Thankful for the good song service, appreciate the singing this morning and for the prayer that has been offered. Thankful for another opportunity to meet together in the house of the Lord and hope that we are praying and feeling our need for the Holy Spirit to come down without whose assistance all of our efforts are indeed in vain. We're in the book of 1 Thessalonians chapter five. And we're in the 14th verse, if you care to follow along. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 14. Apostle Paul writes to the Thessalonians, now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly. Comfort the feeble-minded. Support the weak. Be patient. toward all men. Warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. Here we have in this text this morning the duty of church members to one another. We've talked about in recent weeks the duty of pastors to the congregation, the duty of the congregation to the pastor, and now we have the duty of each other, our responsibility, our duty to one another in the assembly, the house of the Lord. The exhortation is to the brethren, to all the church members, the church at Thessalonica. First of all, we notice that this is the duty of all members. Now, if you'll bear with me, I'm going to read to you something that may or may not be familiar to you, but it's the church covenant that was signed and agreed upon in 1951 here by the Hopewell church members. In 1951, the church adopted the original Articles of Faith and the original Certificate of Constitution from the year 1843 when Hopewell was constituted and was called at that time Mount Olive. And the church re-adopted those two pieces, the Articles of Faith and the original certificate of constitution and with that a new church covenant and new rules of decorum that we still have today. I want to read to you the church covenant. Now we need to probably do a better job. I take full responsibility as the pastor when we have a new member come in, someone seeking a home in the church of laying out what are the responsibilities and the obligations of the members. and that's something maybe we should give them a church covenant when they join the church. But we need to, as a congregation, and we've been talking about this some, we need to, as a congregation, when a person comes forward seeking a home in the church, we need to have a plan in place about, especially if they're new to us and we're not familiar with them, being sure that they know what the church believes, the articles of faith, and then being sure they know what the duties of a church member are, and ask them if they're willing to do those things. When someone comes forward, we probably need to be sure of those things before we accept them as a member here and hope well. I want to read to you the church covenant. Those of you that are members, this applies to each one of us. Those of you who are not members and would like to be someday, this is what is expected. This is something that has been agreed to by the members of the church. The church covenant says, for as much As Almighty God, by His grace, has been pleased to call us out of darkness into His marvelous light, and all of us have been regularly baptized upon a profession of faith in Christ Jesus, and have given up ourselves to the Lord and to one another in a gospel church way to be governed and guided by a proper discipline agreeable to the Word of God. You young people don't have a choice about who your parents are, do you? No, you just show up in the world and you've got your set of parents. That's not something you get to ask God about. It's not something you get to decide about. You didn't get to decide if you're young, which country you live in. Now, when you get older, if you want to live in a different country, you're free to do that. Most of the time, you can go to a different country and you can even become a citizen of that country if you don't like it here. But when you're born, you don't get to choose what citizenship you have. Well, here's one thing where you get to choose. you get to choose whether or not you want to be a Christian. Now, there have been times in history where the governors decided, if you're born in my country, you're going to be a Christian. You're going to go to this church. You're going to believe this, or at least you're going to pretend to believe this, or I'm going to kick you out of my country. That's as simple as it is. We thankfully live in a time where that's not the case in this nation in which we live. But there are those around the world who would like to establish Countries where you have to be Muslim, or you have to be Catholic, or you have to be fill-in-the-blank. You get to choose. Even if you live in a country that says you have to be a certain religion, according to God's Word, you get to choose whether or not to be a Christian. Now, if you choose to be a Christian, we know it's by the grace of God. Because Jesus said to Nicodemus, no man can see the kingdom of God unless he's born again. You must be born again to see the kingdom of God. You must be born of water, even of the spirit, even of the water to enter into the kingdom of God. But if you see the kingdom of God, if you see the glory of Jesus Christ and have a desire to follow Him, that's something you have the choice to do. You have the choice, you don't have the choice of being born again, but you have the choice of being a disciple, of surrendering your life to Jesus Christ. And when you join a church, a New Testament church, you are saying, I am volunteering to be under the submission and the lordship of Jesus Christ first and foremost, but also the authority of God's word as it is declared from the pulpit and the accountability that comes from the church membership that I'm desiring to be a part of. That is your choice. But if you make that choice, I want you to see, here's what is expected from God's Word. These are agreeable to the Word of God, the expectations that we have as members of the church. We do, therefore, in the name of the Lord Jesus and by His assistance, covenant and agree to keep up the discipline of the church we are members of. Now, discipline is not a popular word. Even parents don't like discipline. We live in a time where you can find some psychologists and some counselors who will tell you it's wrong for you to spank your children, that you'll damage their self-esteem, that it's child abuse. That's not what God's Word says. The Bible says if you spare the rod, it's because you hate your child. That we discipline out of love and out of correction and for the glory of God and for the character formation of our children. Discipline is out of vogue. And among churches, it's also out of vogue. A church pastor will say, well, if I preach what the Bible says about fornication and living together with your girlfriend or boyfriend, I'm going to lose some of my members. And I'm going to lose some of their money. Discipline is not popular because then you might drive people away. It might be people that don't love the Lord who decide to leave because of discipline. And yet we're agreeing as a body of believers to hold up discipline, to say there is a standard required of godly living if we're going to be Christians, if we're going to take the name of Jesus Christ and identify ourselves with his people. Here at Hopewell in Opelika, Alabama, there is a standard of conduct required. And if we find out about that misconduct in one another's lives and there's not repentance, then there is a duty and an obligation for one another to go to one another. And that's what this text is talking about this morning. To keep up the discipline of the church we are members of, in the most brotherly affection towards each other, while we endeavor particularly to observe the following. In brotherly love, here's the duties. You just count them with me. In brotherly love to pray for each other. Did you pray for your brothers and sisters at church? Did we pray for one another this week? If not, guess what? We're not doing our duty to one another. In brotherly love to pray for each other. Well, how do I remember everybody's name? What if I forget somebody? If you've got a church directory, go through the church directory. If you don't have one, we'll get you a copy. And if you want a copy of the covenant, we can get you a copy of that as well. In brotherly love, to pray for each other. Secondly, to watch over one another. Thirdly, and if need be, in the most tender and affectionate manner, to reprove one another. That's what we're agreeing to do. not to have the attitude of Cain who said to the Lord, am I thy brother's keeper? When God said, where is your brother Abel? He said, I don't know, am I my brother's keeper? Well, we're not to have that attitude. We are to watch over one another and he says, the covenant says here, and the most tender and affectionate manner to reprove one another, if need be. That is, if we discover anything amiss in a brother, to go and tell him his fault. Now, that's harder than you'd think. It's real easy to talk about somebody's faults to other people. It's hard to go to that person and say, here's your fault. According to the direction given by our Lord in the 18th chapter of Matthew, and not be whispering and backbiting, we also agree with God's assistance to pray in our families. All right, here's the fourth thing. We're to pray for each other, We're to watch over one another. We're to go to one another according to Matthew 18. And then fourthly, it says that we are agreeing to pray in our families. You could even add to that reading scripture, teaching our children about the Word of God. Are we praying together in our families? Not just praying for one another privately, but are we praying together in our families? If not, we're not doing our duty as members. Attend our church meetings. That sounds pretty simple, but we've got some that need to be instructed in that even. Attend church meetings. When the church doors are open, we need to be there. If you don't come, it's like you're casting your vote that the church shouldn't have met that day. attend our church meetings, observe the Lord's Day, and keep it holy. Now, this is added in addition to attending the meetings. Evidently, that means, according to the ones that wrote this covenant, that there's more to honoring God on His day than just going to church. We're to observe the Lord's Day and keep it holy. You can get into the debate about, well, isn't this Saturday the Sabbath, or how is Sunday the Christian Sabbath? The point is, God has one day out of seven that belong to Him. Whether you reckon it is Saturday or Sunday, I believe that Christians in the New Testament worship on the Lord's Day because that's the day that He rose again. That's the, you could call it the Christian Sabbath. I know there's different opinions about it, but the point is, there needs to be the Lord's Day that we're honoring and that we're keeping holy. and not absent ourselves from the communion of the Lord's Supper without a lawful excuse. That means when the church has communion, we only have it once a year, but when we have communion, the church members need to be there for communion. We're gonna have it on the, I think the Sunday afternoon of our annual meeting, the second weekend of April. To be ready to communicate to the defraying of the church expenses. Another duty of members is to contribute to the financial needs of the church. and for the support of the ministry, not irregularly departing from the fellowship of the church, nor to remove to distant churches without a regular dismission." I like that part of the covenant. I've never considered it before until reading it here, that if you feel like God's leading you to move to California and you know there's a church there and you're hoping to be able to transfer your membership by letter from Hopewell to a church in San Francisco or wherever, the Philippines or in India, If you feel like God's leading you there and He's opening the door, not just because you're pursuing a better job, but because you feel like God's leading you and your family in that direction, if God opens that door for you, you need to come and be submissive to the church and ask the church for permission to remove fellowship and go to a different congregation. I never thought about that before. I thought you could just go and move your membership whenever you want to, but the church covenant here at Hopewell says we're not going to remove ourselves, irregularly depart from the fellowship of the church, nor to remove to distant churches without a regular dismission. That's the covenant. Now, you say, well, is that Scripture? Well, I think that's in line with Scripture. The point is that at this church, that's what we're agreeing to do. When you ask for a home in the church, you are agreeing to, whether you know it or not, you're agreeing to do these things. And if you're not doing these things, if I'm not doing these things, guess what we have a duty to do? To go to one another and say, you're remiss in your duty as a church member here at Hopewell. That's the church covenant, that's the duty of all members. So what we're talking about this morning, when he says we exhort you brethren, we're talking about from the youngest to the oldest. Every member of this church, so you young people should be paying attention because this applies to you, most of you are members here. We're commanded to warn the unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, and be patient toward all men. Now, those are difficult things to do. I'll just put it right out. We need God's wisdom to know how to warn the unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, and be patient toward all men. We can try to comfort someone, and we can just totally mess the whole thing up. We can try to support someone, and we can make it harder on them. We can try to go and be patient, we can try to bear with one another's infirmities, and yet say something or do something that just shows how impatient we are. He says, we exhort you, brethren, it's a very strong language, encouraging, beseeching, begging the church members to do these things, warn them that are unruly. So, it's the duty of all members. Secondly, this is for the good of all members. Now I wanna read you two passages of scripture. And I wish I had more light on these two verses, but the point is very clear here about this duty that we have to one another. James 5, verse 20 says this. James 5, 20 says, let him know that he which converted the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins." I don't have a lot of light on that. That's a difficult text for me. But there's some very powerful truths that were given and encouragement for us in our accountability to one another, in our praying for one another, in our ministering to one another. Him that converteth the sinner from the error of his way. It sounds like you've gone to somebody who's overtaken in a fault, and you've warned him, and you've labored with that brother or with that sister, and there's been repentance. There's been a turning away. He says, he shall save a soul from death, or probably destruction, and shall hide a multitude of sins. charity cover the multitude of sins. There's a very powerful declaration of our duty and the influence that we can have in the lives of one another as we humbly prayerfully try to serve one another in this way. John says in 1 John 5 16, if any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. Again, another difficult text, but at least the encouragement we can draw from this is there's a lot of power in praying to God and begging to God for the welfare of those who are overtaken in a fall. There is a sin unto death, he says. I do not say that he shall pray for it. I don't know what the sin unto death is. But I know that he says if we ask, and we see a man sin not unto death, and we ask God, it says he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. So we need to be prayerful for one another. We need to be diligent in watching for one another's good, spiritual good. Now, when we do these things, warning, comforting, supporting, we need to do so prayerfully and humbly. One of the best scriptures to look at is in Galatians chapter 6 where he says this to the Galatians brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such in one in the spirit of meekness considering thyself lest thou also be tempted. Now In Galatians, we have an example where this took place. Paul had to do this with the Apostle Peter. The Apostle Paul had to confront and call out the Apostle Peter in front of others. I've always been taught, just from a human standpoint, that when you praise, you want to do that in public, and when you reprove, you want to do that in private so you don't embarrass the person. Even when we discipline our children, we try to be discreet about that. It's not between them and everybody else. It's between them and that person and the Lord. But Paul called Peter out in front of a church group because his offense was causing a stumbling block for a group of people. What happened is Peter, before certain Jews came, was eating with the Gentiles. He knew that he had the faith to do that because God had already told him in the vision, what God hath cleansed, that call not thou common or unclean. And so he knew that it was okay in God's sight for him to eat with Gentile believers. And yet when certain Jews came, I believe from Jerusalem, it says that some of the Jewish Christians withdrew themselves and they would no longer sit at the table with the Gentiles. And Peter was caught up with this hypocrisy. And when Paul saw Peter's hypocrisy, he called him out. It's recorded in Galatians chapter 2. He called him out in front of everybody and said, maybe I should just read it. Verse 14 of chapter 2. Paul said, and I quote, But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter, Before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, Why compelst thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?" All right, so he calls him out. He reproves him in front of everyone. He says, you're not even living like a Jew. Why are you trying to compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? Sometimes there needs to be a public reproof like that. In 1 Timothy chapter 5, this would go a long way for peace among churches. First Timothy chapter 5 verse 19, he says, against an elder, receive not an accusation. Timothy, delegated by the Apostle Paul to lead the church in Ephesus, he was commanded to ordain elders in every city. So Timothy is ordaining these elders. And Paul says, against an elder, receive not an accusation. In other words, if somebody comes whispering and backbiting and saying, you'll never guess what elder so-and-so said or did. You'll never guess what brother so-and-so teaches. He says, against an elder, receive not an accusation but before two or three witnesses. If somebody's reputation is gonna be damaged, he says it's gonna be before two or three witnesses. You don't just take it based on hearsay, by the opinion of one man. But then he says this, them that sin rebuke before all that others also may fear. If an accusation is brought before two or three witnesses against an elder, he says, if it's true, you rebuke him before everyone so that that will cause others to fear falling into the same sin that he has fallen into. against an elder received not an accusation but before two or three witnesses." That doesn't mean you can't accuse an elder of wrongdoing. We see that struggle being played out right now where churches are struggling with the abuse of power that has taken place and there's been those who have been wounded by those that are in authority over them and are supposed to be ministering to them and been taken advantage of. It's not wrong to call out somebody for doing wrong, but it must be done in the proper way, he says, with two or three witnesses. needs to be done prayerfully and humbly. Paul in Galatians says, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Jesus taught us very simply this. If you see a fault in your brother's life, before you go help him with his fault, what should you do first? He's got a little speck, he's got a little splinter in his eye. You pull that boat, you pull that log, you pull that beam out of your own eye first so you can see clearly. He says, you need to consider yourself. If we're gonna serve one another in this way, we need to be humble about it. Because he says, guess what might happen? Lest they'll also be tempted. You try to help your brother or sister with a fault, and guess what happens? You fall into the very same thing, or even worse. Bear ye one another's burdens. This is a commandment. We're to bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another, for every man shall bear his own burden. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Okay, so the first thing we're commanded to do is to warn the unruly. The word unruly means the unarranged or the insubordinate. We're to warn the unruly. How many times do you get warned whenever you come to church? I don't know. I mean, the Scriptures instruct us, the Scriptures reprove us of our sins, but Paul says this in Acts 20, 31. He says, Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears. Evidently, Paul thought this was so important that he did it unceasing for three years, night and day, with tears. He warned the church at Ephesus and the elders at Ephesus. I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears." And so he says, because of that, he said, I'm innocent from the, I'm pure from the blood of all men, Acts 20, 26. Wherefore I take on you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. Paul had the testimony of the Holy Spirit that he had faithfully discharged his ministerial duty, which included warning. warning the believers. Now, if we turn to the book of Ezekiel, we'll find this idea of a watchman. This does have to do with the ministry. I know that's what this is particularly talking about, but based on our text this morning, I think we should say there's a measure in which this applies to all of us in church fellowship. Ezekiel 33 says and again verse 1 the word of the Lord came into me Ezekiel says saying son of man Speak to the children of thy people and saying to them When I bring the sword upon the land if the people of the land take a man of their coast and set him for their watchman I if when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet and warn the people, then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet and taketh not warning, if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head." So God says, if I send a sword and you set watchmen, to give warning, and the watchman faithfully does his duty. He blows the trumpet, he warns the people faithfully, and they don't take heed to the warning. He says, the watchman's clean. He's pure from their blood. Their blood's upon their own head. They had a warning, they failed to heed the warning, so their death is upon their own head. It's their own responsibility. He heard the sound of the trumpet and took not warning. His blood shall be upon him. If you've got a brother or sister in the church that needs to be warned, hey, you're going down the wrong path. This is not in agreement with God's Word. This is not what God would have for us as believers. You warn him or her, they continue down that path, you've washed your hands of the matter, so to speak. Your hands are clean. But, he goes on, but if the watchman see the sword come and, what does it say, blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, guess whose fault it is. If the sword come and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand." That's very serious and sober warning for the watchman. If you don't blow the trumpet, they'll be taken away in their iniquity, but God says their blood will I require at your hand. Psalm 127, we apply to the family. building the home, building the church. But he says, except the Lord build the house, verse one, they labor in vain that build it. We've got to give it our best effort. If you're building a house, you don't want to build a sloppy house. Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. We want to give God our best efforts in serving him. But we've got to recognize that unless the Lord builds it, our labor is in vain. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. We need to have our eyes open. We need to be awake. We need to be watching out for one another. But unless the Lord keeps the city, unless the Lord blesses us, the watchman, he says, waketh but in vain. We're to warn one another. Secondly, he says we're to comfort. Comfort the feeble-minded or little-spirited or faint-hearted. How do you comfort the faint-hearted? How do you comfort the feeble-minded? Well, let me just give you a text in Isaiah 43, verse 1. I think the best way to comfort the feeble-minded is to remind and to put in mind the promises and the character of God. the power of God and His promises and His oath to defend His people and to bless us for Christ's sake. Isaiah 43, 1, But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, fear not. Jesus said that a lot, didn't He? Fear not. Fear not. Why? For I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine." It's comforting to know just how intimate our relationship is with the Creator of the universe, the Lord of heaven and earth who has all power in heaven and earth, who sent his Son, his only begotten Son, to give us life and ransom for many, who calls us, not just his creatures, but His sons, who's adopted us into His family. He says, I've redeemed thee, and the price of your redemption was not silver and gold. The price of your redemption was His own precious blood, which Jesus Christ shed forth on the cross. God says, I've redeemed thee, and I've called thee by thy name. He knows the very hairs on your head. He knows you intimately and He says, not only do I know you, not only have I redeemed you, you are mine. He has purchased us to Himself by His own precious blood. Comfort the feeble-minded. Hebrews 9.28 says, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. So that's great. I know Jesus died for many people. But how do I know that I'm one that he died for? It says this, if you keep reading, he says, Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him. Are you looking for Jesus Christ? Are you longing for his return? Are you believing that he's coming to take you home to be with him forever? that He died on the cross for your sins unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation. That's the gift that God gives us, the gift of precious faith where we can look by faith to Jesus Christ and know that He is seated at the right hand of the Father and He ever liveth to make intercession for us. Oh, we need to remind one another and comfort one another with the sufficiency of God's grace, with the power of Jesus Christ, and with the love of God, having used His power and His grace and His wisdom to accomplish our redemption. And not just to secure a place for us in heaven when we die, but even in time right now in providence to be with us and to bless us and to draw us to Himself. the author and the finisher of our faith, the object of our faith, to strengthen us, to serve Him in this world that we live. Hebrews 6, he says, that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who had fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. If we go to Jesus Christ by faith, if we look to Him by faith and we depend upon Him and we cast all of our all upon Him, we're not going to be disappointed. He says we have a strong consolation because God cannot lie and God has verified it. He's confirmed it with an oath. He's promised. which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which entereth into that within the veil. Whether the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. We have a great high priest who's touched with the feelings of our infirmities, who is in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. And he's praying for you, he's praying for his people today. warn the unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, and support the weak. Paul says this in Acts chapter 20, that he labored with his hands to support the weak. The Apostle Paul, of all men, labored. He says, I have showed you all things how that so laboring you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Now, the Apostle John and First John recognized that there's different categories of believers in the church. You've got little children, you've got young men, and you've got old men. And each different season and phase of life that we find ourselves in, whether we take it literally in our age or where we talk figuratively in our spiritual strength, we have something to contribute in the kingdom of God. He says in 1st John chapter 2, it says, I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His namesake. Little children, your sins are forgiven you for His namesake, for Jesus' sake, not for anything you've done, not for anything anyone else has done, but for His namesake. I write unto you fathers. What was he writing about how we're to love one another? I write unto you fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. Fathers are older. Fathers have more experience with the Lord. You've known him that's from the beginning. He says, and I write unto you young men, because you've overcome the wicked one. Young men have to fight the battles. They're on the front lines, oftentimes, fighting the temptations of sin, the temptations of youth. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. You may not know much about him, but you've known he's your dad. You know he's your father. You know you've been born again by his Spirit. I've written unto you, fathers, because you've known him that's from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abided in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. The young men, he says, are strong. We need to be strong and courageous and not to be afraid. We need to quit ourselves like men. And he says, those of us that are able, we ought to labor to support, Paul says, the weak. And that can be physically weak, it can be financially weak, it can be emotionally and spiritually weak, he says. We ought to labor to support the weak. And to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Now, in 2 Samuel chapter 12 verse 7, we find a man named Nathan, prophet of God, and he had a, I would consider it a difficult assignment. I don't know if he did, but I would consider it a difficult assignment. Prophet of God to go and confront the most powerful man in the kingdom, King David, about a very private, about a very grievous sin. To take God's Word and to confront the king. I mean, the king's got the sword. He could put you in prison. They did it. Jeremiah was put in prison. His life was threatened for speaking the truth. Nathan's going to, thankfully David feared God, and David was convicted by the Spirit of God. But Nathan had to go and confront the king about his sin. I want to read to you what happened. Now this is after David committed adultery and murdered the wife, murdered the husband of Uriah. Uriah the Hittite, Bathsheba's husband, and then married Bathsheba all to cover up his sin so that no one would know the baby was his, conceived out of wedlock. He's gone on like this and apparently has not had any repentance or sorrow over until the Lord sends Nathan. The Lord sent Nathan unto David and he came unto him and said unto him, there were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up. And it grew up together with him and with his children. It did eat of his own meat and drank of his own cup and lay in his bosom and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveler unto the rich man and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him. But took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man that was come to him. Everybody understand that parable? And when we read again, any confusion about the little illustration that he gave? If you were David, what would you say, Asa? Well, here's what David said. It says, David's anger was greatly kindled against the man. And he said to Nathan, as the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die. Sometimes we see other people sin and we say, that is such a terrible thing. And that punishment is just. Whatever he or she gets, that's exactly what they deserve. we're very very guilty of the exact same thing or even worse. David says the man that's done this about as I sure as I live this man shall surely die and he shall restore the land fourfold because he did this thing because he had no pity. And Nathan said to David, what'd he say? Thou art the man. David you're the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul." And you can go on and read that. We won't read any more right now. 2 Samuel chapter 12. Thou art the man. You can read in 1 Samuel chapter 1 about Eli, a priest. Eli had some problems with his own family, but he was watching a young lady named Hannah. And Hannah was grieved. She was barren and she desired for the Lord to bless her with a child. And she, at nighttime I believe, was praying there near the tabernacle wherever Eli ministered. And he saw her praying and Eli said unto her, how long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from me. She wasn't doing anything wrong. She wasn't drunk. She was praying in the grief of her spirit. Yet Eli reproved her and said, put away your wine from me. Hannah answered and said, no, my Lord, I'm a woman of a sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Eli said, go in peace and the God of Israel will grant thee thy petition. So he backtracked. He said, okay, you aren't drunk. You can tell you're not drunk. He said, may the Lord bless you with your petition. Maybe we're not always going to get it right. Maybe if we confront someone, we'll find out after further investigation, no, they're actually serving the Lord. They're actually doing the right thing. And it's okay to backtrack and say, well, the Lord bless you. Jesus Christ was serving God when He went to the cross, and yet there were many there who scoffed at Him, who criticized Him, who falsely accused Him, who spit upon Him, who treated Him contemptuously. yet he was in the very exact center of God's will. Don't think when you put God first that everybody around you is going to appreciate it. Don't think when you walk by faith you're going to get a pat on the back from your unbelieving neighbors. Now lastly, there was a man you all heard of named Moses who was blessed by God to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt But as gifted as Moses was, and as experienced as Moses was, he had a fault. His father-in-law, the Lord sent him his father-in-law Jethro to help Moses, to help the children of Israel. In Exodus chapter 18, It came to pass on the morrow that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood by Moses from morning unto the evening. And when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto evening? Moses said unto his father-in-law, because the people come unto me to inquire of God. When they have a matter, they come unto me, and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statues of God and His laws. Moses was doing an admirable thing. He was serving the people. He was being poured out, literally. I mean, he wasn't going to last very long doing this, night and day, from sunup to sundown, a long line of people who had questions about God's Word, how it applied to their situation. And so he just serves them, and the people wait in this long line to talk to Moses. And Moses' father-in-law said unto him, The thing thou doest is not good. Moses, your heart's right, your desire to help them is right, but your way of going about it is all wrong. The thing you're doing is not good. Thou will surely wear away both thou and this people that is with thee, for this thing is too heavy for thee. Thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee. Be thou for the people to Godward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God. And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk, and the work they must do. Moreover, thou shalt provide out all the people, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, rulers of tens, and let them judge the people at all seasons. And it shall be that every matter they shall bring unto thee, every great matter, but every small matter they shall judge. So shall it be easier for thyself and they shall bear the burden with thee." This was excellent counsel that his father-in-law gave to him, that the Lord sent him through his father-in-law. Moses was humble enough to acknowledge this was good counsel, and he took his father-in-law's advice, and his health prospered and the people prospered as he delegated out this huge responsibility that he was laboring under. We do one another, we do God's kingdom of service when we take seriously this text that we have read, that's been presented for us, warning the unruly, comforting the feeble-minded, and supporting the weak. And he says, be patient toward all men. Now, all I'm going to say about that is this. we've been born again, the Holy Spirit has given us a sight of our sin. If we maintain a realistic and a sober perspective on our own sinful nature, it's going to make it a lot easier to be patient and long-suffering with one another. We need to have the attitude of the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 7 verse 18 who said, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? He said, I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not." God gives us the will, He gives us the desire, but then when we try to apply that in our lives, we find that evil nature of sin, wanting to rise up and corrupt everything that we do in our service to the Lord. See yourself like the Apostle Paul saw himself. The chief of sinners. And you're going to be a lot more patient with the weaknesses and the faults of others. Romans 12, 3 says, we're not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. Let me read that whole text to you. Romans 12, 3 says, for I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, men and women, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God had dealt to every man, the measure of faith, even your faith. You have to give God the credit for that. The measure of faith comes from God. We're dependent upon one another, we're interdependent, we're put together as a body of believers, and I may not have as much faith as you do. But it doesn't matter how much faith you have, what matters is do you have any faith at all? Do you have just a little bit of faith in the power, in the sovereignty, in the grace of God, in the finished work of Jesus Christ? And if you do, then you can have confidence that you're accepted with God in the beloved. Some men have the faith to be able to, in Paul's day, to be able to prophesy. to speak the inspired Word of God, to be able to speak in tongues, to be able to heal those different gifts according to the proportion of faith. It doesn't matter how much faith you have, it matters do you have faith at all, and are you using the gifts that God's given you, whether it's one talent, five talents, or ten talents, are you using what God's given you to the best of your ability, to the glory of God? We need to be patient with all men. considering ourselves, lest we also be tempted. May God give us such a love for the glory of Jesus Christ and for the good of his kingdom that we're willing to, by his grace, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. And God bless you is our prayer.