Relationships and Our Responsibility — Matthew 22

0:07 Good morning. Before I really get into my message, I just wanna say what a blessing the breaking of bread was this morning. The Holy Spirit is pretty cool sometimes because all day yesterday, I had that song when I survey the wondrous cross stuck in my head and then Devin calls it out this morning and this morning on the way to church, I was singing in the car to myself in Manuel's land and then my uncle Todd and mister Bingham referenced it as the last song in the breaking of bread. It's just really cool to see. Alright.

0:36 Let's open in a word of prayer. Dear Jesus, I thank you for this day and for this time that we have to come together and preach your word. Pray that the words I speak would be from you and that they would be understandable and that your message would be gotten across today. And I pray that for Jeremy as well as he's speaking that we would have clarity and, freedom of speech. Pray this in your name.

1:01 Amen. So a couple months ago, like a month and a half ago, John texted me and Jeremy asking us if we wanted to speak. We tried to work it out with schedules. There was a lot of confusion between Jeremy going to The UK, other various traveling things. We ended up picking today and we did give Devin the boot.

1:18 Sorry Devin. You'll get a chance on. We talked to each other after we said yes. Within about three minutes of talking to each other, we realized we had had pretty much the same idea for what we wanted to talk about. After realizing that, we decided that was probably a pretty good indication for picking that as a topic of of choice.

1:41 And I'm not gonna lie to you guys. My message might sound a lot like the review of the June speakers, but I promise you that I did have my outline set before I heard their messages. So again, you're gonna have to take that one up with the Holy Spirit working through and orchestrating the messages. So you guys all know my brother Jacob. He's an engineer.

2:02 He works at, Parker. And one of his roles at that company is the company will give him a problem and he has to solve that problem. And a lot of times that requires him to create a machine or a tool that is new and unique that will solve that problem. And if that tool or machine has a problem, then He knows better than any other person in that company how to solve that problem because He's the one that created it. He's the one that caused it to come to being.

2:29 And in a similar way, God knows us at that level. He knows what we need. He knows all of our problems. He knows exactly what we need to survive, and He provides for us. He solves our problems.

2:41 We're going be looking at a lot of different passages today, But the first one is Genesis one twenty nine through 31, and it's talking about how God provides for our physical needs. It says, then God said, I give you every seed bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food and to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground. Everything that has the breath of life in it, I will give every green plant for food, and it was so. So here we just see how God provides for all our needs physically, but he also provides for all of our needs spiritually.

3:19 And we can see this in Philippians four nineteen. And in Philippians four nineteen, what it says, And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. So we have established that God knows us and knows our needs and provides for us. But before we go on, I'm going to need a little crowd participation. So by a quick show of hands, raise your hands if you are married.

3:51 Got a good amount of people in here. Now raise your hands if you have siblings. Most everybody's hands goes up. Raise your hand if you have made an important friend in your life through the church. And now lastly, just to get everybody's hands up, is raise your hand if you have parents.

4:15 Put your hands back up if these relationships are important to you. Keep your hands up or put your hands up if these relationships have always, or any one of these relationships has been perfect, there's nothing that's ever gone wrong in that relationship. Nobody? Okay. Put your hands up if these relationships matter to you and you want to improve Relationships seem to be a pretty important part of our life.

4:45 I know Bob talked about this a lot in June, but I think that my focus is different enough that I'm going to give it a shot. But I do want to read, part of his key passage, which was Matthew 22, 34 through 38. And it says, but when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him and saying, teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus replied, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

5:45 It requires a 100% full commitment. It brings to focus a statement that you cannot have two masters because that if you are serving Jesus and loving him as you intended, there is literally no room in your life to give love to something else other than him. And sometimes we do have problems in our relationships. But I would... Hold on.

6:14 Going to the second part of that... Or the second part, and it's the second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. And this one is convicting because we all know how much we love ourselves. And it can be hard to love someone else like that, especially if you don't like them. Because it's gonna be real.

6:28 Jesus acknowledged that sometimes you're not gonna be able to get along with all men, he says to get along as far as you are able. But I would posit that that is impossible to get along with people in your life unless you are following the first commandment. That is why he puts the first commandment there, is you have to have that love for the Lord. And then that will give you that ability to give that love to others. He does not force us to have healthy relationships.

6:52 It is a choice that we have to make for ourselves. And one of the most important areas to build relationships is in the church. We're not physical brothers and sisters, but we are connected by something much more powerful than that, the blood of Christ and the Holy Spirit. The church, which is the body of Christ, is one way that God provides for our relationship needs. Even though we are all separate individuals, God puts us together in one body through the baptism of the spirit.

7:22 So I'm gonna look at first Corinthians 12 and we're gonna start in verse 12. And it says, Just as a body through the one has many parts but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one spirit so as to form one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free, and we were all given the one spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. And then there's a couple verses in the middle talking about how one member is not more important than another and each plays its own role.

7:59 But based on time, I'm not going to read those. So moving on to verse 24. And it says, While our presentable parts need no special treatment, but God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body but that its part should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

8:25 God did not save us for us to go our separate ways and try to walk the Christian walk on our own. God knew that we would stumble on our walk. And having the body of Christ to support us and refresh us makes it so much easier to get back up on our feet and walk worthy of the calling. The body does not function as intended if we are stirring up division amongst ourselves and not getting along with others. We are brothers and sisters in Christ and we should be encouraging, admonishing, and exhorting one another to good works.

8:57 I know that I personally have been blessed by many members in the body who serve different roles but are all impactful. In my youth, Mrs. Morrison gave so many great stories that built... That focus on Christ like principles that built a solid foundation in my life. In recent years, Andy has been instrumental in mentoring me and helping me face life's challenges through a biblical perspective.

9:19 Don and Kathy Morris recently gave a five week teaching on moral purity, and they were only able to do that because they had the credentials that were given to them by a life lived for Christ. And then on a practical standard, you have people like the Horsemans who come in every single week and clean this building and make sure that it's ready for us to come here and worship God. You have the Binghams. I don't think I see them here right now. But Jim and his boys that come here and do the lawn and make sure that it's care for everybody.

9:46 We have all these different roles in the church. And together we work as one body and it truly is a beautiful picture of Christ working in our lives and giving us what we need to be good Christians. Now our key passage today is Colossians one fifteen through 19. And it's not really my key passage because it's where I take the most amount of content from. It's my key passage because it's so important in establishing the deity and worthiness of Christ.

10:36 It says, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authority. All things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church.

11:03 He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead so that in everything he might have the supremacy. There is many messages worth of content to unpack from these five verses. So I'm going to focus, as I said, on Christ's sovereignty and worthiness as the head. Verse 15 talks about how he is the image of God, the physical representation of God's love who came to the earth to preach the word, die, and be resurrected on the third day to save us from our sins. He is also the firstborn over all creation.

11:35 Now, firstborn in the Bible has several translations. It could be used literally to represent, like, Jesus being the firstborn son of Mary. It can be also used to talk about how Israel was God's firstborn or in Exodus four twenty two. But it is also used in Psalm 8nine 27 to designate supremacy or superiority, which is almost certainly what it means here. He existed before creation and has supremacy over it all, including us.

12:03 Now verse 16 talks about how through him everything was created on earth and in heaven. Some people dispute that he created some things but not everything. This verse clearly demonstrates that by him all things were created, both visible and invisible. If he didn't... This is super important because if he did not create everything, then he does not have authority over everything and this threatens his deity and godhead.

12:27 And verse 17 just hammers this point home with a really cool use of the present tense use of is and not was. The present tense is used throughout the Bible to reference God's timelessness, like in God saying at the burning bush that I am. And finally, verse 18 really describes his position as the head of the body and how he is from the... The firstborn from the dead who will die no more. And because of this, he has the supremacy and preeminence in everything.

12:55 Not some things, but in everything. This includes the church and our relationships with each other in the body. This preeminence is so important because he is the head of the body and a body with no head cannot survive. We must have him as our first love and priority in the body if the body and our relationships are to thrive. There's a couple verses in Ephesians that really talk about how he is the head of the body.

13:20 Ephesians one twenty two says, He puts all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Ephesians four fifteen and sixteen talks about how he... But speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. And Ephesians five twenty three, for the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. We have each been given a role by the spirit in the body for the common good.

14:06 First Corinthians twelve seven mentions, but the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. If we live out these rules and build these relationships, then the body will be healthy and function as the way God intended. But if we try to do this on our own without Christ, then we are doomed to failure. Andy Morris, in his message on Mother's used a picture of a triangle in reference to relationships. You have two people at the bottom and God at the top.

14:35 And as they go closer to God, they will go closer together in their relationship. And it really is a great picture to show how you have to have that focus on God for your relationships to work because we are just fallible humans. But how do we turn to Christ and make him our focus? First John one six through seven says, If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin.

15:14 If we walk in the darkness, we are then... We are not walking with Christ. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another. This is easier said than done. But when I read this verse, the first thing that came to my mind was everybody's favorite VBS slash Awana song, which is obedience.

15:32 And it's specifically the second verse. And my uncle Todd is great at bringing this song to life, but I'm just going to read out the second verse real quick. It says, we want to live pure. We want to live clean. We want to do our best, Sweetly submitting to authority, leaving to God the rest.

15:49 Walking in the light, keeping our attitude right on the narrow way. For if we believe, the word we receive, we always will obey. And at this point, I'm not going make you guys stand up. It's o b e d I n c. But then it says that obedience is the very best way to show that you believe.

16:06 These are basic principles of Christianity that we need to turn to. One thing that keeps us apart from Christ is our lack of obedience to his word and the precepts that he has laid forth. Disobedience stems from a lack of faith and love. In John fourteen fifteen, Christ said to his disciples, if you love me, keep my commandments. And there's a really cool logical chain that flows from the passages that we have looked at today.

17:04 And it's just a really cool way of how God meets our needs and provided a way for us to have these relationships and fellowship with each other as He intended. Today we've looked at how God created us and knows our needs intimately. One of the biggest needs that we have is a need for relationship. And one way God meets this need for Christians is with the body of Christ. However, we are still fallible humans and cannot be at perfect peace with each other all the time on our own.

17:34 If we want our relationships to work and the body to thrive as God commanded, then our focus has to be on Christ first and his commandments. And from that, we'll flow healthy relationships with each other. God loves us and provides a path forward towards healthy relationships. It's just up to us to start walking. And as we continue to build relationships and grow as a body, let us make sure that we have our eyes fixed on Christ and that he has the preeminence in everything.

18:05 Now that's all I have for today, but Jeremy's going to come up now and our messages are connected. It's up for you to figure out how. And if you think you know, please direct all questions to Jeremy after the message.

18:16 Alright. Thank you. So, we considered the sufferings of Christ and the blessings we have this morning in the breaking of bread service. And it's just amazing to see that the unity that we're able to have in Christ when our minds are focused on Him that really gives a good transition to what we're gonna be talking about today. So I had a joke but Mr.

18:40 Hilton and Mr. Boss both used it, He being a... Coming from The UK, so you know what? I'll just skip that. Yeah.

18:48 So today, we'll be looking at what our response is to so great a salvation and so great a savior. We'll be looking at Hebrews ten twelve through 25. Turn there with you. So here's some four things to keep in mind while we're reading this while we're reading this passage. So first, we are motivated by Christ.

19:17 We are to be active in our sanctification. We are bold and faithful in our endurance holding on to our hope, and we are also to consider one another. So we'll look at these four concepts and see how they play into one another and similar as to what as to what Tim said, there'll be a flow as we'll see in his passage. So looking at the book of Hebrews, I think an important question is, how does it motivate us and inform us for how God wants us to live? And I think the audience of Hebrews can inform of its purpose.

19:50 It is addressed to churches with brand new believers who have who have professed faith and left the Jewish tradition. And as a result of facing immense persecution from their families, friends, and communities, and they've... They face this persecution even to the point of death. This is causing many of them to have doubts and consider turning to their old traditions and faith. So the author provides several arguments comparing and contrasting the old covenant with our new covenant to show how Christ is better than any tradition, celebration, or esteemed patriarch of the Old Testament.

20:29 This book gives us fundamental truths which give us the foundation for our motivations And then it culminates with applications for its audience to give a direction and action that flow from their motivation. So we're not gonna be going through the entire book, but Hebrews 10, that's really where the application start. It's that transition kind of phase. So I'll give you a quick recap of verses one through 11. So in these verses, it shows us that the law had no power to save us from the penalty of sin, not that the law was imperfect, but rather the people it was given to were imperfect.

21:31 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. From that time, waiting till his enemies are made his footstool. For by one offering, he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. So as we see here, we we see a picture of our salvation. We have so great a salvation and so great a savior and we have been saved from penalty of sin.

21:59 But this man after... I already read that. So we see Christ being in the form of man offered one sacrifice. He offered an eternal sacrifice. He is...

22:10 And he has received a better position as a result of this sacrifice. And it is over his enemies as well. We also see that Christ sat down and sitting down as compared to the Old Testament priests who stood and offered continual sacrifices. So this shows that there is no rest in their position. And we see that Christ's work is finished.

22:31 We also see that our redemption has been bought by his blood in full and his sacrifice has an eternal effect, having the power to sanctify those who enter into this new covenant by the power of his blood, To be justified and free from the penalty of sin, and this is for those who are undergoing sanctification under this new covenant. So now we see a transition from our salvation to our sanctification. I promise you this is for a purpose. I know most of you guys are aware of this stuff, but it it shows our motivation. So let's go on to verse 15 through 18.

23:08 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us for after he had said before, this is the covenant that I'll make with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts. In their minds, I'll write them. Then he adds their sins and their lawless deeds. Their sins and lawless deeds, I will remember no more.

23:29 Now where there is a remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. Now that God has dealt with the penalty of sin, we we see a transition where he addresses the power of sin in our lives. We see that God has provided us a helper who will transform our hearts and minds. The Holy Spirit empowers us in our sanctification. As we see, we see our end and then God's end of our sanctification.

23:56 We see our end of the covenant addresses the hearts where it says he will transform our desires, and it also addresses the mind where it says he will transform our thoughts. We see that both are necessary. Furthermore, on God's end, we see that there is a remission of sins, a cancellation of our debts, and a freedom from penalty of sin for the price has been paid in full. And we will consider we'll consider the sanctification further in verse 27 and look at the applications. So now let's go to verses 19 through 21.

24:30 Continue on. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God. So we see our first application sentence coming next. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Washed with pure water.

25:06 So the people of Israel were separate from the presence of God as we see in the Old Testament, and they weren't able to enter into his presence into the holy of holies behind the veil. We see this in the day of atonement where they're able to enter once, but there are still limitations there, and this is because of their sin. But now we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. We are now given the opportunity to enter into the presence of God with Christ as our mediator who intercedes on our behalf and can sympathize with our weaknesses without fault. Who can deliver us from our temptations and who has given us eternal salvation with boldness and confidence in our faith, which is founded on the foundation of Christ and not by our own merit as we considered earlier today.

25:53 This shows us that there is no excuse for pride in this new covenant we have. Instead, we are considerate of a correct attitude of humility that accompanies our boldness in Christ. So we see here that boldness is mentioned. So let's look at what boldness means and what it what it looks like. So I'm gonna use a bit of an illustration.

26:15 Please ask you bear with me. So we're considering a gambler. You know, So we might say that a gambler is bold because they take drastic measures for a high reward, but we would understand that this is usually a confidence based in a place of ignorance and risk. So we do not wanna be motivated to act boldly for Christ coming from a place of ignorance or separated from the truth. So boldness requires truth to equip us.

26:43 We wanna be found in the reality of our salvation and the security we have in Christ. But just as the gambler, but an infinitely greater sense, we too have a high reward. So we are similarly motivated to take strong action for our savior. Also, boldness requires a springboard to motivate us. Just as a gambler will be motivated by feeling of luckiness or the chance of a high reward, we similarly need to derive our motivation from the joy of our salvation and the reward we have in Christ.

27:16 So we'll look at some components of boldness. So boldness requires us to fear God rather than have a fear of man. Boldness requires us to find our security on the foundation of his promises and not be compromised by any fear that would hinder our devotion to him. Boldness requires complete confidence in Christ and the strength of our Lord, rather than looking to our own ability or strength. Finally, boldness requires complete submission to Christ, nothing held back.

27:49 Because if we are recognizing him as the Lord of our life and still wishing to hold back part of ourselves from him or hold on to habitual sin, we are not living with accordance with our recognition of his lordship. If we recognize him as our lord, we should live as such. So in in a in a way, we are going all in with everything surrendered to him, all hope placed in him, looking to him as our example and him as our reward. So now we're gonna go on to verse 22. And we'll we'll consider what drawing near to God looks like and why this is of great importance.

28:27 This verse addresses how we are to submit every part of ourselves. So let's read. Let us draw near with a true hearts in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. So we are encouraged to consider in what manner we are approaching his presence. So we see a right motivation where it says a true heart, a right attitude, having full assurance of faith, and moreover, we're supposed to examine ourselves before his presence as becoming to him as little children.

29:04 We also see that we are now free from a guilty conscience. We do not have that constant reminder of sin as as was in the law. And that and that reminder condemned our sinful condition. Also, we have been purified by by the blood of Christ. But while we are still in these fleshly bodies, we are still being purified daily through the word of God.

29:26 The guidance of the Holy Spirit and by the will of God directing our lives. And this verse shows us that there must be no part of our being left unsubmitted to the Lord when we draw near to his presence. This is our sanctification. So now we're going to consider the topic of sanctification a little bit. So we are being sanctified and transformed to destroy the power of sin over our lives and not be rendered, compromised, hindered by sin in our walk with the Lord, worship to the Lord, work for the Lord.

30:23 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own, for you're bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. So this chapter is specifically speaking with regards to sexual immorality, but we will look at it in a broader sense since we belong to God. We should no longer be submitting ourselves to the desires of our flesh since we have been redeemed and set free from the bondage in which we are once. Often in the Old Testament, God would accuse the children of Israel of prostituting themselves to idols and playing the harlot with false gods.

31:02 And in a similar sense, we have been brought into a new covenant with God as symbolized by the marriage covenant. And when we are remaining unfaithful to him, it is as adultery and marriage as it's depicted. Yet we are reminded and have peace that our new covenant is founded on the unconditional love of God and his immutable faithfulness in spite of our failings. And just as we're reminded in Romans six one where it says, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

31:35 This amazing grace is not an excuse for sin, but instead a motivation for righteousness. Knowing that we have the Holy Spirit who will transform our desires and we have a savior who intercedes before the father on our behalf, who declares our sins to be washed clean and provides deliverance from temptation the moment we cry out to him. The second application we see is that we can have complete trust in God's ability and promise to sanctify us as we see in Philippians one six. Being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ. Another application, yet we also have an active responsibility as believers.

32:16 We do not wanna be passive in our sanctification process and to continue in patterns of sin, falling to the same temptations. Instead, we must be active in our spiritual growth. I may be biased, but I think this is especially important for young men and women. I think you see that in second Timothy two twenty two where it says, flee youthful lust but pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Another application we see is that this is not an either or situation, but rather a both and.

32:48 I'll explain what that means. So our sanct... Our... The responsibility for our sanctification is so... Is not solely on the Holy Spirit with no effect on our part or effort on our part.

33:00 And it's not solely... I think I already mentioned that. Because one will lead down the road of us feeling stuck in sin and being hindered in our walk, but the other would lead down a road of a workspace salvation. So we have to be clear on that. So we must take responsibility and we are strengthened to endure by the power of the Holy Spirit and the deliverance offered by Christ knowing it is by God's grace alone that he can change sinners unworthy of his favor into sons and daughters conforming a selectness of his precious son.

33:33 So we'll look at some more of our responsibilities. So we make war with our flesh. Looking in Matthew five thirty, it says, and if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish and for your whole body to be cast into hell. So we see in this verse that we take drastic measure to cut off sin from ourselves and put to death these sinful desires.

33:58 In first Corinthian... In first Corinthians nine twenty seven, it says, but I discipline my body and bring it into submission, less when I've preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. So we see here we do not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by our sinful whims and desires. And this present tense, as we see here, it reminds it... It reminds us that this is a continual denial of our flesh.

34:22 Take a second. So another thing to remember is our temptations are part of a spiritual warfare, and we should know who our enemy is. Looking at Ephesians six verses 12, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of this... Of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. And then looking at a picture in Nehemiah is that the people that were working on the tower, they had a Bible in their...

34:58 Not Bible, they had a sword in their hands and then their tool in the other. So in this similar in a similar way, we're reminded that that preparedness is very, very imperative for us. We must be a prepared and armed people with the word of God ready to use whenever temptation comes. Another application is that we should be mindful of our weaknesses and be wise with respect to our surroundings, influences, and consumptions. We should ask, where does the devil attack me the most and why?

35:29 We do not wanna put ourselves in situations for us to be tempted, but we should know that God provides a way to escape nonetheless. We should remember to recognize and flee from temptation. We do not wanna sit in it. And we can immediately pray for deliverance from temptation. And all of this is part of us putting to death sin in our lives.

36:11 Yet we can look forward to when we will be with Christ in heaven and when we see him, we'll be no longer in the presence of sin. So this is what we're looking forward to and setting our hope in. We see this in first John three two where it says, beloved, now we are children of God and is not and is yet not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he's revealed, we shall be like him for we shall see him as we... As he is. So I have three applications for drawing near to God.

36:43 So what does this look like? So one application would be we we respond with true and proper worship. We'll look at Romans twelve one, it says, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. So here we see a lifelong picture of worship and now we're able to experience it on Sundays, but yes, it is lifelong as well. Another application we see that we respond by seeking to know God more intimately.

37:12 The following verse Romans twelve two, and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And the third application, we respond with daily renewal by the word of God and by prayer. I have three verses here. I might just do one.

37:36 Psalms one nineteen one zero five, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. And we see a picture of drawing near a very beautiful picture in Luke 10, where we see Mary is sitting at Jesus' feet and listening to his words. We see that she has received blessing as a result when Jesus told Martha that Mary had chosen what is better to listen at his feet and what she has received will not be taken away from her. So what that means is it not being taken away from her is that this blessing can be cherished eternally that can't be taken away. When we're deciding to receive God's word in our, I guess, reading and or if we're listening to it and let it enter our heart, we can cherish that eternally.

38:20 So I think it's these moments we choose to devote to the Lord that we can cherish to and hold on to when he minister when he ministers to us by his word and when our hearts are aligned to him in worship. This drawing near to God also occurs in step with our sanctification. As we draw near to him in this way, then how can we remain unchanged by our relationship with him in his presence? God has given us his promise of sanctification. And one way in which he fulfills his promise is by blessing us when we sit at his feet in daily renewal, listening to him through his word and making our requests known to him and our praise known to him.

38:58 If we seek to know him more and learn of his attributes, our allowances and excuses for sin will quick will quickly be exposed and our desires for him will gradually eclipse what were once our fleshly desires. So now we'll go on to verse 23. We're gonna look at what our anchor is, what our enduring hope is, and what our focus and what our focus is supposed to be set on. This is that third application point or third point. Let's read verse 23.

39:27 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. For he who promises for he who promises faithful. So we see in this verse that we respond with devotion to Lord and recognition of his authority in our lives, knowing that we are secure in him. Our hope is sure and steadfast because the person in which we have set our hope is sure and steadfast, being confirmed by the mutability of God's counsel and the mutability of his promises. Kind of stole that from Hebrews six.

40:01 This clear focus will keep us from wavering in our walk. So I had a little illustration from I used to run track in high school and I had a coach that was mentioning one of his races and I can't remember which one it was, but it was pretty important. So he was saying he was running hurdles and I think it's just crazy in itself. So he barely grazed a hurdle with his foot and then just a bunch of people were like they just whizzed right past him. And the reason was that a guy said, bye Chris to him, it was one guy he knew.

40:34 And then Chris, his name is Chris, he turned his head away from where he was going. And I think that's the reason he lost his race. He told me it's because he hit the hurdle, but I think it's because he turned his focus away from where it should have been. We see that we're supposed to have in our in a similar way our hope and our focus sets to Christ and it'll help us from wavering when we have our mind set to him. So now let's go to verses 24 to 25.

41:36 We would see that our personal walk must be established securely along with our relationship with fellow co heirs of our inheritance of heaven. Both are necessary. We would see another example of a both end here, where we are called to rely on Christ alone as others have failings in their humanity, and we are called to carry each other's burdens, implying that we ourselves are sharing our burdens with others, and we can receive the counsel of other believers. So I think this verse is a good answer to the question, why can't a relationship with Christ by myself with no one there to mess it up, interfere it? I think that's a common question.

42:12 And as we see here, this is not how we were designed and Tim mentioned this quite a bit. We were not created to live this Christian life alone and furthermore, we glorify God when we stir each other up and serve one another because we are displaying our unity in Christ. Looking at Romans fifteen five through six, says, now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like minded toward one another according to Christ Jesus that you may be with one mind and one mouth, glorifying the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Another thing we noticed is that in our sanctification, we've been given spiritual tools for us to utilize, studying the word, prayer, and wisdom, and these we've considered earlier. But another aid that we're given is other believers through means of counsel, exhortation, encouragement, and others with respect to our complimentary spiritual gifts.

43:02 And these tools and aids are not designed to function separately, but rather in unison. We should strive to use every tool that God has given us. So we'll look at some applications of Christian friendship in these verses. So looking at Hebrews three thirteen, it says, but but exhort one another daily while the so called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. So here we see the importance of frequent and helpful encouragement.

43:31 We see in Proverbs twenty seven seventeen, as iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. We see here the importance of sharing wisdom. We see in Matthew eighteen twenty where it says, for two or three gathered together in my name, I'm in the midst of them. In this verse, we see the importance of fellowship even in the word and also worshiping together. In James five sixteen, we see, confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.

44:02 So this effective and fervent prayer for righteous men may avails, man avails much. So we see here the importance of prayer and coming together and sharing our sins with one another. In Galatians six two, we see it says, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. We see the importance of carrying each other's yoke. Going to second Samuel twelve one through 14.

44:25 Actually, I'm not gonna read it, but we see a picture of David and Nathan. We see the accountability that Nathan's able to offer, pointing out David's sin. So we see the importance of accountability as Christians. And I think this brings up two questions. In what manner do we address one another and what is supposed to be our attitude and motivation?

44:44 So our words should be motivated by love and expressed in love. We are brothers and sisters in Christ, so we should speak to one another as such. Also, we should be motivated by truth, knowing that we... If we are speaking from the word of God and by the Holy Spirit, we are speaking the truth. We should be seeking restoration in this way that we may help warn each other of coming pitfalls.

45:07 Looking further at accountability, we see that accountability requires trust, and this requires transparency. We cannot be unwilling to hide our struggles from... With fellow believers because suffering on our own is painful and and unnecessary. We have been given friends for a reason so we should seek to utilize the provision that God has given us. Then final thing to look at for accountability.

45:32 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in loneliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Philippians two three. We see again there's absolutely no room for pride in our relationships. Pride will inhibit and corrupt what God has ordained as true and good. If we leave but an inch of room for self absorption in our relationships, we are leaving means for the enemy to cause destruction and hurt.

45:58 Rather, we should be moved by godly fear and desire to be pleasing to him in our actions toward one another. So now we know that we also have motivations and blessings for fellowship. In this verse, we see as we see the day approaching. So we should have a desire to be as effective and truthful together as we can be through Christ as we look forward to the coming of our Lord, knowing our time is limited and should be well purposed. It's another reminder I should go faster.

46:27 And this should cause us to not only be personally motivated, but also collectively motivated to help one another. We see another blessing and motivation as love. Love will be a natural response and a byproduct of God honoring Christian fellowship when we are selflessly considering one another with Christ as our example. When we share a common goal and a common love of our God, we will not remain unchanged by this, especially when we have the will of God for us to be unified in this manner. Another thing we look at is good fruits as well.

47:01 In verse 24 where it says, we shouldn't... And we should be as we're becoming more and more like Christ by God's grace working in us, we would we would be desired to be used more and more by the spirits. And this will cause us to have a deeper deeper inclination for fruitfulness and Christ honoring and Christ magnifying behavior. We should desire that out of our love for him, we could honor him by expressing the fruits of the spirit and we have a special opportunity as believers to encourage fruits in one another that as a body of believers, we may be pleasing to God and also have a good testimony among unbelievers that they would look at our works and praise our Father in heaven. We're almost done here.

48:22 As we have him as the initiator of our love and righteousness as our savior, he again is the one to whom we cleave in our walked... In our walk on earth. And when we go home to be with him, we will see him face to face and enjoy his presence forever for he is our reward. So just to recap some of main points, we are motivated by Christ. We are to be active in our sanctification, not passive.

48:47 We are to be bold and faithful in our endurance holding on to our hope. We are to consider one another. So you see that our race is motivated by Christ. The ability to run is through Christ. Our endurance is to Christ and we have a reward of Christ.

49:04 So finally, our response is believers who have been saved from a penalty of sin by the blood of Jesus Christ and have been clothed with the righteousness of Christ is to put on the characteristics of Christ and to overcome the power of sin by fixing our eyes to the example that Christ has given us. Our response is to be bold for the kingdom of God enduring to the end. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, we thank you for your word which you've given us to consider. Lord, we thank you for the savior we have in Christ.

49:38 And we pray that we might live to serve him and serve you and to serve one another as well and be motivated by love you had for us and might be able to express that love to others. In Jesus name, amen.