bride, yes, every day. So let me encourage you, if you struggle with gospel sympathy the way I do, just hang around God's people, and the Holy Spirit will allow you to enter into their sufferings. Pray that God would give you the grace to do that. You have no idea how many people are suffering in our midst. And the pastors have not the ability nor are called to be the only sympathizers in a congregation. We don't have all the gifts. We're not all the body. We're just the annoying mouths. Sympathy is impossible apart from doing life together. But a sympathetic church, when a visitor comes in and senses it, they want that. Gospel sympathy. We sang it two weeks ago when Peter and Zoe left to move to Saskatchewan. We share each other's woes, each other's burdens bear, and often for each other flows the sympathizing tear. Lest be the tie that binds. Third. Gospel affection. Gospel affection. This is the third adjective Peter uses in the plural. Brotherly love. Why didn't you say brotherly love? Oh, because it ruins my alliteration with a shun, but also because I think love is not a good translation for the word used here. Gospel affection. Brotherly, familial affection. New English translation translates Philadelphos as affectionate. Be affectionate to your brothers and sisters. Have you ever heard this? I don't like ya, but I love ya. Hey, I hear that from pulpits all the time. Right, because agape is sort of the love of the will. And whether you feel like it, you still show commitment and sacrifice. And that's true. But there's also this word love. Peter. Do you agape me? Do you? Have you lost me? Jesus uses those interchangeably in John 21, which Charles Providentially quoted this morning. You love me, Peter? Feed what I love. Feed my flock, tend my sheep. But don't you sort of have a little, well, I don't love them, but I'll be, right? That doesn't impress me. My kids or my wife say to you, well, I really don't. Love you much, or I don't like you, but I gotta love ya. That's not what Peter's saying here. This is a supernatural gift. Philadelphos. The King James actually says, love as brothers. I love that, I italicized as. Love as brothers. And it's not perfect in a family, but I had three brothers, and I would die for them. Yeah, we fight and punch each other in the face and put holes in the wall, I get it. But beneath all of that, there is a true brotherly love. And I love to be around my family. And oh, how much more I love to be with my spiritual family. Two of my brothers still are not brothers in Christ. And the Philadelphus I have for them at a natural level pales compared to the Philadelphus I have at a spiritual level. It's something that God gives us. Where do you get that from? Probably get that from chapter one, verse 22. It says here, having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere, for a sincere brotherly love. So when you're born again, God changes your heart and you begin to love the things that Christ loves. Well, Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. I don't see Jesus dragging his heels. Well, I sure don't like her, but I guess I gotta love her. Oh no, for the joy set before him. Yes, receiving that vindication and returning to the presence of God at the right hand. Yes, that was the joy set before him. But Isaiah 53 also says, he looked down the quarters of time and he saw the elect. And he lovingly, affectionately gave himself for her. Oh, if we're being conformed into Christ's image, no more of this. Well, I don't like the church, but I guess I'll love her. Oh, how I like her. Oh, how I love her. Oh, how my inner being is stirred up. And oh, how, like Elizabeth, I jump for joy in the presence of Christ's people. If we come together and sort of just go through the motions, that's not a powerful witness to the transforming power of the gospel. The NLT says love each other as brothers and sisters. It's good to remember that. Yes, they step on your toe, or yes, they sit in your pew, or yes, they take your parking spot in the shade. but they're loved by Christ, and they're your brothers, they're your sisters. He shed his blood for them. See the bride of Christ, like Psalm 45, and your tongue will be full like a ready writer with his pen to transcribe. Yes, Christ is all glorious, but look at the princess, basking in the glory and displaying the wealth and honor of her king. Well, that's the church, and as we do so, we will be a great witness to the word. Peter is using a chiasm here. Chiasm is just simply an X. So you go A, B, C, B, A. And at the center of the chiasm is the most important trait. And I would say this is the foundation for the other ones. So I won't have sympathy or compassion if I really don't love them at a heart level. Does that make sense? Right, you have sympathy, like you cry for those in your family, right? The kids, you know, they'll punch each other's ass, but if something bad happens to one of the siblings, they cry, why? Because they're family. I don't have to be, now be more compassionate. It's already there when you have a brotherly love, a God-given supernatural love for Christ's people. It comes, it flows out of. And so I would say if you're going to memorize only one of them, I would say this is the most important one. I'm not ranking them, but it's the center of the chiasm. When I'm full and I've got a sandwich, you know what I eat? I eat the meat. That's right. All those useless carbs in the garbage. And the meat costs the most. That's how I think. And so yes, have unity of mind. Yes, have sympathy, but oh, pray to God for brotherly love. This is a gift of the Spirit. This is a gift of the Spirit, though we do need to cultivate it. I will say this, the more you hang out with your brothers and sisters, as annoying as they may seem at the outset, the more you'll begin to cherish them and love them, and all the warts and blemishes that you look upon now will fade when you get to see Christ in them, when you see how he's transforming them, when he uses those people to actually minister to you in ways you would have never imagined. So, oh, that you would cultivate Philadelphos. There's a song that came to my mind, and I am betraying my age. When we went camping, my parents would listen to KY-58. You remember that, Heather? No, you're younger than me. You're lots younger than me. But we'd go camping, and it was on the AM dial because you didn't get FM way out in the sticks where you'd be camping. And it would play the Golden Oldies. And last night, this old song came to my mind. It's by the Hollies, written in 1969. He ain't heavy. He's my brother. Now, don't go and read the lyrics. It's just secular rubbish. But there's a truth to it. He ain't heavy. He's my brother. Yeah, the road is long and winding. But I'll carry his burden. Why? He's my brother. She's my sister. And if a secular pagan can write lyrics like that without the Holy Spirit, how much more ought we to live it out by the power of the Spirit? Last thing before we move on. If you were to look in 2 Peter 1, 7, where Peter's saying that you are to grow in these graces and add virtue upon virtue, it's interesting. He says that you add agape to philadelphos. So you add love to brotherly love. I'll let you work that out. I found that quite interesting, that this committed, covenantal love that is willing to do things that are costly flows out of an affectionate love at the heart level, emotional. No stoics here. Come on, Calvinists, stop being so stoic. Shed that sympathetic tear. Love from the heart, truly love them. When we do so, Jesus says, others will know that we follow him. John 13, 34 and 35, a new commandment I give you. Let you what? Love one another even as I have loved you. By this will all people know that you are my disciples. If what? If you have love for one another. If you have love for one another. Remember this, Jesus is praying for it. You can read that in John 17. I pray, Father, that they might have tons of gifts. Nope. I pray that they would have four. Nope. I pray that they may be one, Father, even as you and I are one. I in them, they in me. So as we are one, we display to the world the triunity of God in a way that we just can't explain. Fourth, we're getting there, see, I think we'll just stop in verse eight, but fourth, gospel, compassion. Okay? And in Peter's chiasm, it's almost equatable with sympathy. There's overlap here. Okay, so I'm not gonna spend a ton of time, compassion and sympathy are very similar. Okay, so the first and the fifth, they kind of overlap, the second and the fourth, they kind of overlap, and then brotherly love is the center, out of which I think they flow, or the foundation. Okay, so, gospel compassion. Here you go, Caitlin. You splank nos. Good bowels. Okay, and you've maybe heard sermons about this, maybe you haven't, but Jesus, in Matthew 10, when he sees the sheep, he sees his elect, and he sees what false teachers are doing, and how they're beaten down, and burdened, with all kinds of weights of legalism. It says something happened inside of him. He was moved with compassion. It has to do with this internal churning. I really get this a lot. And it's not from eating lots of hot food. It's when I see someone and I hurt, you know when you get sick to your stomach? Like, I don't know why, I'm just very like that. When I saw these 13 Marines were killed by a bomb blast in Afghanistan, I felt sick to my stomach when I saw the dad crying over his 20-year-old son who was unnecessarily killed. It's not like, oh, I don't know why. I get twisted guts. And Peter says that's a good thing. At a visceral level. So this is just another way of being sympathetic, but having compassion. The NLT and the New King James have it tender-hearted. Be tender-hearted to one another, or be good inside towards one another. Have a soft heart for others who are hurting. It's essential for a thriving gospel community. The opposite is how I would understand this word. Having a hard or calloused heart. And God convicted me of this, because I can have this in my own family. Something will happen, and I'll almost get upset. Like it's infringing upon me. The kid will fall down and skin their knee, and I'm just like, well, use your feet. That's not what God would say. Come alongside them, and enter into their experience, and be tender-hearted. I think that's a good word. Soft-hearted. Gentle-hearted. Be compassionate, especially to those who are suffering. That's how Christ was with us. Splegnizima is used of Christ when he sees his sheep beaten down and suffering. And again, you just have to hang out with them and be around them to enter into that. Lastly, gospel humility. Two words. Te pina fron. It means to be humble-minded, or lowly-minded, or lowly-thinking. Okay? Lowliness of mind. That is, esteeming oneself as less than others. Like Romans 12 says. Like Philippians 2 says. In the Greco-Roman world, humility was not a virtue, but a vice. You wimp! Humble guy. You pansy! Pull your pants up and punch him in the face. Climb to the top, tear them down, ruthlessly get what you need. Not the way it is to be among us. Not so among you. No, we are to see ourselves rightly, says Roman 12. Think right thinking about yourself. Christ on top and you're a servant of Christ and of his people. So though it was a vice by the pagan moralists, they saw something radically different in the church. people esteeming others as more significant, or more important, or more valuable than others. They weren't jumping in line at the Lord's table. They weren't existing to be served, but rather to serve. Seeing others as more important, that's being humble-minded. It's not thinking less of yourself, to quote a preacher, It's thinking of yourself less. And as you're focused on others, humility actually begins to grow. If you're absorbed with yourself, it's very hard. And so Peter says here, you need to cultivate gospel humility. And I think it was in a book written by C. J. Mahaney years and years and years ago, humility is just really seeing yourself rightly in light of who God is. Where then is boasting? It is excluded. You cannot boast in the presence of God, but if you are cultivating the mind of Christ, you will be like Him, meek and lowly and humble in mind. So, let me conclude this with some applications. One, memorize it. USB. Whatever that USB thing that that dinosaur of a pastor uses, it'll help you memorize. Unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, tender heart, humble mind. Pray to God for that. But, You need to understand that these are not things that you can kind of work on like weights, they're inner dispositions that flow out of your heart. Okay, so you can try in your own strength to do this, or you can say that these are a gift of God's grace, that by the spirit he produces in us as we feed on the word. Again, like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk. That's Christ's grace. The way a newborn feeds and grows as he or she feeds on that milk, so too do we grow up into the image of Christ as we feed on His grace. And His grace is given us, yes, in His Word, but also in things like celebrating the Lord's table together, fellowshipping together, obeying Him. So yearn for Christ's grace. It's the milk by which we grow. and we grow up into salvation as we feed on it. Feed on His grace, make means, or make good on the means of grace. Lastly, this has to be a Christ-centered message. All of the attitudes or be-attitudes that Peter gives us are demonstrated and displayed most perfectly in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are called to imitate Him, to follow in His steps. And so go and read the Gospels. How did Christ deal with these foolish apostles who kept getting it wrong? How did He deal with those who were down and beaten? How did He deal with the afflicted and the suffering? And as you're reading it, say, Lord, make me more like my Savior. Conform me into His, Let me follow in his footsteps. As we'll see next week, the reason why we need this is because as the world attacks us, we're actually going to need one another, especially in the days to come. And as we display the glory of Christ in community, it will be a light to the nations. We will be a blessing to a godless community, but it starts with being a blessing in and to God's family. So let's just pray that God would help us to love one another. So powerful a witness when we actually get it. Father, we pray that you, by the Spirit, would shed abroad in our hearts the love that you have for us, but also that this church family would increasingly exhibit and demonstrate and live out these characteristics that were so seen in the person and ministry of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Father, I pray for myself and I pray for everyone here. Would you help us to be one-minded? Would you help us to have a gospel harmony? And Father, I pray that you would also give us a gospel sympathy and a gospel affection, brotherly love. Would you give us tender hearts for those who are hurting? And give us humility, Lord. You resist the proud and give grace to the humble. Father, I pray that as we display Christ-likeness in community, we would be a light to the nations, that they would ask us, what is this hope? And we, knowing the gospel in word and in deed, would be able to give a reasonable defense of it unto them. Lord, it's been a long service. I pray that you would apply as you see fit Help us not to be forgetful hearers, to look at ourselves and immediately forget. Father, I pray that even this week we would seek to apply these, that we would look for ways to live out these very virtues and characteristics. Help us, Lord, we need your help. We cannot do it in our own strength. And with everything, may it be done to the glory and praise of the Lord Jesus Christ. For when he is lifted up, he truly will draw all people to himself. And we ask that He would, for His glory and yours, Father, we ask in His name, amen.