Seeing TBC Thru the Eyes of a Visitor, Part 2

Introduction: Seeing the Church Through a Visitor's Eyes

0:04 Following is part two of a guided discussion with Pastor Albert N. Martin, held on Sunday morning, January 25, 1998, in the Adult Sunday School class at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. The topic being discussed is seeing ourselves here at the Trinity Baptist Church through the eyes of a visitor. In this second of two, or possibly what will be three, classes in the adult class at Trinity Church, I had begun the second lesson and had gotten about 15 minutes into it when we discovered that due to a technical glitch, we had lost the first 10 or 15 minutes. And so what I'm attempting to do now is simply to dub in, by way of a summary, the things that I had given in the research. The review and the introduction to the lesson contained on this particular tape.

1:06 During this transition period between our study of the New Testament survey or New Testament introduction guided by Pastor Carlson and the new series of studies in the adult class, which will be led by Pastor Lamar Martin on how to interpret the Bible, I and my fellow elders thought it would be good to address together in the way of a guided discussion among the... ...members of the Church the subject of seeing ourselves through the eyes of a visitor.

1:37 And we've underscored that it was good to think in these terms because if we profess to be a congregation subject to the Word of God, seeking to conform all of our life and practice to the Scriptures, then we need to ask, what should a visitor see? What would such a visitor have a right to expect of a company of people? Who claim to be walking in the light of Scripture? And I suggested in the initial study that we ought to think of this question in terms of what a visitor would see as they considered us as a worshipping assembly, that is, in our Godward directed activities.

2:20 And then secondly, what they would perceive us to be as a relating assembly, that is, as they would behold us relating to one another as the people of God, and then... ...and thirdly, what they would perceive us to be as a witnessing or confessing community with the arrows of interest and concern pointing outward to the unconverted or to strangers or to the world around us.

2:45 And in our first lesson, Last Lord's Day, looking at circle number one, the Church as a worshipping assembly, we established from the Scriptures that in the substance of our worship, it ought to be characterized as... ...God-centered, Christ-suffused, and Bible-based, and that the character of our worship ought to be both reverent, joyful, and enthusiastic.

3:12 Then, in today's lesson, we began to take up that second circle of concern, that is, the Church as a relating assembly, and I asked the question to begin the guided discussion, what ought any visitor accurately perceiving our interactions... ...one with another, what ought such a visitor to perceive as the characteristics that dominate our life together?

The Church as a Relating Assembly: Biblical Love

3:39 And several contributed from the class and indicated that they felt that they ought to see that we love one another. John 13, 34, and 35 was quoted. Several of the passages out of 1 John were referred to. And at the point that we come into the class...

4:00 ...as it was actually conducted, I was beginning to open up some of the broad principles related to the love chapter, 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

4:11 And I was indicating a little bit of the context of Paul writing as he did, namely the problem of what we could call the charismatic free-for-all that was going on in the church at Corinth, in which, in their relating one to another, they were not exercising their gifts for each other's benefit, but for self-expression and self-aggrandizement, and how Paul had to say that an outsider coming among them in this charismatic free-for-all would think that he had been let loose in a madhouse or a loony bin. And it is at that point now that we move into the original class discussion.

4:50 These people over here, blurting out in tongues and people prophesying with no word, he said, they think something's skewed here. And he says, love will not only bring ascension, a sense of order and structure, but it will grace all of the gifts that have been given. And so, when we read in 1 Corinthians 13, there's nothing about a touchy-feely healing as constituting love. Love is described in its supremacy over all gifts, and then it is described in what it does, and even more so, in what it doesn't do.

5:26 Let's look at it very quickly. 1 Corinthians 13.

5:30 After speaking of the supremacy of love over all other gifts, and all other expressions of what we might call Christian devotion, verse 3, even if I bestow my goods to feed the poor, and I give myself up in martyrdom that have not love, it profits me nothing. Now notice how love is described. Love suffers long. That means love will always have to operate in a setting that causes personal suffering.

5:58 And within the assembly of God's people, imperfectly sanctified, with remaining, sin, we will do things that cause one another to suffer. What does love do? Capitalize on those irritants, and blow them up, and...

6:14 No, no. Love suffers long, and is kind. Love does not envy. In the context of a relating body, it will be evident that some people have gifts, and graces, and possessions, and positions, and privileges, that we don't have.

6:34 If we love them, we will not envy them. Love will suppress the green-eyed monster.

6:45 That's what love will do. Love envies not. Love does not want itself, is not puffed up. Love will be the great deflator of personal ego, and pride, and self-importance.

7:00 That's how love works. Love does not behave itself unseemly, against the, scheme of things. Aske moneo. It does not behave itself against the scheme of things, in its outward decorum.

7:16 It's not concerned to be novel, and to stand out by being different. Love doesn't do that. Love does not behave itself unseemly. Love does not seek its own.

7:28 What happens in an assembly? If everyone wants to be the sun, around which all the other planets, are in orbit. You get cosmic collision. There's only one sun, in our particular, solar system.

7:48 And if all the planets wanted to be the sun, we'd have cosmic collisions, and disorder. Love does not seek its own. That's what love does not do. And you read all the way down through, and if you will think in terms of these various, manifestations, of what love does and doesn't do, in the concreteness, of a group of people seeking to relate one to another, in the realism of true New Testament fellowship, I believe it will give a fresh understanding of the significance of what the Apostle has written, particularly, remember, in the setting of a church, that had great gifts, and had great privileges, but had many manifestations of the absence of this love.

8:33 Bears all things, believes all things, etc. Alright, so 1 Corinthians 13, and then, when you think of the dominance, of this quality of love, and the necessity of it, and how it's a proof of the new birth, and how it's a validation of our profession, what books of the Bible, ought immediately to come to your mind? There are three of them. One of them has already been quoted.

9:00 Bill? 1, 2, 3 John. How long has it been since you sat down at one reading, and just read through 1, 2, 3 John, and tried to note, how many times this matter, of love of the brethren, is explicitly addressed? If you haven't done it, I would urge you to do it.

9:20 I find it a very salutary thing, periodically, to just sit, and read through those three epistles at one sitting. And you will find, again and again, that the aged John the Apostle, in thinking of those churches for which he had peculiar, pastoral, apostolic responsibilities, how he kept emphasizing, again, and again, and again. And this was no kind of saccharine, weak-kneed guy. This was a guy named by the Lord as a son of thunder.

9:50 The Lord gave him the name, Boanerges, son of thunder. But the son of thunder also understood the critical place of biblical love. And then one other passage that is crucial in thinking about how love will operate within a relating body of God's people. The necessity of it, we've seen in such passages as John 13, the many passages in 1 John.

10:18 What is it like in its operation? We ought immediately to think of 1 Corinthians 13. That's not exhausted, but that ought to be at our fingertips, periodically read. But then, Galatians chapter 5 is another very critical passage with respect to the matter of this grace of love as it ought to be manifested among the people of God.

Love's Practical Manifestations and Warnings

10:41 Galatians chapter 5, Galatians chapter 5, verses 13 to 15. For you, brethren, were called for freedom. Only use not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but through love be servants one to another. If we are free from the tyrannizing impact of the law upon a guilty conscience, because we have been united to Christ and we are dead to the galling, condemning power of the law, we are God's free, adopted sons and daughters.

11:20 We have the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. We can stare the judge of the universe in the eye and know that we do not fear that he will bring our sins against us for judgment in the last day. That's freedom indeed. It's that kind of freedom Paul has been speaking about.

11:39 And he says, For you, brethren, were called for freedom. But use not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but being free from the preoccupation of a galling, accusing, condemning conscience. And that is horrible bondage. Being free from that, what are we to do with that freedom?

11:59 He says, Take that freedom to be free enough now to become servants, slaves to one another, doing the function of servants one to another. For, and this is how he buttresses this gospel implication, the whole law is fulfilled in one word. That is the summation of the second table of the law. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

12:27 Then he gives a word of caution. And it's a gross figure. At times I've been accused of preaching too bluntly and using language that's coarse. Well, there are times I've confessed from the pulpit that I believe I've used a coarse word or so.

12:47 But I refuse to be judged by a standard other than the Bible in some of these things. And I've found people very, very fastidious when it comes to certain biblical concepts. And there are many things said in the Bible that I've never even had the courage to state from the pulpit. But look at this gross exhortation.

13:08 If you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed of one another. You see what he's saying? He's saying don't be guilty of spiritual cannibalism. You say, that's gross.

13:22 Yeah, it is. But sin is gross. And when people bite, and how do we bite and devour one another? We do it with words, with attitudes contrary to love.

13:36 He says if you're going to engage in this, take heed, he says, that you be not consumed of one another. Does love, consume in a form of spiritual cannibalism its objects? Never. Never.

13:53 And so, if this love is operative, it will be manifested in refusing to indulge in those things that can be called biting and devouring one another. And you see, it's not some touchy-feely thing that floats by and once in a while we get sacked with it and we feel love one to another. It's a deep-seated principle, operative within our hearts, that places a check upon our lips in what we will and will not say about one another. What we will and will not say to another about another.

14:33 And anyone moving among us as the people of God, having a realistic assessment of who and what we are, ought to be convinced and stand back and say, behold how they love one another. Not because they've somehow locked in and been zapped by this subjective feeling, but because they've observed, unlike what happens Monday morning when they come into the office or into the shop or into the workplace or into the classroom at university and people bite and devour and engage in catty words and are indifferent to each other's needs. Here they come into a community of people that they cannot help but see care for one another. They cannot help but see them responding to the practical concerns of their brothers and sisters. They cannot help but notice that there's a blessed absence of the kind of biting and devouring speech that they are accustomed to in the world. They cannot help but notice that there's a love in which they bear with one another, in which they have a hopeful desire and a disposition one to another.

15:45 Love believes all things, hopes all things, as well as bears all things. And so we need to ask the question. And I'm thankful to God that over the years, unsolicited testimony from people literally who've dropped in on us from all around the world, some for greater, lengthier periods of time, some shorter, others, have been able to testify that they have sensed the presence of genuine love, that it's our responsibility to make sure that that love, as Paul says, increases and abounds. Remember what he said to the Thessalonians concerning love of the brethren?

16:24 You have no need that I write to you. You yourselves are taught of God to love one another. But then he goes on to say, yet I exhort you to abound yet more and more. So love is certainly one of the dominant characteristics that a stranger ought to be able to perceive as they move on among us.

The Second Characteristic: Biblical Unity

16:45 What's the second thing that ought to be a dominant characteristic of us as a relating body? Love. And then, Brian? All right, the grace of unity.

16:58 All right, Ephesians 4 and verse 3. The apostle exhorting the Ephesians, giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. How many were about to put unity next to love? One, two, three, all right, four, five, all right.

17:20 Other passages, that show that this matter of unity among the people of God as a relating body is not some secondary or tertiary emphasis, but is one of the dominant emphases, particularly of the New Testament. Now, there's some other passages. There's one that ought to come immediately to your mind if you were half listening just a short while ago in the evening expositions. Eli, Philippians 2 is a good passage, but that's not the one I'm fishing for from the evening expositions.

17:56 We'll come back to that because that is one of the dominant passages. What am I referring to? Anyone been here for the expositions of John 17? I was here.

18:09 Anyone remember the passage? What verses? Jerry? Pardon?

18:22 All right, John chapter 17, our Lord's prayer on the eve of his crucifixion, and he begins to pray for them in verse 20, those who will believe on the Lord Jesus through the word of the apostles. And what does he pray? He prays that they may be one as you, Father, are in me, I in you, that they may be in us, that the world may believe that you did send me. You see the parallel between this and verse 35 of chapter 13.

18:52 This is the new commandment. You love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love. Here our Lord in his prayer indicates that the validation of his mission as the sent one in great measure rests upon the people of God manifesting this spiritual unity.

19:15 And it goes on in the passage as we were instructed in the last exposition in John 17. So we have this very clear emphasis in the prayer of our Lord, the very clear emphasis of Ephesians chapter 4. The whole chapter flowers out into how this unity will be expressed amidst the diversity of the church as a body with differing gifts, but it grows up as an organic whole into Christ and into the fullness of the stature of Christ. And the whole idea of fragmentation and fissures simply don't fit the whole picture of Ephesians chapter 4, particularly verses 1 through 16.

19:59 But then there is the Philippians 2 passage that Eli has mentioned, and I had it here as passage number 5 as a watershed passage. Notice the emphasis of the apostle with respect to his sense of gratification that his ministry has been owned of God insofar as the Philippians maintain spiritual unity. If there is any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions, make full my joy. But what will make the apostle's joy full? In the light of all of these gospel realities, the if is not the if of uncertainty, it's the if of assumed reality. In the light of these things, make full my joy. What will make his joy full?

21:04 To have reports that the attendance has trebled in the church at Philippi, I'm sure that would make him glad, so long as it was the gospel bringing people in and God-centered worship, and Philippi had not bought in to a user-friendly mentality about the life and ministry of the church and was trying to market Jesus after the patterns of the things that were the in-issues of the Roman colony of Philippi, if the growth were true spiritual growth. But what does he emphasize? Make full my joy that you be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind, doing nothing through faction or vain glory. But, and here's the key to that unity, in lowliness of mind, each counting, other better than himself. You see, you come back again to this matter of self-centeredness not only cuts the nerve of any valid expression of love, it cuts the nerve of any valid attainment of unity. It's utterly impossible.

22:17 Where self is not mortified, there disunity will be present. And then he gives us the great example of this other-centeredness and mentality, the Lord Jesus, who not looking upon the things that were rightfully his, in thirsty pursuit for your salvation and mine, took upon himself the form of a servant and being found in fashion as a man, humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. There's another key passage and then a couple of vivid illustrations of the relationship between a church being filled with the Spirit and the church being manifested by demonstrable unity. Some other passages come to mind that fit those broad descriptions. What about some descriptions and the dominant place given to unity in a Spirit-filled church? Can you think of any passages that come to mind?

Unity in the Spirit-Filled Church: Acts Examples

23:27 Bill? That's an exhortation, but I'm thinking of something that's a historical account, a record of a church that being filled with the Spirit its state of being filled with the Spirit is described predominantly in terms of their unity. Barb? All right.

23:57 That's what I was fishing for. A couple of passages in the book of Acts. Let's look at them together. Acts chapter 2.

24:04 Remember that the Spirit of God has come in power on the day of Pentecost and the ranks have swollen from 120 to 3,120 approximate numbers. And what do we read as an evidence that when Peter said, repent, be baptized, you should receive the gift of the Spirit, the promise is to you, your children, all that are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call, 3,000 were baptized, came into the church, no record that they then had a tarrying meeting and spoke in tongues and there was another manifestation of wind and sound and tongues of fire. Luke is going to describe what were the manifestations that they had indeed received the Spirit, that they were filled with the Spirit and how does he describe it? Verse 43. And fear came upon every soul. There was a sense, there's no explanation for what's going on in this community, but that God has indeed made them His living temple.

25:11 And when that happens, people don't fall in the aisles and giggle and bark like that. They're like dogs, a la the Pensacola Revival. Whatever else you can say, you can say, that isn't what's described here. Fear came upon every soul.

25:31 Picking up the motif that runs all the way through the Old Testament, whenever there was a theophany, an appearance of God, a sense of God's special nearness, there was always a sense of holy dread. People or individuals were drawn by the blood and by the beauty of the God who was manifested and they were intimidated by the awesomeness of that God. Always so. Always so.

25:58 And that's why in periods of revival, people are filled with joy unspeakable but dread indescribable. And that's what's highlighted here. The God to whom the Holy Spirit witnesses here in the book of Acts is not one who tickles people and makes them giggle and laugh and bark like dogs. A sense of holy dread comes.

26:26 I didn't write that. And dear people, you and I, if we're committed to these perspectives, we will find it increasingly difficult to withstand the pressure to whittle God down to a comfortable size. But He won't be whittled down. And we will either have to exchange the God who is for an idol, or pray that the God who brings holy fear will increasingly manifest His presence and His power.

27:02 But then read on. Fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done not to the rank and file of God's people. They weren't conferring upon all of the rank and file of God's people miracle power like modern evangelists promise they can do for you. Real apostles couldn't do it.

27:21 They were performing the miracles. And now here's the description. All that believed were together and had all things common and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all according as any man had need. What do we see here?

27:41 The outworking of that love described in 1 John. As they beheld each other's needs without any coercion, without any apostolic mandate, they are responding viscerally out of this spirit. It's a fused love that was at work in their hearts. But then we read on.

27:59 And day by day continuing steadfastly with one accord. Unity is then emphasized. Continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple. Breaking bread at home.

28:15 They took their food with gladness and singleness of heart praising God and having favor with all the people. People were attracted to what they saw. Fear! And yet they had favor.

28:31 There's the mystery of it. And you see, you cannot desire to have the one at the expense of the other. The Spirit of God has given this beautiful comprehensive description of the quality of their life. And the Lord added to them day by day those that were being saved.

28:49 So next to the outworking and practical manifestations of their love, the Spirit of God has underscored their unity. And then over to chapter 4. You have a similar account as the church grows. They lose nothing in their numerical strength of this quality.

29:09 Verse 32. And the multitude of them that believed now notice what is given primary emphasis here were of one heart and soul. What a beautiful picture. Now numbering in the thousands, they had one heart and they had one soul.

29:29 How in the world can that be? Well, apart from the operation of the Spirit of God, it could not be. But here we are told this is what was true of them. And then we have the underlining of the practical manifestation of their love.

29:44 Not one of them said that all of the things that he possessed was his own, had all things common. Now notice, and with great power gave the apostles their witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. How was that great grace manifested?

30:03 Not in unusual signs and wonders done by the rank and file of God's people. But again, Luke expands on this practical manifestation of their unity and love. Neither was there among them anyone that lacked, etc. So you see the Spirit of God has highlighted this element of unity within the relating body of God's people.

30:29 And if it is so intimately connected with the presence and power of the Spirit of God, I trust we see with perhaps if not new, but fresh understanding the intimate relationship between a grieved Holy Spirit and anything that fractures true spiritual unity. The two stand together. Or fall together. True spiritual unity and the presence of an ungrieved Spirit.

Unity in Worship and as a Priority

30:58 The absence of that unity and a grieved Spirit. And then one other key passage. I'm sure eventually we'd pull it out. There are several others.

31:07 We can look at Romans 15, 5 to 7. Let's look at it quickly because again, it shows the interface between this unity as a relating body and our unity in bringing acceptable, worship to God and how these things interpenetrate one another. Romans 15 and verses 5 through 7. Now the God of patience and comfort grants you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus.

31:42 He and His Word are the standard of unity. See here again, it's people going outside of themselves. In their own little self-centered world as the ultimate reference point, Christ is the reference point. His person.

32:00 His Word. And when all of the people of God have that common reference point, they find their shoulders touching one another. He says now, may this God grant you to be of the same mind according to Christ Jesus to what end? That with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

32:25 A beautiful picture again. The whole assembly being one mouth in its praise to God. Wherefore receive one another even as Christ received you to the glory of God. And then a final passage is 1 Corinthians 1.

32:41 Think now of what we learned in our survey of 1 Corinthians. Here Paul receives news from the house of Chloe of a number of problems at Corinth. He has obviously received a shopping list of questions they have. Now concerning, now concerning, now concerning the things whereof you wrote.

32:58 Now as he sits down with his shopping list sent from Corinth and then this information brought to him from the house of Chloe of all the problems that they were aware of, as he sorts them out, prioritizes them and addresses them, what is the first one he addresses? 1 Corinthians 1.10 After his greetings he is given the thanks verses 4 through 9. Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, that there be no divisions, schisms, that there be no shivers of division among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been signified to me concerning you, my brethren, from the household of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. And then he addresses the issue as a first priority. Why?

33:58 Because he recognizes, though, there are all other kinds of abnormalities, charismatic, free-for-all going on in the assemblies. There are immoralities that need to be addressed, tacky questions about Christian liberty, about marriage and divorce, all these things. But is it that the apostle recognizes there will not be an operative spirit of God to help them sort through the other issues unless this fundamental issue is addressed and addressed thoroughly? So biblical love, biblical unity.

The Third Characteristic: Biblical Purity

34:32 And then very quickly now, what should be the third thing that would be a dominant characteristic of any assembly and its relationship, the members one to another, an outsider coming in, beginning to get some feel for what these people are all about? What ought to strike them about the overall pattern of their interaction? Biblical love? Biblical unity?

34:57 Yes, David? A biblical ministry one to another? Okay. Hebrews 3?

35:21 Exhort one another daily while it is called the day, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Now, would that be a separate category or would that be one of the manifestations of love? One of the practical manifestations of love. What do we do if we love our brethren and we see they have a physical need and we're able to help?

35:41 What do we do? You see where I'm going with you? What do we do if we see a physical need? Okay, now, if I see they're discouraged and they need encouragement and I've got some words that can encourage them, if I love them, what will I do?

35:56 I will exhort them. If I see them in a path of sin, you that are spiritual, restore such a one. I will admonish. Exhort does not mean primarily pointing the finger, but encourage by instruction, by motivation.

36:14 Admonition is to point out a fault, seek to correct it from the word of God. So wouldn't that be one of the many subsets of love? Yeah, okay. I don't want to force it then, but in my judgment, that's why I didn't make it a separate category, though it will be one of the many practical manifestations of love.

36:33 Love will not say, oh, we just love one another too much to run the possibility of offending one another. No, faithful are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. And certainly if you see a brother in physical need and don't respond, John says, how does the love of God dwell in you? If we see them going in a path that may be disastrous to their soul and jeopardize the honor of Christ and we are silent, how can we say we love them?

37:01 So that would be one of the, in my understanding, one of the subsets and one of the manifestations of love. But what about another whole category that doesn't fit distinctly under love, under unity, yes, Pete? But that, would not that be one of the independent characteristics of healthy Christians? Now, we're talking particularly now about, in our relating one to another, unity, love, what else ought an observer to be able to see, right?

37:43 Bonds of peace, well that would be one of the subsets of love and unity, would it not? Again, some of these distinctions are arbitrary and, yes, Barb? Okay, but then again, wouldn't that be a practical validation of love? Can you have your heart set in love upon an object and not want to be around it?

38:24 You see? I mean, here's this guy who said, oh dear, I'm mad over heels in love with you, well you ain't called me for three weeks, just take my word for it, I love you. Okay? Alright, yes, Cynthia?

38:45 Alright, did you see that we're one in truth? Yes, alright, yes, we're in the right place, we're in the right place, we're in the right place, you see? But you see, in this world, in this world of love, we're not one in truth, we're one in truth. Let's get to thinking.

39:11 When you're thinking, you're thinking about the things that you love, the things that you love, the things that you love. other, and this may appear arbitrary, but I think if you go through the scriptures, if for no other reason than to prove I was wrong in putting it in the third rank, that's fine, because I claim no inspiration for this, it would be our purity, that in our relating one to another, they ought to become aware that unlike in the world, where people often relate to one another for exploitation, to take advantage of one another, to use one another, here's a community that relate in purity one to another. I was thinking in preparation for this, those five commands, four of them, greet one another with a holy kiss. Peter says, greet one another with a kiss of love. What does that say to outsiders coming in, when they see such deep bonds of affection that we actually express it physically,

40:21 but they see that when the men do that, even judiciously with women, there's never a look in their eyes. They sense that in the way men and women relate, as Paul says to Timothy, they relate to one another with all purity as brothers and sisters, that in the way they interact with one another, that they are committed to a standard of ethical purity that is antithetical to what's out there in the world. And here we bring many, many passages to bear upon this. Some of those that write on the surface of it, in Philippians 2, 14 and 15, Paul says, do all things to the believers without murmuring and disputing, that you may be blameless and harmless sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world. And think of 1 John, this is the message we've heard of him and declare unto you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him, we claim to be the people who are in communion and fellowship with the God of light, and walk around in the darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, goes on cleansing

41:43 us from all sin. We'll come to it, God willing, in a few weeks in our opening up of 1 Peter, where the focus of his first practical exhortation is, be ye holy, for I am holy. Pure religion. And an undefiled, James says, is not only to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, but to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Surely, a visitor coming among us ought to sense that in our relating one to another, we are not only relating in love and in unity, but in moral and ethical purity. And you see, in that way, the community of God's people is the validation of the gospel. Go back and read those Acts passages. Nestled into the description of the quality of their corporate life are these statements, with great power gave the apostles their witness.

Purity as Validation of the Gospel

42:41 Mighty signs and wonders were done by the apostles. Why is that nestled in there? To get a message across to us. You see that you, the people of God, are either the validation or the invalidation of the message preached from this pulpit. Anyone gets to know the message. The messengers ought to see their lives are the validation of what they preach. Absolutely. But they should not have to wait to get to know the messenger intimately to have the message validated. Your life as the people of God is either the validation or the invalidation of the message. And so may the Lord help us with renewed commitment to Christ, with renewed identification in Christ's death, in which we are. And in which we reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin and selfishness and pettiness and all of those things that would cause us to collide instead of knowing the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. And may we be marked in our internal relating to one another by unity, by love, and by purity. And all these other things, whether they are

43:59 subsets or whether they go on in a list of ten, is purely arbitrary as far as I know. God is the creator of the universe. And the spirit of the universe is the one that controls the universe. And if we are to be able to do that, we must be able to be a true believer.

44:02 There is nothing to be afraid of. There is no way to be afraid of. The spirit of the universe as i'm concerned let's just make sure that the biblical emphases are the things towards which we strive by the grace of god well our time is gone let's pray our father we thank you for your word which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our pathway and we ask that the things we have considered from that word this morning may be written upon our hearts and that we may by your grace run in the way of your commandments help us to treasure these things upon which you have placed such a premium that we may reflect in our life together those things that will validate the power and the truth of the gospel we ask in jesus name amen