The Quest for Today's Church, Part 3

Thank you, David. Let's pray together. Lord, thank you for today. You are so good to us to give us this opportunity to study your word together. Illuminate us, Lord, that we might truly understand the greatness of your character. Give us wisdom as we apply these truths for our lives. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. The quest for today's church. What is the journey? What is the pursuit of today's church? What journey are we on that we might become the kind of church that God wants us to be here in the 21st century?

Well, it begins with the leadership. There must be integrity that permeates the leadership. Everything begins with the leaders, those who oversee the people of God. Everything in your home begins with the husband, with the father who oversees his family. Everything is about integrity and how it's to permeate the leadership. We talk about integrity, we talk about how a man's life matches what he says, how his walk and his words are equal. Paul would speak about it in Ephesians chapter 4 verse number 1 and 2 when he says that we are to walk worthy of the calling by which we've been called.

In other words, we are to have an equal walk. Our walk with God is to match our position with God. Who we are in Christ is to be lived out, fleshed out every single day. That's what integrity is. Everything that we say matches what we do. That's why we told you that as a father, the greatest thing you can ever do is lead your family to church, a Bible-believing church where the Word of God is taught and lived out. And the second greatest thing you can ever do as a father is to live out church, live out what you learned in church.

Because if you don't live it out, then you lack the integrity to lead your family. See? So it's all about leading your family and living a life that matches. The same is true in the church. That's why when Paul says in 1 Timothy 3 verse number 1 in Titus chapter 1, he talks about that the leaders of the church must be above reproach. They must be blameless. They must be irreproachable. They must be men of integrity. And the very first qualification of that deals with his marital commitment.

He must be a one-woman man. He must be committed to one woman and one woman only, both in mind and body and spirit. Because everything about his integrity hinges on his relationship at home. If your life and ministry doesn't work at home, it doesn't work in the church. And that's why the parallels between the home and the church are so huge in because the church of God is a family. And if you can't lead in your own family, how can you lead in the family of God? That's the emphasis that our Lord puts on leadership.

And so therefore, we must be men and women of integrity. Now, I know that's kind of hard for us to understand looking at our present political situation and those who are running for president in our country. It's an indictment against our country because neither of our candidates have integrity. They just don't. And so you're caught between a rock and a hard place as to who to vote for. Because the bottom line is that neither one of them have integrity. But the good thing about that is that we're not asking them to lead in the church.

We're just asking them to be the president of the country, which is really no big deal when it comes to leadership because leadership in the church outweighs leadership of the country. Leadership in the church is more important than the president of the country. Why? Because the church of Jesus Christ is more important than America. So you have to understand those kind of things. And so we need to get perspective. And so God demands that leaders in the church meet a certain standard, that they qualify to lead the people of God because the people of God follow them.

Like the nation follows its leaders, so in the church, the people follow its leaders. In the home, you follow your father because he is the leader. And so therefore, it's important that we understand integrity. That's why when Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales, he said these words, if gold should rust, what would iron do? For if the priests be fouled in whom we trust, no wonder that the common man should rust. That's really good. I'd say it to you again, but I probably would forget it. It's really good because if the priests that we trust are fouled, no wonder that the common man rusts.

And so we must understand that leadership is absolutely important. And so the quest of any church begins with its leadership. And the leadership must maintain that level of integrity that everything about their life and their lip are absolutely equal, that they live out their Christianity, flesh out the truth of God's holy word. It doesn't mean that they're perfect, no, not at all. But it means that they seek to honor God and glorify his name and to lift him up and to praise him for who he is. So integrity must permeate the leadership.

That's point number two. Then there must be a purity that protects the fellowship, a purity that protects the fellowship. Why? Because our greatest protection is the purity of each individual. That's how we protect the church. That's how we protect the fellowship of the church. That's why when Christ gave his very first instructions to the church back in Matthew 18, before the church was ever born, it was about the purity of the members of the church, because the testimony of the church is only as great as the purity of the church.

So therefore you must maintain that purity. It protects the fellowship. And last week we gave you some principles on how to maintain that purity to live a holy life. I'm going to do it a little differently this week. I'm going to emphasize the same point, but do it a little differently than I did last week to help you understand it all the more, because it's such an important part of the quest of the church. We live in a society that's committed to impurity, not purity. And we as a church need to be able to reach an impure world.

Well, to do that, you must be utterly distinct and different than the impure world. You must live a pure and holy life. So we serve a holy God who is holy, holy, holy. He demands that his people be holy as he himself is holy, perfect as he himself is perfect. Why? Because we're representing him. Right? So how do we represent a holy God living unholy lives? We don't. How do we represent a pure God living impure lives? We don't. So we must seek after purity, seek to live a holy, righteous life for the sake of our God and his kingdom and his glory.

So how do we do that? Well, last week he gave some principles. I'm going to approach it from a different aspect this week. I don't want you to take the word purity, P-U-R-I-T-Y, and write it down the side of your paper, okay? Just P-U-R-I-T-Y. It's an acrostic. Very simple to follow, okay? How do you live a pure life? How does purity reign supreme in your life? Number one, pour yourself into the word of God.

You must pour yourself into the word of God. You can't casually be a part or invested in the word of God. You must pour everything about your life into the word of God. This is where purity begins, right? Talked about this last week. How can a young man keep his way pure? By taking heed to the word of God. That's the only way to do that. And so we must pour ourselves into the word of God. It must be everything about our lives. And I know it's hard because, you know, you have jobs, you work from nine to five, you come home, you got responsibilities.

I understand that. But at the same time, the word of God must be preeminent and paramount in our lives. And we must pour ourselves into the word of God. So we talked about this on Wednesday night. What was it that set Elisha apart from everybody else? Because they go to war, the king of Edom, the king of Israel, the king of Judah. So you have Jehoram, who's the king of Judah. You have Jehoshaphat, who's the king of Israel, and you have the king of Edom. And they go to war and they run out of water.

And they're in the middle of the desert. And they're going to die. So what do they do? Jehoshaphat, the king of Israel, says, is there a prophet among us? Well, the king of Jehoram, his servant, says, well, yeah, Elisha's here. Elijah's servant, the one who used to pour water on his hands. Elisha's among us. And the question comes, how did Elisha get there? No one knows because the story didn't tell us. But he's a part of the armies. Because he knows that Elijah was not just my father and my father, but the chariots of Israel and its horsemen.

He was the protector and provider of Israel. So now Elisha is going to take up the mantle and carry that. Now he is the provider and protector of Israel. So he's among Israel's armies. And so the servant says, yeah, there's Elisha. He's here. And Jehoshaphat says these words in 2 Kings chapter 3, verse number 12, the word of the Lord is with him. Remember that? If you're with us on Wednesday night, that's such a powerful statement. The word of the Lord is with him. That's just so profound. Just to contemplate that, just to take a moment and think, is the word of the Lord with me?

Because it was with Elisha. And isn't it interesting that when there is a turmoil, the kings go to the man that's described as the word of the Lord is with him. Because only the word of God has the answer to man's dilemma. That's it. Nothing else does. So you must be a man or a woman who's characterized by the word of the Lord is with them. Because when there's a crisis, your children need to know where to go. Your grandchildren need to know where to go. Your employer needs to know where to go, who to talk to because the word of the Lord is with you.

And Elisha was that kind of man. And the New Testament equivalent is Colossians 3.16, where we are to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. Let it be at home in our hearts. Don't let God's word become a stranger to your life. Right? So many times God's word becomes a stranger to us instead of being a part of every aspect of our lives. Elisha was that kind of person. So they would go to that man. And remember we gave you some principles that would help you understand whether or not the word of the Lord is with you.

I'll give them to you again because I think they're very important. Number one, you hear it. You hear it continually. Right? Bless this man who hears the word that I have spoken to him. Revelation 1 verse number three.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says. You hear it continually. You heed it completely. Everything you hear, you obey. You heed it completely. Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep the words of this book. Revelation 1 verse 3. That's why Christ said, be careful how you hear. Be careful what you hear. Be careful how you listen because you have to do everything you hear. So you hear it continually. You heed it completely. You handle it carefully. Second Timothy 2 verse 15.

You handle it carefully. Instead of to show yourself a prudent, a God of workman, that you need not to be shamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Handle it correctly. You've got to handle it correctly. Handle it carefully. You've got to hide it closely. Psalm 119, 11. You treasure it in your heart. You've got to hold it forth clearly. Philippians 2, 16, because we are the children of God and we are shined forth as children of the light by holding forth the word of truth. You ought to hold it forth clearly.

You ought to honor it consciously and conspicuously because you hold it higher than anything else in life and you are to hope in it constantly. Psalm 119 speaks about the fact that we are to hope in God's word. You see, to maintain a pure and holy life, God's word is everything. You set God's word aside, it becomes a stranger to you. Your purity will be compromised. You must be in the word of God constantly. You must be under the word of God. You must be in the word of God. You must be, have a constant diet of the word of God.

When you go to work, turn the word of the Lord on your radio. Stop, listen to music, okay? Turn on the word of God. Stop, listen and talk radio. Turn on the word of God. Listen to it. If you've got a 30 minute commute, a 45 minute commute, an hour commute, a two hour commute, put a CD in there. Listen to the word of God. Let it infiltrate your mind. We just put our mind in neutral so many times and think about things that so frivolous and don't matter. But listen to the word of God, be under the word of God, be in the word of God, make it be a part of your life so it doesn't become a stranger to you.

Because if you don't pour yourself into the word of God daily, what's going to happen is that you will begin to compromise your purity. And therefore we can't afford to do that because it protects the fellowship. So you pour yourself into the word of God. And number two, you, you understand the choice in temptation.

Understand the choice in temptation. Listen, every day you make choices, right? Every day you make a choice and you're either going to choose to serve God or serve yourself. You're going to choose to honor God or choose to honor yourself. So you must understand that every day there are choices you make. You either choose purity or you choose impurity. You choose holiness or unholiness. You choose to succumb to temptation or you choose to resist temptation. Okay. God has given you all the tools, all the resources you need to overcome temptation.

You can blame it on whatever you want to blame it on. Okay. It doesn't hold water with God because he's given you everything you need to overcome temptation, but you must understand the choice. And let me explain that choice to you, because you make this choice every single day.

You can go back and examine yesterday and the last week and last month. You can use it in light of what's going to happen this week, but you're going to make a choice. Okay. Every man, every woman has at the core of their being a longing, a thirst, a desire. Okay. And when temptation comes our way, we either choose pleasure or choose pain. Pleasure is temporary and pain is temporary, but you're either going to choose the pathway of pleasure or the pathway of pain. It is temporary pleasure versus temporary pain.

Why? Because it was Moses who chose the pathway of pain to endure ill treatment with the people of God, rather than the passing pleasures of sin for a season. So there's a pathway of pleasure and there's a pathway of pain. Pleasure always ends in pain and pain always ends in pleasure, because at thy right hand are pleasures forevermore. There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death, not life. Right? So that's why we call it the path of temporary pleasure or the path of temporary pain.

If you choose temporary pleasure, you'll end up in pain. If you choose temporary pain, you'll end up in pleasure. Joseph chose the pathway of temporary pain. He ended up having and reaping all kinds of pleasure. David, King David, chose the pathway of pleasure. He ended up in having a family filled with pain. See? So you must understand there is a choice that we make. And so when temptation comes your way, what is your choice? Do I choose to glorify God, which is the pathway of pain, temporary pain, or do I choose to glorify myself, which is a pathway of temporary pleasure?

Because it never lasts. It's the passing pleasures of sin for a season. Listen, sin is pleasurable. If it wasn't pleasurable, it wouldn't be called a temptation, but it's pleasurable. So you've got to choose. Am I going to choose pleasure and honor myself, or am I going to choose pain and honor God? Because it's painful to make the right decision, because you're going to reject someone, you're going to reject something, you're going to turn your back on someone or something, and therefore you're going to experience all kinds of hardship and difficulty, like Joseph did, like Moses did.

Or you choose the pathway of pleasure, like David did, and indulge in the pleasure for a season. But the ways are always death, not life. So you need to understand the choice in temptation. You want to live a pure life? Pour yourself into the Word of God. Pour yourself, your whole life, into the Word of God. Look for opportunities to hear the Word of God. Look for opportunities to study the Word of God. Look for all the opportunities to be in the Word of God. Don't pass up opportunities to be in the Word of God, because that's what lasts forever.

Why would you want to engage yourself? I'm surprised at the number of people who want to stay home on Wednesday night and listen to the debates, or listen to the Word of God. Think about it. Think of the things that are pure, and true, and holy, and lovely, and of good report, or think of the things that are sinful. Because everything about the debates centers around the sinful behavior of the two candidates. You see, we think of things, and we don't understand the implications of them long-term in terms of our mind and the cleanliness of our minds.

We need to think on things that are true, and pure, and holy. We need to be the kind of people that others can say, oh, the Word of the Lord is with her. The Word of the Lord is with him. Let's go ask them. They know, because they know the Lord. See, the Word of the Lord is with them. Wouldn't it be great if that was on your tombstone? The Word of the Lord was with him. Wow, wouldn't that be great? The Word of the Lord was with her. Wow, that would be just a marvelous eulogy or epitaph that could be written across your tombstone.

The Word of the Lord was with this guy, because that person understood God, knew God, lived with God, walked with God, talked with God. That was Elisha. The Word of the Lord was with him. We need to pour ourselves into the Word of God, understand the choice in temptation. What's the next letter? R. Renew your mind. Okay? Paul says in Romans 12, verse number 2, and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. That word transform, metamorphous, is used four times in the New Testament.

Twice when it comes to the transfiguration. Not a transfiguration, when Christ unzipped his flesh and he was transfigured before them. That is, they saw the inside of the Lord. The glory of the Lord was shined forth. Okay? There was a metamorphosis that took place. Okay? That's two usages. The third usage is in Romans 12, be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

And the fourth usage is 2 Corinthians 3.18. So turn with me to 2 Corinthians 3, verse number 18. This is the fourth usage of the word metamorphosis in scripture. Okay? 2 Corinthians 3.18. But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord are being metamorphosized, being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. Wow. When you look into the mirror, this right here, this book is called the mirror. When you look in the book, the mirror of God, what you see is the glory of the Lord, the beauty of the Lord, the brightness of the Lord.

So when Moses was alone with God on top of the mountain and came down at the 40 days, spending alone time with God, his face was shining like the sun. How many times do you spend time with God so that when your family sees you, your countenance has changed? Your countenance reflects your heart's condition. Your face is a reflection of the beauty and character of God. And so Moses would come down at the mountain, his face would shine because he spent alone time with the Lord God. Paul says, listen, when you with an unveiled face, behold it as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, the beauty and brightness and bigness of the Lord, the character of God, his attributes, his nature.

What happens is that you are being metamorphosized. You are being transformed from the inside out because the word of God doesn't deal with the external as much as it does with the internal, because once it fixes the internal, the external changes. And so it deals with the inside of a man, the inside, the heart, the soul of a man. And so therefore, when you behold as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, we are being transfigured. We are being transformed into his image. How? By the spirit of God. Remember Stephen in Acts chapter six, they, they said in Acts chapter six, that he was filled with grace and with power.

And his enemy said that his face would shine like the sun when they confronted him. Why? Because he was so filled with the spirit of God. So that when he spoke the word of God, they were so infuriated with him, they dragged him out of the city. They stoned him to death. And as he looked up into heaven, what did he say? He was transformed, transfigured on the inside out. He said, Lord, hold not this charge against them. He offered forgiveness to his persecutors because he was like the Christ, because he was so much filled with grace and power.

Everything about his external being changed because of what was happening on the inside of him. That's why the apostle Paul says in Colossians three, verse number 10, put on the new man that is being renewed in knowledge. In order for us to be renewed and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, the renewal of the mind takes place through the knowledge of the truth of God's holy word. So therefore, as you are pouring yourself into the word of God, you will become very sensitive to the choices you make in temptation to resist it or to succumb to it.

But as you renew your mind, you are being transformed on the inside out. And that's why the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4, verse number 16, Paul says, though our outer man is decaying, our inner man is being renewed day by day.

Because there's a renewal process that takes place in the life of the believer. As he is invested into the word of God, the spirit of God renews that person's life. That's why the Bible says in second Timothy three, 16 and 17, that the word of God is truly God breathed into existence.

And it's profitable for everything, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction of righteousness, so that the man of God will be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work. See, that's what God's word does. And so as we pour ourselves into the word of God, as we understand the choice in temptation, as we renew our minds daily, what happens is that my life becomes more and more like the God I say I love and serve. What's the next letter? I. Involve yourself in accountability.

Proverbs 27, 17, as one man sharpens another, as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Involve yourself in accountability. Now listen carefully. When I talk about accountability, I talk about the standpoint that every man needs to be held accountable to his wife. I really believe that. Accountability to another man, to another man, isn't nearly as stringent and strong as being held accountable to your wife, because she knows you. You can pull the wool over another man's eyes, because it's another man.

See, women think differently than guys do. Women see things differently than guys do. You can hold yourself accountable to another man, and you might want to do that, and that's probably a good thing to do, but the best thing to do is to hold yourself accountable to your wife who knows you the best, so that she knows what you do, where you go, who you spend your time with, who your conversations are with, and that is iron sharpening iron at its highest point, because she's going to ask you tougher questions than any other man is going to ask you.

And therefore, your highest level of accountability comes within the structure of your family unit. Very important to understand that. And so if you involve yourself in accountability, because listen, this is what you do. You can make someone accountable. If you make someone accountable, what's going to happen is if they want to sin, they're going to find ways around that. But if they willingly put themselves under accountability, they want to be held accountable. They want you to know what's happening in their life.

They are concerned about their purity, and they're concerned about the effect of their life on everybody else. They really want to be checked. That's a good thing. So involve yourself in accountability. Pour yourself into the Word of God. Understand the choice of temptation. Renew your mind. Involve yourself in accountability, and husbands, do it primarily with your wives. And if you don't want to do that, then your wives need to come see our elders. We'll talk to your husband about that. Guaranteed, we'll talk to him about that, because we're concerned about that in your own life.

We don't want you hiding things from your family. We don't want you hiding things from your wife, because purity protects the fellowship, and purity at home translates into purity in the church. So therefore, it's important for you to understand that God wants us to be as pure and clean as He is pure and clean. What's the next letter? T. Take drastic measures. Whatever measures are possible. We talked about this last week. If your right eye offends you, pluck it out. If your right arm offends you, cut it off.

Take whatever drastic measures you need to take to make sure you don't succumb to sin. Maybe it's getting rid of a relationship. Maybe it's getting rid of a possession. Maybe it's getting rid of your route to work. Maybe it's going another way to work. Maybe it's doing something. Take whatever drastic measure is possible, because your purity is more important than anything else. What measures will you take to maintain that kind of life? And then why yield to the Spirit's control? Because without the Spirit, you can't do anything, John 15, verse number 3, right?

Walk in the Spirit. You will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. How do you walk in the Spirit? You walk spiritually as you walk physically, one step at a time. You depend upon the Spirit of God every moment of every day, dependent upon the Spirit with your thoughts, your words, your actions, the things you do, the things you say, the places you go, the people you see. Everything is dependent upon the Spirit of God. Lord, God, I can't do this. Like King Jehoshaphat said in 2 Chronicles chapter 20, Lord, we do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.

We have no idea what to do, Lord, but our eyes are solely fixed upon you, because you know the answer, you have the power, and you can defeat this great enemy before us. That's the mark of a man of God. He doesn't know what to do, but his eyes are upon the Lord God of Israel. Yield to the Spirit's control. See, I'm concerned about the purity of our church. I really am. I'm concerned about the purity of the church at large, but I pastor this church, and I'm concerned about the purity of the members here, because it is our greatest protection in the fellowship.

And if we can understand that, and we can apply that to our lives, boy, I tell you, it's a rich place to be, a rich place, a clean place, a holy place. And that's what we want to have at Christ Community Church. This is why, this is our quest, our journey, our pursuit. This is the direction we're going. We want an integrity that permeates the leadership. We want a purity that protects the fellowship. And then, number three, we want a ministry, a ministry that penetrates the membership.

That's point number three, a ministry that penetrates the membership. You want a personal ministry, you want a public ministry, and you want a powerful ministry. You want a personal ministry by examining one's sinfulness. You want a public ministry by exercising one's giftedness. And you want a powerful ministry by exhibiting God's holiness, a ministry that penetrates the membership. And it begins with a personal ministry, an examination of my sinfulness. And this is a takeoff from point number two, a purity that protects the fellowship.

And that is, we ask, the psalmist said, Psalm 139, right? Lord, try me, see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way of righteousness. The psalmist says, Psalm 26, Lord, vindicate me, judge me according to my integrity, see if there be any evil in me. Why? Because that's where the ministry of the church begins. It begins with us examining our own sinfulness. That's why in 1 Corinthians chapter, or 2 Corinthians chapter 13, remember 2 Corinthians chapter 13, Paul says these words in verse number five, 2 Corinthians 13, verse number five, Paul says this, test yourselves to see if you are in the faith, examine yourselves, or do you not recognize this about yourself that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you fail the test.

You see, there's a self-examination to match my life in line with the word of God. That's the standard. So Paul says, test yourself, prove yourself, examine yourself to see if Jesus Christ is in you. Do you pass a test or fail the test? And then over in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, when you partake at the Lord's table, 1 Corinthians 11, he says this in verse 28, but a man must examine himself. And in so doing, he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For if he eats and drinks, for if he eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly for this reason, many among you are weak and sick and in number sleep.

But if we judged ourselves rightly, we will not be judged. In other words, examine your life. That's why we celebrate the Lord's table every month, because we want you to go through self-examination. Where do I stand with Christ? Where do I stand with my brother in Christ that I might live the life that honors him? See, there's that self-examination. That's that personal ministry where I look inwardly based on what God's word has said and ask, Lord, is there a wicked way in me? Because you see, a heart's deceitful.

It's desperately wicked. No man can know it, but God knows it. So I examine my life in light of what the word of the Lord says. That is so important. That's why Hebrews 12, verse 15 talks about a root of bitterness springing up within you, thus defiling many. That is such an important thing. Be careful that an evil root of bitterness does not well up within you and thus affected everybody you come in contact with. We forget that. A number of years ago, I was talking to this individual, and they were so bitter with the Lord, so bitter because they hated the doctrine of election.

I'm like, how can you hate that doctrine? God has chosen you from eternity past. How can you hate what God has done to choose you? And they hated it because they had a family member that wasn't saved. And so they couldn't believe that God would not choose one of their family members for salvation. So I said to them, well, how do you know, are they dead yet? They said, no. I said, well, how do you know they haven't been chosen yet? How do you know that? If they're still alive, you don't know. So you keep preaching the gospel.

You keep telling them the truth. You don't know. God knows that. We don't know that. If they're still alive, there's still hope that they've been one of the elect. They've been chosen by God. So keep preaching the gospel to them. Well, this person wouldn't do that. I said, why not? Well, you know, they're an adult now.

They're an adult now. They can make their own decisions. I said, I understand that. So answer me this question. Your son, your daughter, they grow up, they're adults, right? And when they say to you, hey, could you help me watch my kids? Do you say to them, no, you're an adult now.

Figure it out. I watched my kids. You watch your kids. Do you say that? Well, she said, no, I don't say that. Why not? They're adults now.

Let them take care of themselves. If they come to you and say, you know, I need some help financially to get into our new home. Would you help me out? What do you say? Do you say, no. Figure it out yourself. You're an adult. Figure it out yourself. I had to figure it out myself. Nobody helped me. Help yourself. You're an adult now.

Figure it out. But you see, you won't say that. So why would you say it when it comes to spiritual matters? You're an adult now.

I'm not going to interfere. Really? Seriously? You're going to involve yourself in things that don't matter, taking care of the kids, the grandkids, helping them buy a house? Or are you going to be involved by saying, you know what? Spiritually, you're on your way to hell. Let me direct you in the right way as to what God says.

Preach the gospel to them. Tell them the truth about life and death. Tell them the truth about eternity. See, why won't we do that? Just because you're an adult. Let me tell you something.

If you're a mother, you're always a mother. Do you stop being a mother once they get married and have kids? My mom is still my mom. My dad was still my dad, as long as he was alive. He's dead now.

But when he was alive, he was my dad, right? He didn't cease being my dad because I got married and had my own kids. And so you got to realize that you are still a parent and you must perform parental responsibilities and duties. Don't be negligent in your spiritual responsibility. You can be negligent in your physical responsibility because they're married. They should take care of their own house. They should do that. And they should take care of their own kids. You did. They should learn that.

I'm not against helping out your grandkids or helping out your kids. But what I'm saying is don't neglect the spiritual emphasis. You're still a parent. Are you still a Christian? I mean, come on, you can't divorce Christianity from parenthood. You're still a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. The number one heart, I think, in your heart must be the spiritual condition of those in my family.

And nothing should hinder you in pursuing that element because that's what matters. And so all that to say is that there's this personal ministry that we have that examines my sinfulness and my being all that God wants me to be. Am I honoring God in my life? Am I honoring God with my purity? Am I honoring God in my family? Am I putting God on display? That's the personal ministry. And then there's a public ministry where we not just examine our sinfulness, but we exercise our giftedness. We have a gift.

And so we exercise the giftedness within the body. Remember, it's a ministry that penetrates the membership. Well, my ability to exercise my giftedness comes because I've examined my sinfulness. I'm a clean vessel. Therefore, I can be used by God in a mighty and powerful way. That's why Robert Murray Shane said that a holy minister is an awesome weapon in the hand of God because God wants to wield pure instruments. And so I want to be able to exercise my giftedness in the church by helping others grow spiritually.

That's why Peter says in 1 Peter 4.10, if you have a speaking gift, speak the utterances of God. If you have a serving gift, serve with the power by which God supplies. You either have a speaking gift or a serving gift, a support gift, because you're involved in the body of Christ. We talked about this earlier, but spiritual gifts are so important to understand how God wants to use you in the church to help others come to Christ. That's why Hebrews 9 says this. I love this. Hebrews 9 verse number 14, verse 13, for if blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling, those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh.

How much more would the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Did you get that? Why are you cleansed from dead works? So you will serve the living God. That's why those in Thessalonica turn to God from idols in order they might serve the living God. Where are you serving the living God today? You should be serving him in your home. Yes, you should, but you should be serving him in your church as well.

You're to serve the living God. It's him you serve, and therefore we exercise that giftedness in the body of Christ that we might begin to build up the body, that they might be a part of the ministry of Christ. You know, when Marcus got up here today to talk about prison ministry, you know, he and his wife, you know, got married not too long ago, and they're new to our church, but they want to be involved in the ministry of the church, exercising their giftedness in this particular area, prison ministry.

See, that's important, and then getting other people involved in that ministry as well, that they might present the gospel to lost people. You might not be involved in prison ministry, or you might not be involved in some kind of outreach to Russia or Uganda, but you can be involved in serving our children or serving in some capacity in our church, whether it's a teaching ministry or serving ministry. You can be involved in all kinds of ministries, but you need to be able to exercise your giftedness for the glory of God, because you're serving Him.

It's a ministry that penetrates the membership. It's a personal ministry, happens through the examination of my sinfulness. It's a public ministry, which happens through the exercise of my giftedness, which equates into a powerful ministry, because it exhibits God's holiness, a powerful ministry. That's why Peter says over in 1 Peter 2, verse 11, Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul. That's the personal ministry. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may, because of your good deeds as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

You see, you're going to exhibit God's holiness. That makes you involved in a very powerful ministry, because in the thing that they slander you for, they are able to see the beauty and glory of God. And that's why it says in Acts chapter 4, verse number 13, about Peter and John, that they observed that these men had been with Jesus, because something about their nature, something about their character, something about their personality, something about the way they conducted themselves was so uniquely different.

It was just like Jesus's was. And that caused them to take notice. My friends, listen. There needs to be a powerful ministry exhibited in and among us as a church. That happens if there's a personal ministry and a public ministry happening. If there's an examination of my sinfulness and an exercise of my giftedness, there'll be an exhibition of God's holiness. And that ministry needs to permeate every single one of us. This is our quest. This is our journey. This is what we pursue. We want an integrity that permeates the leadership.

We want a purity that protects the fellowship. And we want a ministry that penetrates the membership of our church. And our God's people said, thank you so much for coming. Have a great day. You are dismissed.