So keep your Bibles open there in Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4 is one of my
favorite chapters in the Bible. I mean I've got many favorite chapters in the Bible. This is
definitely one of them and it's it's definitely become a favorite since I've become a pastor.
Since we've established churches you know in Queensland here in Sydney this has now become
one of my favorite chapters because it deals with church unity. It deals with the church being one
body. Being in peace with one another. Loving one another. Okay and that's why I come to church
Brethren. I come to church yes to worship God. Yes I come to church to sing praises to the Lord.
But I come to church because I want to spend time with the Brethren. I want to spend time in
fellowship and get to know you. You know pray for you. I want to edify you. I want to bless you. I
want to lift you up. But at the same time I'm like you. I'm a man. I go through weaknesses. I go
through sadness. I get upset. I need you to lift me up. I need you to edify me and we need to love,
edify one another. We need to have peace in the church. And so this is such an important chapter
because many churches do not have peace. Many churches have divisions. Okay and you might put
up with it for a while. You might say well I go to church for the Lord. I don't care about the
divisions that are in church. But when you go in there service after service, week after week after
week, month after month after month, divisions, divisions, lack of love, lack of peace. It's going
to wear you down and it's going to cause you to backslide. And we'll soon see that it's going to
cause you to even be like a back-sitting Christian. Just like just a worldly Christian. Just like
anybody else that is an unbeliever. But look at verse number 14 for me. Ephesians chapter 4 verse
14. It starts off by saying that we henceforth be no more children. I love that. So the title for
the sermon tonight is be no more children. Except for the children. I guess you can still be
children. Okay. We're talking about the spiritual sense. We're talking about us as believers. We
should not remain to be children. We should not remain as babes in Christ. As young Christians.
We should learn to grow and mature and that comes by being in church. Okay. It comes by being in
the house of God. And so let's start off with verse number one there. Ephesians chapter 4 verse
1. I therefore the prisoner of the Lord. And I already mentioned this last time that Paul
here is referring to himself as a prisoner. Reminding the church once again that he's a
prisoner of the Lord. He says I beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are
called. Now that word vocation. What does that mean? It means your calling. Right. It means your
employment. It means your occupation. But you know Paul is telling us here that we ought to work
worthy of the calling that God has for our lives. You know and we have we started off by looking
how God already as far as God is concerned we're already seats in heavenly places. As far as God
is concerned we're already there in heaven. It's all sorted. You know we're righteous in the
righteousness of Christ and that's how we ought to walk brethren. That's how we ought to walk. Okay.
Now when it starts off here that beseech you that you work worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are
called. He's talking about the brethren. He's talking to the church. He's talking to the
Christians. He's not saying in order for you to be saved you've got to walk worthy of the calling.
Salvation is the sacrifice of Christ. Salvation is the resurrection of Christ. Your faith upon
that. Once you are saved. Once you find yourself in a good church and etc. or even before you know
to find a good church you need to walk worthy. Okay. God has given us a vocation. God has given
us work to do and He now says all right you're saved. Great. Now start doing the works. Start
serving each other. Start growing. Okay. Verse number two. With all lowliness and meekness we've
longed suffering forbearing one another in love. So how should we behave toward one another here?
It said here in lowliness and meekness. You know we should be humble people. You know we should
learn to be humble and this is this is how you know whether someone's a mature Christian or not.
Someone that's walking with the Lord. Someone that's mature is usually the one that's the most
humble. The one who's able to just lower himself and lift up other people. You know the Bible says
in Ephesians sorry in Philippians 2-3 it says here let nothing be done through faithful
vainglory but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Better
than themselves. You know what that means? It means all of you God is telling me that all of
you are better than me. That's how I ought to behave. You know and for you everybody in this
room in your mind should ever you should say well everyone in this room is better than me. Okay.
That's humbling yourself. You humble yourself. You lift up other people. But that brother over
there has only been saved for a week. He's only been saved for a month. He's still walking very
worldly. He still hasn't grown in the Lord. Yeah he's still better than you. Okay. That's the
instruction that God gives us. That's how you ought to look at the Brethren. Okay. And this
is the mind that we had that Jesus Christ had. Okay. He was someone that came. He was the Lord
God creator of all things. He humbled himself as a man and he came and he edified others. He lifted
up others. Others that are sinners around him. Right. Sinners around him and yet he was able to
love and be merciful and show kindness toward the sinners that he had that he met in his life. But
look at verse number two again. It says not just loneliness and meekness we've longed suffering.
You know what long suffering means? Patience. Okay. Because in church people are going to start to
annoy you. In church people might do something. You might get frustrated. Well you need to be
long suffering. You need to suffer long with them. Give them time. Give them time to warm up to you.
Give them time to grow in the Lord. Give them time to gain knowledge. Give them time to learn
the hymns. Give them time to learn how to preach. Whatever it is guys be long suffering. And it says
forbearing one another in love. You know what forbearing means? Just put up with them. All right.
Put up with them. Forbearing one another. He goes yeah you know what in church there's gonna be
people that you get frustrated at. This is what's being taught here. Okay. But put up with it. Put
up with it. Be patient. Have love toward your brethren. Look at verse number three. Endeavoring
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Now brethren this is so important that you
understand verse number three. The very first word there is endeavoring. Endeavoring to keep the
unity. Brethren you know what church we're all different. All different backgrounds. All different
thoughts and ideas. Right. And so we're going to clash sometimes. We're gonna have other thoughts
you know. And you know unity does not come automatic in a church. It's not like you just
go to church and everyone's going to be united. Everyone's going to get along. No it says
endeavoring. Endeavoring right. In the in the to keep the unity in the Spirit in the bond of peace.
The word endeavoring means making efforts. You've got to try when you come to church. If you want
this church to be a united church. If you want this church to be a church of peace. You've got
to put an effort in to make that happen. You know when I was a more of a carnal Christian.
When I wasn't that mature in the Lord. I would go to a church right. Good churches. And say well
there's no unity in this church. This church you know. There doesn't seem to be not much peace in
this church. And I would look at that and like you know look down on churches. Just in and not
not in public. Just in my heart. Okay. Until I realized hold on. If I'm in church. If I'm a
member of a church. I'm actually the church right. With everybody else. We make up that one body. We
make up that church. And if I want this church to have peace. I've got to have. I've got to bring
peace at the table. If I want the church to have unity. I've got to bring unity to the table. If I
want the church to be for people to be humble in the church. I've got to come with humility right.
And so church is what you want it to be. You can endeavor endeavor to make divisions. You can
endeavor to make it a place of conflict. Or you can endeavor to make it a place of unity. A place
of peace. A place of love. But you've got to put the effort in. It's not like you just rock up the
church. And no. You play a part in the church. Okay. And you see this as we go through this
chapter. Look at verse number four. Verse number four. Now from verse number four the next few
verses will dictate to us what brings us unity. What brings us together in the house of the Lord.
And again. You know if it wasn't for church. We probably wouldn't even know each other. If it
wasn't for church. If it wasn't for Jesus Christ. We probably would. Like you'd be a total stranger.
I could just be walking down the street. There you'd be. I wouldn't know. You'd just be anybody
else to me. Right. What brings us together. What brings us unity. You know. Is it a sports team.
You know. Is it. I don't know. What's the famous sports team. Is it the Western Sydney Wanderers.
Is that what brings us together. You know. Is it. Is it. I don't know. What's a rugby league team.
Is it the. Is it. Is it the Bankstown Canterbury Bull. Is it Bulldog. I don't know. They still
got Bulldogs. Right. Is that what brings us together. Are we coming together because we
support the same teams. You know. What else brings us. You know what is it that brings us
together. We have the same interests. I'm sure if we go through the. Through the. You know we
saw what our hobbies are. What our interests are. I'm sure we'll all have different interests. What
is it that brings us together. Well it starts off here in verse number four. Verse number four it
says here. There is one body. You know what the church is. The body of Christ. One body. When it
talks about the body there. It talks. That's a reference to the church. In fact in Ephesians
chapter one. Just a few chapters. If you want to look at it. Ephesians chapter one verse 22.
We'll have a look at it. Just go back a few chapters. Ephesians chapter one verse 22. Just
as a reminder. It says here. And have put all things under his feet. And gave him to be the
head over all things. To the church. Which is his body. The fullness of him that filleth all in all.
What is the church. The body. The body of Jesus Christ. What is this church. One body. That's what
brings us together. We're united in one body of Jesus Christ. Then it says here. And one spirit.
Brethren if you're saved today. If you're a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy
Spirit indwells you. The same Holy Spirit that indwells me. The same Holy Spirit that gives me
the ability to preach to you. To study my Bible. Is the same Holy Spirit that is within each one
of you. Okay. It's the same spirit that we all share. That also brings us unity. And so we start
off here with the Holy Spirit. And what you'll notice is. Verse number four refers to the Holy
Spirit. Verse number five refers to Jesus Christ. Verse number six refers to God the Father.
Another reference here to the Trinity. But let's keep going. There is one body and one spirit. Even
as ye are called in one hope of your calling. We all have the same calling brethren. We all have
the same calling from God. That is to walk like Jesus Christ. To be like Jesus Christ. To learn
our Bibles. To grow in knowledge. To win souls. Right? To live as if though we were already in
heaven. That's the calling that we've seen in the previous chapters. That God has left us. This is
what brings us together. You know if you want any business. Any church to be united. We must be one
in purpose. Okay. And the purpose that we have in this church. One of the main purposes is that we
would go out and win souls. They would go out there and win souls. And you know I don't want
anybody in this church that criticizes soul winning. That says ah what's the point of doing
that. That's a waste of time. You know that you're not going to have any success soul winning. I
don't want that person in this church because they're going to bring down those that have a
desire. I love to get out there and win souls. Okay. I'm not saying that if you don't go soul
winning there's something like you know that you're you're hurting the church. I'm saying
those that are saying hey you shouldn't do that. And you know there are churches. There are pastors.
I've heard of my own ears criticize soul winners. Criticize people that go door to door preach in
the gospel. That church is going to fall apart. Because they're not united in the in the task
that God has left us to do. Let's keep going. Verse number five. It says here one Lord. One
Lord. You know who that is? That's a reference to Jesus Christ. Again keep your finger there. Go
back to Ephesians one. Just very quickly the same book of course. Ephesians chapter one. Let's make
sure you understand this. Ephesians chapter one verse two. Ephesians chapter one verse two. It
says grace be to you and peace. Look at this. From God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. A
distinction right? A division there. A difference between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at verse number three. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who have blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. So who's the Lord Jesus Christ? Okay.
Go back to Ephesians chapter four. Ephesians chapter four. Verse number five. One Lord. So we
saw verse number four. The one Spirit. The one Holy Spirit. Guess what? We also have the one
Lord. You know Jesus Christ is the head of this church. Okay. That's who Jesus Christ is. That is
the same Lord. That is that is my Lord. That is your Lord. That's what brings us unity in the
church. This is why you know Paul had warned. I forget the church now. I forget which church
he warned. Anyway you know about about you know people coming with another Jesus. Another Jesus.
You know there are a lot of churches out there. There are a lot of even Baptist churches that
will call the person they believe in. The person they follow. They call him Jesus. But many times
it's another Jesus. Okay. And what will bring unity in this church is that we have the one Lord the
true Lord Jesus Christ. Okay. Who came here. He's a son of God. He came here. He died on the cross.
Was resurrected from the dead. And sits on the right hand of the side of the Father. That's the
Jesus Christ of the Bible. And that's what brings unity to our church. The fact that we have the
one Jesus. But not just the one Lord. Verse number five. One faith. One faith. And of course you know
I'm staying in the book of Ephesians so we understand what's going on here. Of course for
by grace are you saved through faith. Ephesians 2 8 9. The same faith. The same gospel. You know
Paul also warns of people coming with another gospel which is not another. You know the gospel
is being corrupted these days in many churches. What's going to bring unity in this church is
that we are of the same faith. We have the same gospel. We have the same salvation by grace
through faith. That's what's going to bring unity in this church. Okay. And if you hear a preacher
preaching on salvation. Preaching on the gospel. Please never get to a point where you're like
well I already know this. I already know this. Why is he talking about this again. Okay. Well
this is what's going to bring us unity. Okay. And those that have another gospel. If you keep
preaching the right gospel. Those that have another gospel. Those that have an ulterior motive to come
to church. They're going to leave the church at some point. Okay. Because they realize they can't
bring in their heresies. And we'll see this person as we keep going on as well. He'll get mentioned
here as well. Let's keep going there. Verse number five. One Lord. One faith. One baptism. What else
brings unity to this local body of Christ? One baptism. That we all have the same baptism. Right.
Believers baptism. By immersion. Okay. By immersion. Believers baptism. That's what brings unity to a
church. Okay. That's what brings unity to a church. The reason we're a Baptist Church. Okay. Is not
just because it reflects what Christ did for us. Not just because the body's meant to be made up
of baptized believers. But he brings unity in a church. When we all share the one baptism. You
know. And keep in mind these things as we're going through these verses. These are things that are
supposed to bring us unity. Not division. Not division. Okay. Baptism is something that brings
unity to this church. To this body. Not division. Okay. And people are dividing over baptism. It's
a bad thing. Okay. Because if that's the issue. If that's the problem. Then you're bringing division
into the church. When this is what should bring unity within the church. Within the body of
Christ. Let's keep going. Verse number six. One God. Now we have God the Father. One God and Father
of all. Who is above all and through all and in you all. And so it's quite interesting there in
verse number six where it says one God and Father of all. Who is above all and yes God the Father is
above all of us. But who else was mentioned in these verses? The Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ. You
know God the Father is above the Holy Spirit. Is above Jesus Christ. He has the authority within
the structure of the Trinity. God the Father. You know of course Jesus Christ you know not my will
but thy will be done Jesus Christ said to the Father. And of course Jesus Christ is subject
unto the Father. You know Jesus Christ did the work that the Father asked him to do. Jesus Christ
preached the words that the Father asked him to preach. And so we see not just the Trinity there
but we see an authority structure. The Father being above all. And I'll just very quickly read
to 1 Corinthians 11 3 because some people cringe at that right. When you say God the Father is
above Christ some people cringe at that because it's the one God. Okay it's true it's one God you
know. Jesus Christ is equally God as much as the Father is God. But within God there's a structure
there's a Trinity structure. And in 1 Corinthians 11 3 it says this. 1 Corinthians 11 3 you can
turn there if you want. 1 Corinthians 11 3 it says but I would have you know. Corinthian Church
this is something you need to know. That the head of every man is Christ. And the head of the woman
is the man. And the head of Christ is God. Referring to God the Father. Okay so what's the
authority structure within your family? God the Father. Jesus Christ. The husband. The wife. The
children. Okay that's the structure that God has given us in the family. And there you can see
again God being the head of Jesus Christ. Verse number 8 please Ephesians chapter 4 verse 8. We
get to an interesting verse here it says here wherefore he saith when he ascended up on high
so of course that's talking about the resurrection of Christ being and then ascending to the right
hand side of the Father. It says here he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. What
does that mean? He led captivity captive. There's two things here. When Christ was ascended to heaven
he led captivity captive. That's one thing. And he gave gifts to men. And that those gifts that
he's talking about are spiritual gifts that we'll look at soon as we go through the rest of the
chapter. Okay but what does it mean to lead captivity captive? Okay now look just for the
sake of time I don't have time to explain this to you but if you want to look this up just do
a word search in your Bible. Bible software. Type in captivity captive. The phrase appears three
times. Okay and look at it. And basically it means this. That let me use an illustration actually.
Michael Jr. I'll get you up here. Come here. Let's say let's put it this way. All right. Let's say
Michael Jr. here is taking me captive. Right. He's taking me into captivity. All right. So you've
conquered my people. You've conquered my nation. So my hands are behind my back. You've got me
arrested. You're leading me away. Right. I'm captive. And to take captivity captive is this.
Well guess what? I'm going to now defeat you. Now you're my captive. I've taken the one that I was
under captivity in. I've taken him captive. Okay. He once had power over me but now I've got power
over him. That's what it means. Okay. You can sit down. That's what captivity captive means. And so
when Christ ascended up into heaven if you want to turn to keep your finger there. Go to Hebrews
chapter 2 for me. Go to Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14. Go there. Hebrews
chapter 2 verse 14. It's probably interesting for you to see this. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14. The
Bible reads for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself
referring to Jesus likewise took part of the same. Right. Jesus came in flesh and blood that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the devil. Verse 15. And deliver
them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Brethren before you
were saved you had you were by the Bible saying here you were subject to bondage. You were taken
captive. Okay. Captive by the power of sin. Captive by the power of death. Captive by the devil as it
were. Okay. And of course when Christ came and died he delivered us from that power. Jesus Christ
says in John 8 44 speaking to the unsaved Jews or to reprobate Jews actually in John 8 44 he says
ye are of your father the devil and the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from
the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. He said the devil wants
nothing more than to destroy mankind to destroy you know the people that God has created. Jesus
says he was a murderer from the beginning. The reason why he came and tempted Eve. The reason
why he did that to cause mankind to sin is that he would murder mankind and of course he does that
by them dying in the sins and going to hell. We were once under that power. We were once under
that bondage but Jesus Christ has redeemed us from that bondage. I'll just read to you from
Revelation 20 verse 6. It says here blessed and holy is he this referring to believers. Blessed
and holy is he that have part in the first resurrection. Brethren if you're a believer
you're going to go for the resurrection. You're going to be raptured. You're going to be given a
new resurrected body and the Bible says you're blessed and it says this on such the second death
hath no power but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand
years. We don't have to have the fear of death brethren. Once you're saved yes you're going to
die physically at some point you know but you're never going to die spiritually. You're never going
to the second death okay. That is that's never going to be your destination now that you're
saved. That power of that power of sin that power of death you no longer had it once had you in
bondage but now Jesus turned it around. Now you have power over those things. Now you don't have
to fear those things okay and you say well do I really have power of sin Pastor Kevin because I
still sin today. Yeah you actually God has given you power of a sin and we'll cover that as we
keep going through this chapter. Look at verse number nine Ephesians chapter four sorry Ephesians
chapter four verse nine. If I tell you to turn somewhere else just make sure you keep your finger
always in Ephesians chapter four okay. Verse number nine says this now that he ascended referring to
Jesus Christ he ascended up to heaven but but is it sorry what is it but that he also descended
first into the lower parts of the earth. Say what's that about? Jesus Christ descended to
the lower parts of the earth. Well we know that he died on the cross. We know that he was buried
in a tomb but did he what's this about descending to the lower parts of the earth okay. Verse number
10 he that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens that he might
fill all things okay. Now I don't have a lot of time to go through this but just very very
quickly okay and again this is something that a lot of people cringe at. A lot of people cringe
at this teaching okay but actually go to Acts chapter 2. Go to Acts chapter 2 okay because I
rather you just see it rather than just hear me preach it okay. Go and look at it Acts chapter 2
verse 30. When Jesus Christ died his body was buried in a grave for sure that's what the Bible
emphasizes right the death burial and resurrection that's the gospel okay that's what the Bible
emphasizes and the Bible does emphasize the physical death it does emphasize the physical
burial and emphasizes the physical resurrection of God the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ
okay that is emphasized but when that took place physically there was also some type of spiritual
transaction taking place as well and I don't have all the answers to that Brevin I don't have my I
don't have a full knowledge of that okay but let me just show you what the Bible says here. Acts
chapter 2 verse 30 Acts chapter 2 verse 30 it says here therefore being a prophet and knowing that
God has sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh he
would raise up Christ to sit on his throne verse number 31 he seen this before spake of the
resurrection of Christ look at this that his soul was not left in hell neither his flesh did see
corruption what do we see here the soul of Jesus Christ would not be left in hell where is hell the
lower parts of the earth where did Jesus go when he died his soul went to hell okay his soul went
to hell that's what it's saying there right and and that he would not be left but not only that
it was his soul not left in hell he says neither his flesh did seek corruption why because Jesus
Christ rose from the dead rose from dead bodily okay his flesh was not corrupted did not rot
away he was resurrected in a new resurrected body okay and then it says here verse number 32
this Jesus have God raised up where of we are all sorry where of we all are witnesses we all
are witnesses they all saw a physical resurrection of Jesus Christ they all saw him that wrote this
here in Acts chapter 2 and so that's a truth that you just can't run away from Jesus Christ's soul
went to hell now I don't fully understand that brother brethren I just tell you the truth but
one thing I see I see that's what the Bible says and that's what took place okay but that's not
all and a lot of people stop there that's not all okay now go to the book of Luke go to Luke 23 go
to Luke 23 Luke 23 please we're going to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ we're going to the
crucifixion here of Jesus Christ in Luke 23 verse 43 and we have the beautiful story about the thief
on the cross that believes on Jesus Christ he puts his faith on Christ all right in Luke 23
verse 43 Luke 23 verse 43 this is what Jesus says to that thief he says and Jesus said unto him
verily I say unto thee today shalt thou be with me in paradise few things today with me where
paradise say where's paradise that doesn't sound like hell yeah it's not hell okay let's keep going
verse number 44 and it was about the sixth hour and there was a darkness over all the earth until
the ninth hour and the sun was darkened and the veil of the temples rent in the midst look at
verse number 46 so important and when Jesus had cried with a loud voice he said father into thy
hands I commend my what my spirit and having said thus he gave up the ghost so he says to God the
father as about to die father I'm going to commend unto you my spirit and he gives up the ghost okay
but he's where's God the father in heaven in heaven okay and I don't have time to show you
this brethren I do have time to show I'll read it to you very quick I read it to you very quickly
second Corinthians 12 2 it says I knew a man in Christ about 14 years ago whether in the body I
cannot tell whether out of the body I cannot tell God no if pay attention now such and one caught
up to the third heaven the third heaven that's where the throne of God is that's where heaven is
the third heaven is the heaven that we're all looking forward to go to one day and then verse
number four says this how that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which
is not lawful for a man to utter the Bible in second Corinthians chapter 12 tells us a couple
things there's a third heaven that's where God's throne is and that third heaven is paradise that's
where it is so when Christ was on the cross he said today today when he died thou shalt be with
me we're in paradise where was Jesus then I when he died in paradise he was in heaven he said brother
Kevin you said his soul was in hell yeah his soul was in hell the Bible says his spirits his ghost
was in heaven his physical body was in the grave say that doesn't make any sense to me
well join the club Reverend oh you know what I'm just showing you what the Bible says okay
that's what the Bible says that's what happened okay and of course we know the Bible tells makes
it very clear that man is made up of body soul and spirits okay and Jesus Christ is God Almighty
I mean I guess he can do that right he can be he can do that and if you go back to Ephesians
chapter 8 please sorry Ephesians chapter 4 what am I saying Ephesians chapter 4 verse 10 look how
he ends again verse number 10 he that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all
heavens that he might fill all things you know what Jesus Christ can fill things he can fill
hell he can fill heaven he can fill the earth all at once because he's God all right here's God and
so we see that play out in the Bible in the grave in hell in heaven now you want me to expound on
that it's very difficult to be dogmatic there's a lot of opinions it's a lot of thoughts there's a
lot of passages that seem to convey certain things but it's difficult okay I don't mind if you have
your opinions it doesn't really matter the gospel is the death burial and resurrection of Jesus
Christ as long as you believe that truth you believe the right gospel okay Ephesians chapter
4 verse number 11 Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11 and we're actually if you if you look at verse
how verse number 8 ends we talk about captivity captive but then it says and gave gifts to men's
I'll talk about spiritual gifts okay now notice verse 9 and 10 in brackets okay are in brackets
so it's a it's a it's a thought but really verse number 11 in a way continues what verse number 8
left off with okay what are these gifts that God has given to the local church the gifts are here
in verse number 11 and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some
pastors and teachers okay so a church can have all these things a church can have apostles prophets
evangelists pastors etc okay and some people get really stuck on these verse on this verse
it's really not that difficult okay you say well why is it that we don't have apostles today why
aren't you apostle Kevin instead of pastor Kevin okay well you know the Bible says you know well
to be an apostle one of the qualifications one of the requirements to be an apostle was that you
had witnessed the resurrection of Jesus Christ okay so anybody going around today calling
themselves an apostle listen they're not 2,000 years old they weren't there when Christ was
resurrected from the dead anyone going around calling themselves apostles are not true they're
not true people don't go and listen to them okay they give themselves a title which nobody today
in 2019 can possibly have that was one of the requirements okay and I'll quickly read to you
from 1st Corinthians 15 verse 8 Paul speaking about himself he says and last of all he was seen
of me also as of one born out of due time why was Paul an apostle because Jesus Christ revealed
himself to Paul physically remember when Paul saw Jesus Christ and he was blinded by that okay well
he says look I'm like one born out of due time you know the other apostles saw him you know right
after resurrection I got to see him you know several several whatever it was you know months
later on or whatever it was you know and so he refers to himself for one being born out of due
time but he can be rightly caught an apostle because he saw the resurrected Christ okay now
that's why we don't have apostles today okay and then it says what about prophets who are prophets
is it isn't a prophet someone that can tell the future you know pastor Kevin why don't you have
people coming up here and telling us what the future holds well you know what every time someone
preaches about the future I've already preached about the resurrection guess what I preach about
the future all right you know you know actually the word prophet or prophesy just means to proclaim
God's Word that's all it means right so anyone that gets behind this pulpit anyone that preaches
anyone that proclaims this word is prophesying that's all it is and yet the Old Testament
prophets they told me times about the future because the people did not have a completed Bible
in their hands you know if I just sat there just read the book of Revelation to you for church
I am telling you all about the future and guess what it's gonna be 100% accurate right I don't
have to put my opinions in there it's all there based in the Word of God anyone that's it that
preaches is a prophet and then it says in some evangelists you know there are some people and
we don't have this ability in our church today but one day who knows if our church grows and
we have the finances one day we might employ someone in the church to be our evangelists what
does it mean to be an evangelist someone that evangelizes it tells telling the good news okay
you're going out there full-time job your job you know so we give it to someone one day maybe
hey your job is to basically get out there and preach the gospel Monday to Friday that's your
job and the church will pay for you to do that job that's an evangelist someone that gets out
there preaches the gospel and then it says here and some pastors and of course I take the role of
a pastor and a pastor is a shepherd you know someone that's overseeing the flock as it were
and teachers you know some people are more skilled to teach you know there are different styles of
preaching there's a preaching style that somebody just opens up the Word of God and preaches the
truth and then there's other styles that you know it's just teaching you know you take a doctrine
you break down the doctrine doctrine you explain to people how these things come together that's
teaching you know and a pastor ought to be able to do all these things a pastor ought to preach
yes but a pastor also bit should be able to teach to show people what's wrong what's right and why
is it wrong why is it right okay and so these are gifts that God has given these are positions
that God has given for a church to be united for a church to grow okay verse number 12 verse number
12 it says here for actually tells us right here the reason he gives us all these people for the
perfecting of the Saints and let me just stop there for a minute let me just over a minute one
thing I want to say this okay because I've actually heard people say to me because you know I've got a
church up there and I get people to preach up there and I've got a church here and I get other
people to preach here right and I've been told well what why do you do that you're the pastor
you should be the only one preaching is that what we just saw in verse number 11 is it just
the pastor is it just one guy that gets up to preach you know all the churches that I've been
to at the past and they've always allowed other men to get behind the pulpit and preach the word
okay say why because we need multiple people some people are gifted you know compared to others now
some people are able to teach a certain truth better than I can teach you know you might have
a preach and you might get more out of that person guess what I need to take turn to sit
down on the chair and listen to someone else preach at me it has been many times I've allowed
people to preach behind the pulpit in my church and I've just sat there and I've kind of disagreed
with what I heard nothing major just something that I disagreed and then I've gone back and I've
studied my Bible looked into and go oh yeah I was wrong you were right I've got to change my mind
about that I can't tell you how many times that's happened to me and nothing major just small little
details small little facts I need to go back oh yeah I'm glad I'm glad I've got brother so-and-so
to preach because now I've learnt a few things okay and so look Churchill ought not to be a
one-man show yes you know I'm the main leader yes I'm the pastor here yes I'm guiding but you know
I'm all I also allow people to you know if you want to preach if you want to open the Word of
God I'm allowing you to do that just let me know let me know and I'll give you the time and I'll
tell you what needs to be done I'll tell you what needs to happen and let me just say it now you
know you need to be baptized we already saw in this in this chapter that one thing that brings
us into unity is baptism and if you want to get behind the pulpit and preach you got to be one
that's one in baptism with the rest of the congregation you know that's not something that
should be contentious that should just be something that you joyfully accept yeah I want to be united
with this church I want to make sure that I'm baptized Ephesians chapter 4 verse 12 for the
perfecting of the Saints you know put the word perfecting there means to complete you know to
help us mature to help us grow that's why we have all these it says here for the perfecting of the
Saints and the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ that's the purpose
behind it that's the purpose we have different preachers we have people get up here and open the
Word of God is to edify to lift each other up right the body of Christ and sometimes yeah you
have to get behind the pulpit and tear down some false teacher tear down some false doctrine yes
sometimes I might have to expose your sins but I don't do it to destroy you I do it because I love
you right I do it because I want you to be edified I do it because I want you to wake up and go well
I'm living worldly well I'm living not how God wants me to live I better change this about myself
that's not to destroy you brethren if you ever get offended by something I say it's not to hurt you
okay I'm not sure I want you in church I want you growing it's the purpose behind it is to edify
to edify you to help you grow in the Lord verse number 13 till we all come in the unity of the
faith and of the knowledge of this of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ I'm not sure if that's gone over your head brethren but the reason
church is so important okay it said there and of the knowledge of the Son of God okay you come to
church so you can learn about Jesus Christ you can learn who Jesus Christ is who is Jesus Christ
he's a son of God what did he come to do how did he how did he behave and I the whole Bible senses
on Jesus Christ we can learn about Jesus Christ any chapter of the Bible will point us to Jesus
Christ in some way shape or form okay but it's not just knowing about Jesus Christ but once you know
about once you have the knowledge of the Son of God it says unto a perfect man okay unto the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ once you know who Jesus Christ is once you know
what he's like well now the next step is for you to be like Jesus Christ to measure yourself up
next to Jesus Christ it's not to measure yourself up next to the pastor oh man pastor Kevin's at
this level and I've got to make sure I get to that level no that's a low level okay that's a
low level don't don't put me as your standard don't put me as your stature that you're measuring up
to know you know or some other bra I feel good about myself because I'm better than brother so
and so you know I'm better than sister so-and-so oh you know sister so-and-so she's not in church
this week at least I'm in church this week bad measurements no no no no you measure yourself
next to Jesus Christ once you learn about him you set him as your standard now I've got to be more
like Jesus Christ that's the purpose of church okay that's the purpose of coming to church for
you to grow spiritually and when you don't come to church naturally you're not going to grow when
you don't come to church naturally you're going to fall away you're not going to see Jesus Christ
in your own life verse number 14 and this is so important this is the title of the sermon here
it says that we henceforth be no more children is there a time to be a child yes but you know every
child grows fees I'm telling every physical child grows they're not going to be children forever you
know we look at little babies look at little children tell how cute how cute you know 20 or
30 years later you're not gonna be saying that about them anymore okay they're gonna be a full
blown adults and and the expectation is that just as much as you can't stop a child from growing the
expectation is as a as a believer as a believer of Christ you ought to grow okay but here's the
thing about being a spiritual believer is you can stay as a as a child if you want to you can stay
ignorant you can stay as a child with lack of knowledge and a lack of growth you could do that
in the spiritual life but that's not what God wants for us right that we henceforth be no more
children because what's the danger of being a child what's the danger of being a a babe in
Christ it says here tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight
of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive what's the problem of staying
as a spiritual child is that you're gonna be tossed to and fro you're not going to know what
to believe one preacher is going to come up and preach something you're gonna believe that next
preacher gets up preaches the total opposite you're gonna believe that you're not gonna know
what you believe you're not establishing the Word of God you're being convinced by the arguments of
men now it's good to make solid arguments you know make solid thoughts give solid thoughts but you
know what it ought to be grounded in God's Word that's what's going to keep you stable and not
only that it says by the sleight of men have you ever heard of the term the sleight of hand a lot
of magicians use sleight of hand right that you know I don't know you know let's say a magician
you know hides that cup like somehow it makes it hide from this hand and then all of a sudden
appears in that hand how they did it somehow right and they did it by sleight of hand they
had you distracted you know maybe they were juggling over here or something though they had
your eyes distracted over there while somehow they got that cup over there and now you be now
it's on this hand right you've been deceived all right because of the sleight of hand well the same
thing happens with doctrine the same thing can happen in a church is that there are men with
that come with with the sleight of hand as they were right coming with false teaching coming for
and you're not gonna be able to tell the difference between what is right and wrong it says cunning
craftiness cunning craftiness they know how to deceive you all right it says here whereby this
thing blows my mind about these false prophets it says whereby they lie in wait to deceive you know
what this means the first prophet comes to a church and will sit there just lying wait just
waiting waiting waiting waiting to the point where you're just like well that's a brother
in Christ waiting waiting waiting for his chance waiting for his chance and then when his chance
comes he goes in he goes in and brings his false teaching or whatever it is okay he brings in the
division in the church you know whatever it is he comes and that's what they do they just wait to
deceive that's what gives them joy that was that's what gives them purpose to deceive God's people
and this is why we can't be children forever brethren we need to learn to grow and to mature
and and know we but what we believe because we've seen it in the Word of God we've been convinced by
the Word of God and you're going to get that in church you avoid church just listen to your
preachers online man there's a lot of crazy people online as well you're gonna look you're gonna start
believing everything that you hear you know you ought to come to church find a good church come
to church and learn from God's Word verse number 15 but speaking so this is that this is what we
should do instead of being like these false teachers but speaking the truth in love may
grow up into him all things which is the head even Christ so when we preach the truth we ought to
preach with love okay with love and say I see brother pastor Kevin sometimes you lift your voice
sometimes you get angry all right you're a bit stern sometimes that's not loving yeah that is
loving all right that is loving because sometimes you need to wake up sometimes you need to realize
man am I really that sinful man is that real does God really hate that and sometimes you just need
the hard preaching you just need someone to to show the Bible and just just show your sin you
do it because of love Brethren I get here I come down here to Sydney because of love right I love
you I love this this Brethren you know I love this church right I love you guys I do otherwise
I just wouldn't do it honestly I was right and so people that come out to preach make sure these
people are people that actually love the Brethren they're not just people that trying to make a name
for themselves trying to look good in front of other people no you know the person that stands
behind the poor preaching God's Word ought to be someone that can speak the truth in love okay verse
number 16 and sorry from whom the whole body fitly joined together this whole body speaking
about the church joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplier you know every
joint of your physical body is important right every joint that puts your bones together that
puts your ligaments together your muscles every part of the body is important it says here
according to the effectual effectual working in the measure of every part make an increase of the
body unto the edifying of itself in love I don't want to miss what's being said here what's being
said here is that everybody that makes up this church is important if you're missing a part of
your body I don't care what part of your body it is you got you're going to be less effective okay
if you cut off a finger you still be able to function okay it's gonna be a lot of pain once
you lose that finger but you're not gonna be able to do as much if you had all your fingers
in place right if you break your ankle you break your leg you can still get all you can still you
can probably still drive a car but it's going to really limit how much how mobile you're gonna be
right it's going to be a strain on the whole body you know when there's a part of your body that's
broken the rest of the body is working extra hard to you know alleviate you know or trying to you
know accommodate for that for that that hurt part of your body and so everybody in this church is
important I don't care how long you've been saved if you've been saved a day you're important you've
been saved for 10 20 30 years you're important if you're a man you're important if you're a woman
you're important if you're a child you're important everybody is important and when someone in this
church is hurting it hurts the church as well it hurts the body okay it's important to understand
this because look at look at look at verse number 16 look at the end of verse 16 it says maketh
increase of the body do we want this body to increase we're talking about a spiritual growth
but it's not just spiritual growth if this body is increasing guess what's happening people are
going to be added to this church do we want people to be added to this church we want this body to
grow then what do we need to do it said their increase of the body and to the edifying of
itself in love and I've already said this before guys but if we want this church body to grow we
want people to come and visit and join our church we have to have be a church of love okay people
will join our church for any reason it's close I agree the doctrines you know the saved brethren
or the King James only whatever people can come up with whatever reason they might have to join
a church but what's going to keep them here is if they can see a love within the body if they can
know what this church loves me I can learn to love this church and so please when we have
visitors go out of your way a little bit okay go out of your way and welcome them go out of your
way and tell them they're welcome to church you know and think about maybe there are brethren here
in this church that you know you've not spoken to for days or you're not supposed to about four
weeks maybe there's some in this church you don't even know their name I hope not because we're a
small church right maybe you don't even know them you know what you need to do you need to go and
love that person he's going and talk to that person welcome that go and say hello go and say
bye you say I know nothing about brother so-and-so we'll go up to brother so-and-so and ask him how
they're doing you know learn about their life asking what they do for work you know ask him
if there's anything they need to be prayed for you know you're willing to do that for them you
know that's showing love to the brethren and when we have visitors come and they can see that love
they're going to want to be part of this church okay if we have everything else put together but
we missing the love you know yes they'll come for a while there they like what they see but
eventually gonna be well I'm not loved here they're gonna go elsewhere they're gonna find
church somewhere else okay so please remember it's not about you coming here and just receiving the
love if this is what you want our church to be you have to be loving you have to be the one
that edifies one another verse number 17 this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that ye
henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind so here it is guys with
this this part this chapter is about our walk it's not about our position our position before
God is perfect our position before God is righteous when God looks at us positionally
he sees Jesus Christ he sees the righteousness of Christ this is not your salvation this is not
your position this is about your walk okay your walk how you ought to live out your Christian
life and the instruction here is don't walk as other Gentiles walk don't work as the unbelievers
basically what it says now how do they walk in the vanity of their mind look look what the Bible
describes non-believers as okay vanity of their mind having the understanding darkened being
alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness
of their hearts who being past feeling have given themselves over to lasciviousness to work
all uncleanness with greediness this is how God describes the non-believer this is what you were
before you got saved okay what did it say here vanity of their mind the non-believer thinks of
worthless things okay it says here ignore the ignorance that is in them they're ignorant they
lack knowledge it says blindness in hearts it says past feeling okay that they lack the proper
emotional response to things that they're past feeling given to lasciviousness that means they're
full of lust you know that they're given to the lust of the flesh unclean and greedy these are
all words that God gives about the non-believer this is what you were before you got saved okay
and the instruction here is don't walk like these other Gentiles meaning you can walk like those
other Gentiles right if you're not being faithful if you're not in church you're not growing you're
going to walk godly you're going to walk worldly okay you either walk in the light that God gives
you or you're going to be walking like this sinful world like the non-believer and you too can fall
into this kind of description you too can be someone that just thinks about worthless things
okay about the vanity of this world and the instruction is don't walk like these other
Gentiles don't walk like the unbelievers verse number 20 but you have not so learned Christ what
this is saying is that if you walk in that way of the unbeliever it means you've not learned Christ
okay you don't know what Christ is like you don't know how you ought to measure yourself up to
Christ you don't know how well you're following after Christ if you're living worldly if you're
living in your sins verse number 21 if so be that you have heard him and have been taught by him as
the truth is in Jesus now this is this is that this is the this is what you do this is this is
the instruction of how to walk properly once you've been taught by Jesus once you've heard
of Jesus once you found the truth in Jesus verse number 22 that you put off concerning the former
conversation your former lifestyle your former behavior as well says put that off you've got to
make a decision and say well this is how I used to live my life I used to live for myself I live
for the world I live for my own pleasures I live for my sins now I've got to take that and put that
away says you know that's instructions being said here putting off a formal conversation the old man
and you guys know that I love to preach about the old man and the new man okay now there's a say
here that you don't have the old man does it say when you got saved the old man no longer exists no
the old man is still there okay and this is why you've got to take that old man that old Kevin
that old sinful flesh and so I don't want to walk your way anymore go over there I don't want you
today all right you put him away the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts
verse 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind that's the clue guys that's that's what you
do you want to put that away you don't want to work work work worldly you've got to renew the
spirit of your mind you've got to start changing the things that are up here okay instead of
filling your minds with television instead of filling your minds of Hollywood okay filling
your minds with with the world's entertainment the world's music and you know the world's system
instead of filling your minds of all that you've got to change what you fill your mind with you
got to renew your mind that's where it is verse number 24 and that you put on the new man at which
after God is created in righteousness and true holiness the only way you can walk righteously
the only way you can walk by in holiness is by putting on that new man you get rid of that old
man how do you do it you renew your mind you start thinking of godly things you start reading your
Bible you start praying you start coming to church you start listening to godly music you
start opening up your hymn book you've got a hymn book to take home go and sing it at home
fill your minds with godly things go soul winning okay or have fellowship with fellow brethren that
might keep you steady and on the right path whatever it is guys think on good things think
on spiritual things and by doing that you'll be able to put on the new man and you'll be able to
walk there in righteousness and holiness you can't think that I'm gonna spend Monday to Saturday or
you know the whole week just living like the world being entertained by the world and think
oh on Sunday I'll just go to church and I'll be all in the new man yeah the new man will be
malnourished it'll be there okay it's not going anywhere today both the old man and new man are
there okay it's malnourished but you're not going to be effective for God okay and when it comes to
the lust of the flesh when it comes to temptation you're more likely to give into those lusts
because you've been feeding that old man the whole week okay we need to change the way we live our
lives we can't continue to live in the same way you we used to live before we were saved you've
got to put on the new man Romans 12 2 says and be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed
look by the renewing of your mind that's how you get transformed by the renewing of your mind that
you may prove that that is that what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God that's how
you do it you say well I'm going to do this today well is that good acceptable and perfect is that
the will of God in your life that's not the will of God in my life then don't do it that's not renew
in your mind well you know I've got to go to work you know I've got to get up early and go work and
provide for the family is that God's will for that your life yes it is fathers is God's will for you
to go to work provide for your family we'll do all those things guess what that's God's will for
your life hey that's renewing your mind doing something for other people that's important for
you to do it's not just church it's doing the things that God expects you requires you to do
in your life verse number 25 we're for putting away so this is putting away that old man put in
away lion speak every man truth with his neighbor for we are members one of another I'm not gonna
say what I was about to say but put away lion okay tell the truth okay the new man wants to
tell the truth the old man wants to lie look at verse number 26 be ye angry and sin not and let
not sorry let not the Sun go down upon your wrath is this saying don't be angry is this saying never
be angry you know some people believe being angry is a sin is that what it says there no it says be
angry hey that's a command get angry that's what he says be angry but then it says and sin not okay
how is it you know if a child does something wrong if your child disobeys your parents you
ought to get angry about it you know when you see this world using God's name in vain you ought
to get angry about it it also it ought to spark an emotional response God has put those emotions
in you okay so it's righteous to get angry as long as you're angry about the things that God
gets angry about but don't get angry to the point where you're so angry we where he says he let not
the Sun go down upon your wrath if you're having a fight with somebody and you don't go and sort
it out or you're still harboring those thoughts you're still harboring that anger you wake up the
next morning you're still angry about it or now you're sinning because the instruction is yeah
get angry but then you know by the time the day's over by the Sun by the time the Sun goes down
don't be angry anymore you know sort it out get it over with you know sort it out and if you don't
get things sorted out that's when you sin that's when you sin okay and it says here verse number
27 neither give place to the devil when you're angry guys and you just hold it on to anger when
you just hold it on to bitterness when you just hold it on to something someone's done to you
that's when the devil is going to step in and you're giving place to the devil the devil can
use you and manipulate you because you're not reacting properly emotional emotionally okay the
devil can take advantage of your emotions if you don't go and sort things out get angry yes but
don't sin okay don't sin verse number 28 let him that stole still no more but rather let him labor
okay go to work men don't steal from other people go in labor working with his hands the thing which
is good that he may have to give to him that need of oh man I thought I went to work to give to
myself no go in labor right to give so he may give I have to give to him that need of you know
the things that you work the things you labor the things that you're productive with find how can I
bless other people again the context he is the church how can I bless my local church and that
could be money it could be that God's blessing financially so you're able to give to somebody
that's in need maybe a brother isn't finds himself in some financial situation no photo of his own
just bad place hey you might have some finances to help him get through a tough situation that
could be giving right that's possible it's not just financial though I could be possessions you
might have possessions you know that there are ladies I've seen this in church and maybe you've
done this yourself ladies with children I've seen mothers that have bought buy clothing for the kids
or families you know they give a lot of clothing for children and then the children never wear it
because they grow so quickly or they wear it just once or twice the clothing is still in good
quality I've seen many times mothers come with bags of clothes giving it to another mother you
know children say hey look go through this see what you need hey that's awesome that's something
you've labored for now you're you're blessing other people we've what you've got so it could
be clothing could be tools maybe your brother needs a tool to get something done you have that
tool go and give it to him that need of and we could just be personal help you know I've got
brother Michael guys not brother Michael he's up there in Queensland and now that I've got an
extra pair of hands he's helping me set up lights around the church building he's doing all these
upgrades on the church building that I don't have time for but he's got the time for that hey he's
laboring he's helping the local body there up in Queensland praise God for what he's able to do so
it's not just money but it could be possessions it could just be you laboring with your hands
just serving one another with what you can do with your own hands verse number 29 let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth and they say what is this corrupt communication well but
now it's going to give us the opposite of what it is all right the opposite says here but that so
this is how we should speak but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister grace
and to the hearers when we speak to one another brethren we ought to speak for the purpose to
edify one another to bless one another to lift each other up you know and if your speech is
destroying one another that's corrupt communication okay it said there right let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth okay think about what you're saying to to each other you know
a lot of insults availed you know I don't know how can I get try to get an example here I've used I
think I've used this example before but you know I might go up to you know let's say a mother with
a little child right and they're in nappies and I might say something like oh is your child still
in nappies your child's still not toilet trained I haven't come out and criticized them up front
right but I'm asking a question I'm making I'm purposely making them feel bad about themselves
what am I supposed to have them toilet trained by now am I supposed to have this done right well
that's corrupt communication you're tearing someone down you're not lifting them up okay
you're not lifting them up that would be an example you know we often think about corrupt
communication about you know swear words and of course that's part of it you know that you can
tear people down by the way you speak but it's got it's basically corrupt communication is the
opposite of edifying your brethren let's keep going verse number 30 and grieve not the Holy
Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption now this is a sad reality brethren
every time we sin every time we walk in darkness every time we walk in the ways we want to walk
when we go against God we grieve the Holy Spirit of God you know each one of us have the Holy
Spirit of God in dwelling us the Bible says where it's the temple of God and the Holy Spirit of God
indwells us and so when we're walking after our own ways we're grieving the Holy Spirit we're
grieving God all right and then to see whereby so say why why did God put the Holy Spirit in us
whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption the Holy Spirit is in you you know as as a seal
of your redemption of the day of redemption that is the resurrection when you receive your
resurrected bodies when God has given you a Holy Spirit he's guaranteed that you're going to be
fully redeemed even physically okay this is once saved always saved you're sealed you know you're
saved and you're sealed there's nothing you can do to unseal yourself from God's Holy Spirit verse
number 31 let all bitterness and I'm not gonna break all these things down but let's just listen
to it let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you
with all malice okay and be ye kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another you know what
when it says forgiving one another you know what that means that means there's gonna be people that
are in church that's gonna offend you that's what it means okay you can't forgive someone unless
they've offended you to begin with all right so you come to church oh I didn't think something
so-and-so is gonna offend me well guess what's gonna happen this is why God gives us these
instructions forgiving one another oh man I can't forgive so-and-so forgiving one another even as
God for Christ's sake have forgiven you you know how you're meant to treat the brethren in this
church the same way you would expect Jesus Christ to treat you if you're in his presence if you were
meeting Jesus Christ face-to-face whatever your your thoughts are as to how he would treat you
man I think of Christ I'm sure he'll be welcoming I'm sure he would embrace me I'm sure he would say
they are good and faithful servant I'm sure he will say when I stuff up you know when I make
mistakes well the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak all right I'm sure the Lord's gonna say
hey when you're weak call on me and I'll give you strength you know is that how you behave to your
fellow Brevin in church well that's how you ought to behave okay the standard is Jesus Christ you
know how does how do you want Christ to treat you well that's how you ought to treat your brothers
and sisters in the Lord hey forgive one another if you're holding a grudge today learn to forgive
them go and sort it out you know don't let these conflicts develop because then you're going to
have the bitterness that's there right the wrath the anger the clamor the evil speaking put that
away from you brethren put that away from you that stuff that brings malice that destroys one another
no a church ought to be the body of Christ edifying one another loving one another
you