Now last week we looked at submitting to God and I made it clear that that's probably obviously
the easiest being to submit unto because we know God is perfect and we know he loves us and he's
always righteous and he's always making the right decisions whereas we often do not.
And so submitting to God is the most easiest one at least logically it makes the most sense
okay. But then when it comes to submitting to man it gets a bit more challenging because
we know how corrupt mankind is we know how we're selfish by default and you know we may not be
looking out for the needs of those that are meant to be submissive under us. But when we talk about
submission man to man we often do it naturally again we understand it logically especially if
someone has authority over you. So it makes sense for wives to submit to their husbands to
their own husbands because the husband has authority of his wife. It makes sense for children
to be submissive to their parents because parents have authority over their children.
It makes sense for students to be submissive to their teachers. It makes sense for employees
to be submissive to their employers. You know it makes sense for citizens to be submissive to
the the government authorities of the land. Like those things make sense because when we
identify the one we are to submit under we say well they've got a level of authority right
they've got some standard or some role that is above you know the common man and so that
makes sense we'll submit to those that have authority. But here we are in Ephesians 5 and
verse number 21 and this is of course pour right into the Ephesian church. So this is to all
of us one one another here wanting to think about you know who we are. You might be a married
man you might be a wife you might be a child you might be a single man a single woman you
might be a regular you might be a visitor or whatever right whatever your position is in
the church this morning it says here submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
God is given the church an instruction that we are to submit one to another. So of course
in the church the pastor is given the authority so ignore the pastor for a moment but let's just
talk about ourselves as brothers and sisters in the Lord. You know a child adult whatever
whatever age you are you might be saved you might have been saved for 20 years you might be
saved for six months you might be saved for one week we don't you know whatever that is.
The Bible is telling us that we are to submit one to another in the fear of God. That
means if you've been saved for 20 years and you're an adult man you've got your own family
and you are like the number one Christian in this church you know if someone says who is
the best Christian in the church and we say well it's brother you know Toby and then uh you say
well who's the least in the church you might say well that's the little baby that's not even
saved you like that you know a little child that's been recently born the Bible is telling
us well brother Toby number one Christian ought to be submissive to the little baby in church.
We ought to be submissive one toward another and this is why Jesus Christ gives us the
instructions it says that if any man gives a cup of water to a little child in the name of Christ
he will not lose his reward. The Bible tells us if we serve one another in church
even a little child even a little baby we're actually gaining rewards in heaven
and so that's the one great advantage that we have of being submissive even though
little baby little child does not have authority over grown man Toby
or whoever Toby is right you know as far as a role goes but the Bible is telling us
just as we come together for church we ought to be looking at each other and be submissive
one to another and again that is challenging because you know we all know that we're at
different stages in our Christian walk we all know that some are more mature in the faith
than others some have more life experience than others and you know the more we gather
together for church the more we understand each other's faults and failings and sometimes
we'll rub each other the wrong way and we may not want to be submissive one to another
and so I got one passage I want to turn to before keep your finger there in Ephesians 5
keep your finger there come with me to Philippians 2 this just came to me while the
you know the Bible's being read this passage and I was just thinking about how do we do that
how is it that we you know again we understand the idea of submitting ourselves to God
we understand the idea of submitting ourselves to someone of authority
but how do we lower ourselves and think of each other as someone in authority over us
where all would need to be submissive unto them well I'm just reminded of this great
passage in Philippians chapter 2 Philippians chapter 2 please Philippians chapter 2
and it says in verse one let's just read verse one it says if there be therefore
any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit
if any bowels of mercies fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded
the Bible's telling us here we need to be like-minded what does that mean I hear that
term being thrown around a lot you know this person they would say well this person's
like-minded but usually we use that term like-minded when it comes to doctrine
we'll say they're on the same page with us doctrinally so we're like-minded
but just because someone's on the same page doctrinally let's say someone's on the same
page 100% with you doctrinally doesn't mean they're like-minded because the Bible
continues to define what that is it says here having the same love being of one accord
of one mind so being like-minded is also another way from phrasing it is being of one
mind one mind being like-minded it continues in verse number three let nothing be done through
strife or vainglory but in lowliness of mind this is interesting in lowliness of mind
that's again that mind the like-mindedness one mind lowliness of mind let each esteem other
better than themselves now this is something I'm constantly trying to remind myself
you know like all the time you know as a pastor you know I never want to come across
as a prideful you know know-it-all man you know the Bible's telling me here that in order
for me to love properly to be of one mind to be like-minded I need to have a lowliness of mind
and esteem other that's everybody else okay that's brother Toby that's little baby that's
been born a week ago whatever baby name is right I need to steam other better than myself
and that's ultimately when we submit ourselves you know we are essentially low in ourselves to
summon an authority and we're saying your authority makes you better not a better person
but your position your standard your you know where you stand is better and so I need to be
submissive to that role that is better right children need to be submissive to their parents
because the parents have the higher role and so when we are to esteem each other better than
ourselves this is what helps us to be able to turn around and say well then I need to if
that person is better doesn't matter who it is in church this morning I need to be submissive
to that person who is better than myself this is how I have a lowliness of mind this is how
we can be a one mind this is how we can be like-minded it continues in verse number four
look not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others
ah so when I come to church it's not about me anymore it's about others you know what does
the other person need maybe they need a bit of friendship maybe they need to be told that you
know I'm thinking about them I love them I'm praying about them maybe I need to show interest
in their lives maybe I need to ask them you know what's what's what you know what's the latest in
the challenge are you the tribulation the trial you've been facing you know bring me up
to speed brother is there anything that I can do all family so-and-so's moving from this
house to that house how can I be a help to help you move brother you know we we look out
for the needs of others and when we do that that's how we show ourselves to be submissive one to
another because how can I well how can I serve you you know how can I better you do you need a
cup of water pasta so you can preach you know whatever it is how can we serve one another
you know if uh you know parents with kids you know sometimes we might give kids pencils
and coloring books and things like that and sometimes and look kids you should pick up after
yourselves but sometimes kids will leave pencils or papers on the floor look that's not the time
to get frustrated at the child that left the pencil on the floor it's not the time to get
frustrated that someone forgot to throw their rubbish in the bin that's your opportunity to
say I'm gonna lower myself and I'm gonna steam them better than myself so I'll go pick up that
paper and throw it in the bin that's how I can show servitude that's how I can be submissive
instead of saying you should pick up your own garbage and you should by the way right but when
the opportunity presents itself you should just I'll just do it because I'm supposed to lower
myself I'm supposed to submit myself one to another in the fear of God looking continues
in verse number five then uh Philippians 2 5 look at this let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus that's how Jesus thought okay you know when Jesus saw an
opportunity to serve and Jesus is God is there anyone above Jesus no but as soon as he
had an opportunity to serve he goes I'm going to steam other better than myself that's the one
mind that's what ought to make us like-minded that we steam each other better than ourselves
it's the same mind that was in Christ Jesus how do I serve how do I better other people how
can I help other people and then he continues who being in the form of God thought it not
robbery to be equal with God made himself with no reputation but took upon him the form
of a servant and was made in the likeness of man I'll just continue being found in fashion
as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross
man that is the mind of Christ God lowering himself making himself of no reputation
and dying for our sins what if Jesus says look it's your sins you clean up your mess
it's your garbage you clean up your own you'd be on your way to hell right now
so is it really that hard to serve one another when Christ has already done so much for us
he's set the great example of being lowly in mind having the like-mindedness the example has
been set by Jesus you're never going to have to lower yourself more than Jesus lowered himself
for us so this is why we need to learn to submit ourselves one to another in the fear of
God come back with me to Ephesians 5 come back with me to Ephesians 5
verse number 21 is where we get the title from have I given you the title I don't think so
submit one to another title for sermon this morning right submit one to another and the
context is not when you're in the house parents you submit to your children that's not the context
okay the context is not husbands submit to your wives that's not the context the context is
not at work employers submit to your employees okay the context is not uh prime minister of
australia submit yourself to regular citizen joe you know whatever it is right that's not the
context the context is this has been written to the church when we look at each other and
serve one another in this context we ought to be willing to submit one to another lowering
ourselves okay now when you look at verse number 21 where I got the title from in Ephesians
5 21 notice that verse number 20 ended with a semicolon you notice that so the set like
what I read verse number 21 is not a sentence it's just part of a sentence okay now the sentence
actually begins in verse number 18 so let's backtrack a little bit Ephesians 5 18 okay
submitting yourselves once around the fear of god is the end of the sentence the sentence
begins in verse number 18 and you'll notice at the end of verse number 18 semicolon at the
end of verse number 19 semicolon at the end of verse number 20 semicolon and verse number 21
ends with a full stop that's the end of the sentence and the reason I bring that up is
because I had to just quickly look up what a semicolon is useful grammatically and a semicolon
is I'll just read it to you what I read on online is the most commonly you is most commonly
used to link in a single sentence two independent clauses that are closely related in thought
such as when restating the preceding idea with a different expression so every time we
have these verses okay just a general English grammar is that these are independent clauses
they're all independent one from another but they're closely related in thought okay okay so
it's just again just reinstating the preceding idea with a different expression all right so when
you have that idea then you know that we should if we're going to look at verse number 21
we should also look at verses 18 19 and 20 okay and 21 and this is where I'm going to get the
points for the sermon this morning okay number one look at verse 18 it says and be not drunk
with wine wherein is excess but be filled with the spirit so this is telling me one way for
me to be submissive to my church members is that I need to be filled with the spirit okay
that's going to be point number one be filled with spirit point number two is going to
come from verse number 19 speaking to yourselves so this is one way we can communicate one to
another speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody
in your heart to the lord so point number two is going to be sing and make melody
sing and make melody verse number 20 giving thanks always for all things unto god and the
father in the name of our lord jesus christ so point number three will be give thanks always
okay and then lastly point number four in verse number 21 submitting yourselves one to
another very important though in the fear of god in the fear of god so point number four is
going to be submit in the fear of god okay so if i don't submit to you that boy i also have
a fear of god okay and god is telling me you need to submit one to another okay i we ought not
to think we're the ultra christian and everybody's come to church to serve me wrong attitude
even when i preach okay even when the song leader leads even when the bible reader reads
it's all service okay it's for the benefit of others at least that's what preaching should be
preaching should not be me let me tell you how smart i am because i'm not that smart we use
god's wisdom to teach the word of god right but rather i want to give the best i can to serve
my brethren i want to give the best i can to give god's people something to be not to
nourish them to feed them to give them something to think about during the week
you know preaching is supposed to be service not to show off okay but point number one was be
filled with the spirits can you turn with me to galatians five please galatians five
be filled with spirit i mean this should be obvious if we're going to serve one another
we cannot do it in the flesh we need to do it by the leading of the holy spirit of god and
look i don't know why i don't know if what i'm going to say is controversial i don't understand
i talk to different pastors and they all have different opinions which i don't know because
every church i've been part of has said the same thing like i've never come to a church
myself everything that i've heard taught is what i'm going to teach you today
but sometimes when i share this with others they think it's controversial
okay or they think it's like charismatic or pentecostal or something like that sometimes
i don't know but look it's true the moment you're saved the bible tells us the moment
you're saved you're born of the spirit the new spiritual man is born again but not only
do you have a new spirit within you a renewed spirit but the holy spirit of god comes and
indwells the believer okay now right now everybody has the holy spirit of god indwelling
you and the spirit of god bears record or bears witness to your spirit that you are a child of
god okay so that will that's that's the permanent down payment for your eternal life
nothing's ever going to change that okay but when i read verse about ephesians 5 18
and be not drunk with wine which that's obvious and then it says but be filled with spirit
okay but you're telling me to be filled with spirit but aren't i already no okay being through
the spirit is a second role or a second application of the holy spirit's work in your life
you might have like a cup of water might have a some water in the cup okay but the
bible is telling us to be filled you know all the way with water like if i were to fill this
up all the way where it's overflowing you say man you filled that cup yeah but i still had
water in there from the beginning okay and so the holy spirit in order to utilize us to the max
we must be filled with the holy spirit of god like it doesn't make sense that we're being
told to be filled if that's already the your position and the whole spirit is already
living in you now the whole spirit lives within you teaches you and guides you in god's word
but in order for us to serve in order for us to go soul winning in order for us to preach
a sermon and to serve and submit one to another we must be filled with the spirit of god
look at galatians 5 16 it says this i say then walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill
the lust of the flesh now i believe that a hundred percent okay but here's the thing
even when you fulfill the lust of your flesh even when you sin as a believer the holy spirit
is still living in you even when you sin but you can't be walking in the spirit or being
filled with the spirit in order for you to overcome sin and go a period of time without
sin in your life you must be walking in the spirit and i would say being filled with the
spirit to me it's the same thing if you're putting the flesh away and how how do you
do it pastor i simply go to god and say god filled me with your spirits because i see those
examples in the bible i see prayer and then people can feel the spirit and be able to speak
boldly the things of god you know god gives us this supernatural power to be able to do
something great for him that we otherwise would not think possible you know maybe when
you think about serving one another i can't serve brother i want uh bob because brother bob you
know like he's just a wicked christian he just turns up to church just to look good
and pastor you're telling me to submit to him yes i am i can't do it you're right you can't
do it in the flesh that's why you need to walk in the spirit that's why you need to be
filled with the spirits okay you need to put the flesh aside the flesh only want to serve
brother bob but the spirit does all right and it continues there in verse number uh 17
for the flesh lusts up against the spirits and the spirit against the flesh and these
are contrary the one to another so that you cannot do the things that you would
look we can't serve each other if we don't walk in the spirits if we don't fill ourselves
with the holy spirit of god you know please get in the habit before church before you walk
into church say lord help me to be a blessing help me to submit myself one to another
build me with your spirit lord because i know my flesh won't want to do it but the new spiritual
man you have within me with the help of the holy spirit of god and his empowerment and
his feeling will enable me to be a blessing to our church you know what i want people to walk
into church whether they're you know visiting or whether they you know been here since day
number one i want them to walk out of church and go boy i served my church today and i was
served in return you know you know and feel encouraged feel the love of the brethren that's
what i ultimately want you to experience coming to church don't want church to be a cold
environment where everyone's just in their flesh and you know criticizing and picking on this
issue and that issue no you know truly we ought to esteem other better than ourselves
you know before galatians 5 16 i want to notice the inverse number 13 galatians 5 13
it says for brethren ye have been called unto liberty but use not liberty for an occasion to
the flesh look at this but by love serve one another another thing that we notice here how do
we serve another by love we need to love one another again in the flesh we're selfish in the
flesh we love ourselves but the spirit the new spirit that god has given us loves the people
of god truly does i think you all deep down of course you do if you're saved deep down you
love god's people even when they bother you even when they frustrate you even when that
past is annoying you you still want the best for god's people deep down that's that's you know
that's how men will know that we're disciples of jesus by the love that we have one toward
another bible teaches us but notice the flesh gets in the way okay but by love we ought to
serve another continues verse number seven verse number uh 14 for all the law is fulfilled
in one word even this thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself and look at the contrary in
verse number 15 but if you bite and devour one another take heed that ye be not consumed
one of another again this is a church paul's run to a church says if you bite you devour
paul goes look i've seen this in church where people just attack each other
criticize each other destroy each other's testimonies
it says look when we bite and devour one another it's because the flesh is involved
you see we want to be filled with the holy spirit of god and i'm telling you now like
if you're having conflicts i don't know if you are i don't understand if you're having
conflicts with someone at church and you just hey brother this sister so and so that family
how dare they say this it's not you being filled with spirit it's not it's not that
it's your flesh okay and you know what you stay in the flesh like that you're going to bite
you're going to devour you and destroy this church you won't be able to submit yourself
one to another the greatest submission is just being able to do even to the person you like
the least at church and just serve them faithfully and again you say i can't do that
pastor well jesus did it for you all of your sins every time you've sinned and every
time you continue to sin until the day that you die and you sin that was an offense to god
not just an offense to yourself or to your fellow man you've broken you've transgressed god's laws
like i i admit i probably i've seen every day
remember the bible says thought of foolishness is sin i reckon i go through thousands of foolish
thoughts i don't know hundreds i don't know how many i have no idea i can't keep up with my mind
it's always thinking of something foolish
imagine offending somebody every single day
and still christ that's the example of being submissive to us and dying for us
i i guarantee you the person that you're frustrated at a church where i don't have
there is but i'm just saying like has not offended you every single day of your life
but you've done that to jesus and he still died for you he still loves you he still shed his blood
for you he still lowered himself made himself of no reputation to came and not to save you
but to set the example of how we are to submit one to another can you come with me to
uh if you're in fisian yeah you're sorry colossians come with me to colossians come with
me to colossians chapter three please colossians chapter three colossians chapter three
colossians chapter three so brethren come to church leave the flesh at the door
actually leave the flesh at home a little bit further away leave the flesh over there
far away in melania somewhere all right and come here with a new man you're not being
led by the holy spirit of god walk in his spirits and that will ensure that you have
the right mentality to be able to serve one another regardless of who it is in church
the next point that we had was sing and make melody how how does singing and making melody
you know cause one to submit one to another singing and making melody you know i was thinking
about this a little bit because you know we all have different levels of ability to sing
okay brother oliver this morning he's got you know obviously the zeal you know he's got the
voice to be able to lift it up and and sing and make melody and then some others just like
well i just i can't carry a tune i can't carry a note and so you'll sing more quietly by the
way when i sing quietly is i'm trying to save my voice for the preaching okay
i can sing loudly you guys know that i can but i just sometimes just
make sure i can preach right try to keep my voice right but
i wanted to think about this because sometimes some singing is just kind of muttering under
your breath right sometimes i've gone to church where people turn up very late for church
like week in week out week in week out week in week out and they just
make it for the sermon and they miss all the singing actually by missing the singing
singing by by not singing loudly making melody you're actually contrary to submitting
yourselves one to another you're doing the opposite so how how's that possible
well look at colossians 3 look at colossians 3 because colossians 3 phrases it a little bit
differently to ephesians 5 but it's the same it's the same teachings it's pretty much the
same verse remember in ephesians 5 it said um it said uh speaking to yourselves in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs well how does colossians 3 16 word it says here let the
word of christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom then it says this teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs so ephesians 5 says again
speaking to yourselves in psalms hymns and spiritual songs colossians 3 16 says teaching
and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs so the speaking to yourselves
is the idea that we're teaching each other and we're admonishing one another
as we sing our psalms and hymns and spiritual songs
very interesting you know when we sing together and we open up let me just go to a random hymn
um let me go um okay hymn number 191 in my heart there rings a melody all right
i have a song that jesus gave me it was sent from heaven above there never was a sweeter
melody tastes a melody of love as i'm singing that i'm teaching you guys there's a sweet
melody of love coming from jesus christ but we're all teaching each other
you see preaching the sermon yes that's the main time of teaching obviously
but even when we sing we are reminding ourselves in that hymn man in my heart there ought to be
a melody right there ought to be a happy song coming from our hearts you know when we get to
church and we open our our hymns and we sing it ought not to just be coming from our mouth
but it must be coming from the heart the melody of the heart the joy that we have of god we're
reminding ourselves of this great truth but if we sing this song i have a song that jesus
gave me sent from heaven above what kind of teaching is that you're not teaching each other
everyone has said when i preach this is my way to serve and to submit myself to you
when we sing and we lift the words and we get excited that's your teaching ministry one to
another how well do you want to serve your brethren oh i just i don't have a good voice
i don't care how bad your voice is just sing it anyway it's beautiful to my ears i tell you
honestly it's beautiful to the ears of god because it's the melody of the heart right that's more
important than how well your voice sounds in my heart there rings a melody there rings
a melody with heaven's harmony in my heart there rings a melody there rings a melody
of love you might come to church and you're just down in the dumps okay and you know there's
no melody in your heart right now but you come to church because you know you should be in
church and can you imagine everyone else is belting this out don't you think that's going
to encourage you go man i'm so glad i'm at church i'm encouraged being here i'm reminded
of what god has done for me i'm reminded of the great joy that he brought me the moment he
saved me because in colossians 3 16 i'll read it to you again it says teaching and admonishing
to admonish is to warn of faults now if i come up to you and or maybe not me because i'm the
pastor so you guys might accept a bit more but let's say brother calum comes up to you
all right and goes brother i can just see there's no joy in your heart there's no melody
in your heart for example you might be like ah why would you say that like how rude you might
might be that reaction even though he means well he wants to you know he just notices that
like he's admonishing his warning like you're missing an element in your spiritual walk here
like that might be a bit offensive but if everyone's just singing about it
and we're all admonishing one another like hey you know we're essentially saying hey
there's something wrong with your heart get the melody get the joy in your heart as you
come to church and serve the lord that's a lot easier to receive right when everyone's
just singing it's not like i intentionally went out to you know name you you've been admonished
as we sing i once had someone say to me pastor there are hymns in the hymnal that i can't sing
because it's not true for me i'm like yeah you've been admonished as you sing and you
realize man i come short even of these songs they're not to remind you well lord i'm gonna
please bring this back to me whatever whatever area of my life that's missing i need to be
corrected i need to be taught and this is why it's so important that our songs are full of doctrine
because we're teaching we're teaching like we don't want some repetitive you know
hillsong melody that puts you into a trance and teaches you nothing just because it sounds
good just because the music sounds not the words need to sound good the words are teaching
doctrine again that's why in colossians 3 16 let the word of christ dwell in you richly in
all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs
so the songs that we sing must contain the words of christ in them
and we teach and before the preaching starts you're already been taught all the hymns that
were chosen was one way for you to be taught and to be admonished and be corrected
i think last week we sang i surrender all i surrender all have i really surrendered all
no have you really surrendered all no you've been admonished we should be willing to give
everything up to jesus christ to serve him with everything we have sometimes we do it
but have we truly surrendered everything that's very hard to do and so songs like that we
and so songs like that we don't we can't turn around say i'm not going to sing because it's not
true sing it because you've been corrected you've been admonished you've been shown there's
an area of life that needs to be worked on and so as we sing we're encouraging we're teaching
each other this is one sure way to submit ourselves one to another and i just encourage
those that do sing quieter because you're worried about your voice don't worry about that remember
you're not looking for the uh you're not looking at the things you're looking at the things of
others not only on the things of yourself you say my voice is so bad pastor well by you
lifting up your voice you might be encouraging someone else at church you're submitting yourselves
you're teaching them you're guiding them you're instructing them you're getting them
encouraged to be in the house of the lord reverend singing together is one sure way we can
submit ourselves to each other you know i'll quickly read to you from psalm 149
verse number one i'll just read to you psalm 149 verse number one praise ye the lord
sing unto the lord a new song and his praise in the congregation of saints
say pastor i sing loudly at home good but the instruction is also we're to sing in the
congregation of saints the congregation the word church means congregation so we're congregated
we're assembled together right now this is the time that we ought to be singing praises to
our lord openly in public one to another brethren this is an easy way to serve to submit
one to another and i'm just saying to you if you if you refuse to sing or you just try to
be as quiet as you can you're actually missing an important part in your servitude to each other
i want this church to be the loudest church and we get we get better as time goes on our
voices sound better we know the hymns better we learn new ones and i like i don't know what
the acoustics are but if you ever find yourself in the office upstairs when the singing's going on
it sounds 10 times better up there just somehow it all travels and gets stuck in that room
it just sounds so good so i but you know obviously i care about what it sounds to
jesus christ at the end of the day and as it goes up to heaven our songs our lips and
our praises our sacrifice of praise i want it to sound beautiful to the lord
and don't forget it's not just to the lord but we're submitting and we're serving
one another in song come with me to um psalm 35 please psalm 35 psalm 35
i probably should tell you to turn something doesn't matter psalm 35 some 35
point number one if we're going to submit ourselves one to another
we need to be a fuel to the spirit okay number two we need to sing and make melody
and while you turn to psalm 35 i'm going to quickly read to you from eph
thanks that you're going for a hard time
give god thanks that he's letting you to go through a difficulty to learn some lesson
to grow to mature give god thanks that he never leaves you nor forsakes you
while you're going for a tough time in life the bible tells me we can always give thanks
psalm 35 18 psalm 35 18 it says here i will give thee thanks in the great congregation
i will praise thee among much people notice that so yeah we do give god thanks
privately in our own private prayers i'm sure we do but the bible's telling me
even in the great congregation the assembly once again even within the church we are to
give thanks i will praise thee among among much people you know what one way that we
can serve each other is by telling each other what we're thankful to god about
the lord's come through and answered my prayer brother or sister the lord's opened a door
the lord's teaching me the lord's guided me the lord's shown me some great trip in the bible
how's that submitting and serving one another again we are encouraging we're reminding each
other of our great god that we love and serve again we're kind of teaching one another as we
give god thanks and we're like we're reminding each other that we ought to always always give
thanks to our lord can you come with me to Ephesians 1 Ephesians 1 15 i'm gonna i'm gonna
rattle off a few verses here if you're fast enough they're all in the new testament
all of the all the epistles Ephesians 1 15 please Ephesians 1 15 giving thanks always are
you thankful for new life baptist church i know i am i'm and not because i'm the pastor i'm just
i'm thankful for this church i'm thankful for soul winners i'm thankful for the doctrines
that we teach i'm thankful for the families that make up this church you know i'm thankful
for you because the bible tells me here in Ephesians 1 15 so paul is right into the
Ephesian church right he says wherefore i also after i heard of your faith in the lord jesus and
love unto all the saints cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my
prayers paul says i'm thankful for you for your faith for your example for your love because
man when i go to god and i give god thanks i give god thanks for the church there in Ephesus
do you give god thanks for new life baptist church
one way we can serve each other is by remind ourselves of just how special we are children
of god saved we know we're saved because not because we're good enough none of us are good
enough we know we're saved because jesus was good enough people say well i gave my life to jesus
wrong jesus gave his life to you he died for you he paid for all of your sins
he was crucified died rose again paid for all of your sins of all time
when jesus has paid for all your sins you got nothing left to pay
so how do i receive the free gift the bible says believe on the lord jesus christ and thou
shall be saved that's it no strings attached do i have to go to church to be saved no
do i have to read my bible to be saved no do i have to be baptized to be saved no
surely i've got to give all my money to some charity no all of that is your efforts
trying to be reconciled to god no jesus they did all the reconciliation
jesus reconciled us to god and all you need to do is put your trust in jesus
and say yes jesus i trust that you paid for everything i trust that you've given me eternal
life there's nothing that i can do to gain it i got it for you and there's nothing i can
do to lose it because you were good enough jesus the basis of salvation is the righteousness
of jesus not your righteousness not your works only what jesus did for us
i don't know why i said that but that's the very basics of the gospel
okay and the bible is telling me we ought to give thanks because there's so few people
there's so few people that have decided to put their faith and trust on jesus
the vast majority of people ask the vast majority of people what must we do to go to heaven
what must we do to be saved they'll tell you be a good person keep the commandments go to church
do good to your neighbors and all those things are important but that's not how you get saved
that's your works in the way you need to put all of your trust on the work of jesus christ
alone there's so few of us that are saved by grace through faith and brevin that's why i
give thanks for every single person like i don't want to be arguing with you guys because like
so few that are saved jesus tells us most you know uh the broad way is is the way that
leads to destruction most people are on the broad way trust in their works trust in their
ability to go to heaven not trusting christ alone and you know what if you've not trusted
christ alone then speak to me after the service because that's the most important thing
you can do in life
so we read ephishians one come with me to philippines one come with me to philippines
one philippines one verse number three philippines one verse number three
philippines one verse number three
i just want to show you how paul speaks of these different churches so we saw the ephishian
church look at the philippine church philippines one verse three he says i thank my god
upon every remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine for you look at this
all making requests with joy he's a boy as soon as i remember you guys i'm thanking god
i'm going to god in prayer and i'm taking your requests to him how can we serve each other
we give thanks we appreciate each other and then we in time realize we all have needs
we realize we all have problems we all have trials so the moment i remember brother jordan
right i also go to god god thank you for brother jordan and you know what brother
jordan wants to be in church on sundays lord can you make it you know can you open the
door for him to be here on church on sundays instead of just the midweek services and we go
and that's how we serve one another because there are needs
and the greatest way they're going to show you great love is just going to our father
and saying look brother so and so sister so has this need can you please come through for
them that's what giving thanks reminds us of man i'm so thankful oh he has a need
she has a need the family has a need god can you help it can you sort it out lord
that's servitude we're praying for someone else we're interceding for someone else
come with me to uh first corinthians please first corinthians chapter one
first corinthians chapter one first corinthians chapter one so god so paul gives thanks to the
for the ephigion church for the philippian church what are the corinthian church
say surely not the corinthian church pastor that's uh that's the mess that's the worst
church i think it's the worst church in the bible how can you give thanks for like the
worst church in the bible well first corinthians one verse four i thank my god always on your
behalf for the grace of god which is given you by christ jesus that in everything you be
enriched in him in all utterance and in all knowledge man he goes to god and say god thank
you for the corinthian church all right he goes i'll go on your behalf all right so he's
interceding there again he says lord can you enrich them in utterance can you enrich them
in knowledge once again you see the heart of paul to all these churches if you have time
come with me to colossians one colossians one verse number three colossians one verse
number three it says we give thanks to god and the father of our lord jesus christ
praying always for you that's the colossian church the ephesian philippians corinthian
colossian church what is paul constantly doing giving thanks for the church and as he
comes to his remembrance he goes to god i'm giving thanks always for my church
and so i'm going to come and pray for them i'm going to bring their needs before you father
can you please answer their prayers what a great way to so serve show servitude to submit
yourselves one to another to your brother or sister in the lord can you try this week
if you're not in the habit if someone in church comes to your mind
you know brother richard comes to my mind this week
what does he need and i'm going to go thank you lord for brother richard
and lord i'm going to take his needs before you right now in prayer because i'm just so
thankful that you're giving me a faithful brother in the lord and i know he's got needs
and i always got whatever i don't know i know what exactly but lord can you come and answer
them that's me humbling myself lowering myself how can i be submissive to my brother
and sister in the lord so the point so far be feel the spirit number two sing and make
melody three give thanks always give thanks always and lastly come with me to proverbs 8
please come with me to proverbs 8 proverbs 8 the last one was will we get the title for the
sermon submit one to another ephesians 5 21 says submitting yourselves one to another
in the fear of god okay so point number four is submit in the fear of god submit
in the fear of god it's a fear of god that helps me submit it's it it is i know you're
sick and tired of me saying this but man i get when i get up to preach
there's two times that i'm the most fearful when i'm in the air because i'm constantly flying
i don't know how those planes fly it doesn't make any sense to me okay i mean i know the
science don't get me wrong i'm not that stupid but just seeing this big machine in the air is
like how right that's that's a different type of fear than that other time is just when i get
behind the pulpit god i don't want to mess it up god i don't want to say anything
that is contrary to what you've said or speak on your behalf when you never spoke those words
lord i i it's a fearful thing to do it and um i think that makes me a better preacher to be
honest with you that's what i think i could be wrong okay but what i learned here about the
fear of god it tells me in proverbs 8 13 it says the fear of the lord is to hate evil
pride and arrogance and the evil way and the froward mouth do i hate
the bible says to hate yes you know what i'm sure you've done evil i'm sure you've been
full of pride you've been arrogant at some time you've followed an evil way you've had a froward
mouth right the froward means you've been hard to get along with like you're intentionally
trying to be aggressive i'm sure you've done all those things and you know when you
did those things you didn't have a fear of god at that time because the fear of the lord
will cause you to hate these things okay and how are we going to be submissive to each other
if we're full of pride and arrogance and we speak to each other with a froward mouth
how can we submit to each other we can't this is why submitting in the fear of god is
essential it's essential okay because fearing god gets us in the right mentality of toward
how we ought to treat each other how we ought to speak to each other how we ought to serve
each other can you come with me to matthew 25 matthew 25 please matthew 25 see the fear of lord
removes or at least calls us to hate the behavior that causes arguments and fights and
discord matthew 25 please
while you're turning to matthew 25 i'm going to quickly read to you from romans 12 verse 10
the bible says be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love
we ought to have affection one for another it says in honor preferring one another we'll
show each other honor prefer each other it's like the esteem in other better than yourselves
i love verse 11 not slothful in business now you can apply that to your workplace we
have to apply that to every area of our life but not slothful in business if we're going to
prefer each other and we need to serve and submit each other we better not be slothful
about it should we you know if someone's bringing morning tea ladies whatever it is or we're
having our church lunch don't be slothful give your best you know a song leader when you
get up to lead don't be slothful give your best give it your all because we're serving each
other you know what when you need to pick up that paper that example that i gave you that
piece of rubbish that little kid bobby left on the floor okay you know bobby left oh you know
whatever your person's putting the bin i've done my part no no no no you see the paper
whoa what what an opportunity to serve little bobby all right whoa yeah serve little bobby
today i'm not going to be slothful in the way that i serve and submit myself one to another
he thinks that's stand-up comedy club now
it continues fervent in spirit and i love this serving the lord we're going to talk about that
soon in method 25 serving the lord you know when we serve each other you don't realize that
immediately but the bible tells us many times when we serve each other
we're actually serving jesus christ directly it blows my mind
so when i'm serving you preaching the bible it's like i'm preaching to jesus
that's why i got such a great fear what if i mess it up jesus this is your word
and i'm trying to tell you about your word and i hope jesus has a smile
help me says you've done well you know even with your human limitations you've done well
expanding my word i want jesus to say that thou good and faithful servant serving the lord
rejoicing in hope patient in tribulation continuing instant in prayer distributing to
the necessity of saints given to hospitality necessity of saints sometimes saints have
a need are willing to come alongside and help
right given to hospitality are willing to just serve each other in whatever capacity we have
but you're there in method 25 for summer 31 matthew 25 verse number 31
you know a few times and again i'm not trying to talk both of myself just an example right
one way that i've shown hospitality over the years is when someone's had a car problem
i'm like brother sister take my car take my crawler you can drive it around
say pass the wooden you need it kind of but i got the van i can get around
all right you know what when i say pass what if they crash the car
whatever it is right i mean i guess it could happen what if they scratch the car whatever
right because when i serve you i'm serving jesus jesus take my car i wish i could give
you something better but all i can give is the crawler right and jesus christ says
these words in method 25 this is what we're going to end on okay this is the last
passage for this morning matthew 25 verse number 31 matthew 25 verse number 31 i love this so
much these are the words of jesus he says when the son of man shall come in his glory
and all the holy angels with him then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before him
shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd
divided his sheep from the goats and he shall set the sheep on his right hand and the goats
sorry but the goats on the left then shall the king say unto them on his right hand
come ye blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world
these are the words of jesus for i was hungered and you gave me meat
jesus says there was a time that i was hungry and you fed me
and you're like when we didn't we didn't live here 2 000 years ago
i was thirsty and you gave me drink i was a stranger or a visitor to our church
and you took me in naked and you clothed me i was sick and you visited me
i was in prison and you came unto me
say when did we do that pastor kevin
like obviously if we're serving jesus we would have like we'd be doing it out of a great fear
and great love for jesus if jesus was literally walking this earth and is thrown in
prison who would not just take the day off work on monday and just go and see jesus at the
prison cell and then that's where the question comes up in verse number 37
then shall the righteous answer him saying lord when saw with thee and hungered and fed thee
or thirsty and gave thee drink when saw with you as a stranger and took thee in or naked
and clothed thee or when saw with thee sick or in prison and came unto thee that's the question
when did we do that lord and the king shall answer and say to them verily i say unto you
in as much as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren
ye have done it unto me
man we're talking about submitting one to another you know the level that i
ought to submit to you is the level that i ought to submit to jesus christ
it's not little bobby left a bit of rubbish on the floor oh jesus dropped something
let me quickly pick it up and chuck it in the bin for him
you know it's not the person needs a drink of water oh jesus is thirsty i'll go before
someone else does give jesus a bit of water right that's the level the fear of the lord
as we serve each other remind us that the level of service that we're giving to each other
is the level that we're actually serving jesus christ directly can you process process that in
your mind it's hard it's a hard one but that's what jesus wants we know that if jesus was
literally physically in our midst we would be like peter like you know lord don't wash my feet
i'll wash your feet are you willing to wash your feet of your brethren here this morning
i'm not saying literally using that as a symbol right how can we serve each other
in the fear of the lord brethren title for the sermon will submit one to another
let's do it let's do it today let's do it every service let's do it next week
submit one to another in conclusion the four points are number one you need to be filled
with the spirit number two sing and make melody lift your voices number three
give thanks always and number four submits in the fear of god let's pray