Amen. You may be seated. Heavenly Father, better is one day in your courts and better is one word from you than from me. Lord, through your servant Paul, You commanded your servant Timothy, the pastor at Ephesus, said, guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us the treasure which has been entrusted to you. Lord, through your servant Paul, you said to your servant Timothy, the pastor of Ephesus, be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. Lord, I stand in the succession of pastors who have passed down the word of truth, who have preached faithfully the word of truth, and may it continue today. Better is one word from you than a thousand from me. Better is one day in your courts than a thousand anywhere else. May we dwell and live in your word and may I accurately handle the treasure, the good deposit, which has been entrusted to me. And Lord, if I have accurately handled this word of truth, may the hearer be changed according to it. May we be diligent to be shaped and molded as living stones being built up into the temple of God, a spiritual temple. May the hearer put away what is wrong and put on what is good and right. But Lord, it first starts with, thus saith the Lord. So Lord, may my words be accurate and precise. And may anything that would come up in my own heart that would alter or add or soften the word be forgotten. And may in this next hour we examine the Word so that it changes us and shapes us and fashions us into the image of Christ. In Christ's name, amen. I don't aim to preach for a whole hour. And if we do get out late, just remember you were appreciating us earlier. Don't forget that. I usually say, whenever my wife finds, you know, something around, laying around that's made, don't you, aren't you just, don't you just love that you have a husband? And the dish that I left out is a reminder that you have a husband. When Danielle and I lived in Vienna, helping Pastor Kai Zoltau plant Christus Gemeinde Wien, that is a Christ Church Vienna. From our apartment, you could actually see the South Spire of St. Stephen's Cathedral. Now, St. Stephen's Cathedral was about two and a half miles away, but it was 440 feet high. St. Stephen's Cathedral started being built in 1137. It was finished up sometime in the 1500s. And so it was a generational project for sure. When I walked up the South Spire, it's 343 steps made of stone, and it's all almost 500 years old. It is over 500 years old. And every step I took, I felt actually more sure going up those steps than the stairs in my own house. Now, if you've seen the stairs in my own house, you'd be like, yeah, no doubt, no doubt, still the construction stairs going on. But how did they do it? How did they make something starting in 1137, finishing in the 1500s, and it's as sturdy today as it was before? Well, also in Austria, in southern Austria, and you could go visit this today, there is a 40-year project of building a castle using the medieval style tools and mechanisms. They're only using animal power, firepower, no electricity, no nothing, just the tools that they would have had in the 1100s or so. Mark and Denise were there, Danielle, Gideon Ezra, myself were there. We got to witness them building this thing. Medieval tools, medieval technology. What fascinated me the most was the stonemason. The stonemason would choose a stone And you'd evaluate, can I shape this stone into the pattern that I am building within this castle? You'd take that stone and you'd set it and you'd take the various tools and hammer away and chip and smooth and shape that stone to a specific pattern to be able to fit into the wall of this castle. Now, they've been doing this for about nine years now and so by the time we got there, they had one of the towers built and we got to go in it. And this tower was built over the last eight years or so by man with just regular tools. And as I climbed the wooden stairs to get into the tower, it felt secure, super secure, because of the meticulous precision that the stonemason had, the pattern that he followed to make sure that the tower was safe and secure and could withstand world wars, and sieges over a thousand years, just like St. Stephen's Cathedral in the center of Vienna. And I thought of that day as I was, I thought of the day I was walking up those 343 steps in the south spire of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna when I read this passage. Because the pastor, Timothy, his task is to fulfill his ministry by preaching the Word and build the church through the meticulous precision of the Word of God. And if the church is going to last and survive suffering and persecutions and desertions and apostasy and false teaching, if it's going to survive all that, it must be built upon the Word of God and the proper and precise preaching and proclamation of that Word. And if it is not, if the pastor alters it, if he changes it, if he adds to it, if he softens it, if he weakens it, if he tries to make it to please those who are looking to get their ears tickled, the whole system is going to collapse. And haven't we seen that in so many denominations and so forth in church history? And this is exactly why we are an expository preaching church. Because we take what the Word says and we expose what it says. We don't expose our own ideas. We're not just trying to come up with how we want to shape our church. We are trying to shape Christ's church. And he has given us a pattern of how to do that and we must be precise in it. So our job as pastors, Timothy's job, in 2 Timothy, is to fulfill his ministry by preaching the word. Thus, shaping Christians and building the church. And how is he going to do that? How is he going to do that? And that is exactly what this passage is about. Second Timothy, yep, we're back in Second Timothy, chapter one, starting in verse 13. You can turn there, if you will, in your copy of the scriptures. So how is Timothy going to fulfill his ministry of precisely preaching the precepts of God? In this passage, we will discover how this precise attention to the Word of God is going to fulfill his ministry by looking at two commands and looking at two case studies. Two commands and two case studies. Let's come before the Word of the Lord. in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. But when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me. The Lord granted him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. And you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus. Let's learn now from the Word of God. The first thing we see is the first command, which is, and this is your blank, preserve the pattern. So Timothy is to preserve the pattern. Paul says, retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me. This word retain, it's a holding to, it is a retaining, it is a preserving. It's what it is. It is not a, you know, just do what you want with the word. No, it's you have heard something, hold on to that, that word. And what was to be retained? The sound doctrine, the standard of sound words. Standard here, that's the pattern. That's the pattern. That is what Timothy is supposed to pay attention to. So he's retaining, he's preserving that pattern, that standard of what? Sound words. that he has heard from Paul earlier in 1 Timothy. He talks about Paul as a pattern, as his life being a pattern. Here, Paul is saying the Word of God is that standard by which you hold on to and you retain and you preserve. It's the Word of God. Namely, the Word of God summed up in the doctrinal creed in verses 9 and 10, which says, God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was granted in Christ Jesus from all eternity. but now has been revealed by the appearing, the incarnation, of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, the crucifixion on the cross, and brought life, the resurrection, to immortality and to light through the gospel." Brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. So that which Timothy is to preach is summed up right there. This great God has saved you and he has saved you through the gospel. And that is the only way you can be saved because it's not about works. So when he commands, any precepts that are given are given and obeyed out of a heart that has what? Has faith and love. In verse 13, we're back there. faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Only the one who has received Christ, received him in faith, and been changed from hatred to loving Christ, can obey any of the precepts of God. They're the only ones who can be shaped as living stones to be built up to a holy temple. So as the stonemason pays pure attention to the Word of God and doesn't change that pattern precise, or as the stonemason pays attention to what he is building, building that castle to last a thousand generations or more, The pastor must preserve the pattern of the Word of God in order to shape and mold the people of God into a holy temple, a spiritual temple, one who is changed, one who loves. So the first command from Paul to Timothy is preserve the pattern. The second command is in verse 14. Verse 14 says, guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. Now the Greek construction actually places emphasis on this word treasure. And this word treasure is well translated if you have a footnote or maybe you have a version that says good deposit. So the command is to guard or protect the precepts, the good deposit, the word of God, that which was handed down to Paul." It's basically the same thing. The sound doctrine, the good deposit, it's the same thing. It is all about the Word of God. It is all about right doctrine. It is all about right creed. That is what Paul is saying. And as the first one says, preserve, that has a lot to do with how I handle the word. Protect is a lot how outside false teachers are trying to attack the word. So false teachers are all over 1st and 2nd Timothy, everywhere. They are everywhere. You look at 1st and 2nd Timothy, Paul is talking about these men who are trying to preach or trying to teach the law of God, but they have no clue what they're saying because they didn't pay precise attention to the word of God. So they make a mess of it. And in chapter 2 here, verse 17, it says, their talk will spread like gangrene. It is a cancer. And what will it do in verse 18? It will upset the faith of some. So people are not being shaped and molded precisely by the Word of God. When the Word of God is attacked, when that good deposit which is deposited to Timothy is attacked, Timothy is to guard it and to say, no, that is not right. The resurrection has not already taken place. He is to reject false teaching. And thus he protects the precepts of God, the good deposit which is in him. Now this good deposit, I said, is placed in a place of emphasis. The Word of God is placed in emphasis. But it's not a deposit like you put a deposit in the bank and it's safely sitting there in the bank. The good deposit we have is dangerously proclaimed among the people. among the people of God and among the people who want to shoot us in the head. But we must do both boldly, but we must do it with protection of the Word, because we could very easily manipulate the Word. We have our masters of divinity. We have a lot of knowledge of the Word of God, and sometimes we might be able to just say something, and you just take it as, oh, okay, that must be what it really means, and that's okay. I'm not gonna really question that because, you know, these are trained men, and actually, I really like what he has to say, and it's really safe for me. It helps me to not have to be in any dangerous situation. It's absolutely not what a pastor does. The pastor pays attention to the word and whether he is in a dangerous season, be ready in season and out of season, he will preach the word of God no matter what's going to happen. And we're not going to change it and alter it according to false teachers in order to get them to like us as so many pastors we've seen do. Over the last few years, we have seen so many pastors change biblical definitions so it fits the narrative of the culture, so that they can be accepted by the culture, so that they can say, see, Christians aren't bigoted. We believe just like you believe. And that is not paying precise attention to the word and is not protecting the precepts of God. we do it, we guard it no matter what, but we guard it by the power of the Holy Spirit. We see in verse 8, Paul says to Timothy, don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me, his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God. And then in verse 12, he uses a similar word for power, when he says in verse 12 that he, that is Christ, is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. He is able, that word able, the root word is dunamis, which is power. Now here in this verse, it isn't power, but it's guard through the Holy Spirit. Power is implied. It is not by our power. It has never been by our power. Our power doesn't save us, and our power doesn't protect what we have entrusted to God. It's God's power. It's always God's power. So you have the Father who has called us, you have the Holy Spirit, or you have the Christ who has saved us and keeps us, and you've got the Holy Spirit which enables us to actually obey these commands. So as pastors, we are to preserve the Word of God, the pattern, and we are to protect the precepts of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's why I pray. That's why I pray. And in fact, that's why I open the Scriptures and I look at it and I pray the Scriptures because this is the sword of the Spirit. Better is one word from God than a thousand of my own. And so by the power of the Holy Spirit, Timothy is to preserve that pattern, what he has been given, that gospel message, the pure doctrine, the Word, the precepts of God, the Holy Scriptures that have been handed to him by Old Testament, handed down to him, but also the teaching of Paul to him. He has to preserve that, and he has to guard it, he has to protect it from outside attack. Preserve it from himself, protect it from without, so that it is not altered, it is not added to, and it is not softened. Now you have heard me say those three words several times now, and that comes from last week's sermon. And you may need to listen to that again, because that's exactly what Satan and Eve did. They took the word of God, and they altered it a little bit. They added to it, and they also softened it. It's just a key. If you missed last week, go back and listen to that. we looked at the two commands already. So the pastor is to preserve the pattern and to protect the precepts of God. And now Paul actually moves into two case studies. Two instances in which this word was positive case study and negative case study had a result of. So first, the case study, the result of rejection. The result of rejection. Verse 15. Verse 15 says, Now, Paul is being hyperbolic. Did every single person in Ephesus or in Asia turn away from Paul? No, because obviously Timothy has not, and Timothy is currently in Asia. And then in the next few verses we see Onesiphorus, who obviously did not turn away from Paul, and he had served, he maybe was currently in Ephesus or he wasn't, doesn't really matter. But not everybody turned away from him. But cut Paul some slack. He knows this is most likely his last letter. He is hungry. I'm sure he's hungry. He is tired. He is exhausted. He's been in prison many times. He's been beaten many times. He's been shipwrecked many times. He's been exiled many times. He's been rejected by his own people many times. Now he's not under house arrest anymore. He is in chains. He's on death row. No more lavish life of being on house arrest. He is going to have his head chopped off. Something different is happening right now. He knows he is coming to the end of his life. If you're at that state and you have people who are rejecting you, you have Demas who is deserting you, you have nobody at your defense. They all deserted him. No one supported him. Give him a break. All who are in Asia turned away from me. Among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes, there's really nothing to be known about these two other than they turned away from Paul. probably, most likely, were companions of them, but they were not actually of them, so they actually departed from them because they were never of the faith. And so perhaps Paul preserving the precepts is warning against two specific teachers who are preaching false teachings. But the most important thing about this verse is about the turning away. the turning away. So in 1 Thessalonians 1.9, Paul says, it is reported of you that you turned to the living God away from idols. That's the word that's being used, apostropho, away from those idols. So instead of turning away from idols, the people in Asia, who are the two guys again? Phygelus and Hermogenes, they're turning away from Paul. What does turning away look like? Well, in chapter 4, verse 4, the same word, apostropho, is used to turn away. They turn away from the truth and will turn aside to myths. Probably these guys, Asia, they're probably hearing false teaching and they like it. They're having their ears tickled so they turn away from the truth and they turn aside truth and they turn aside to myths. But the heart of what it means to turn aside from Paul actually is found in the very next three verses. And Paul is not so Paul is not so arrogant as to think that turning away from himself is something that's big. When you turn away from Paul, who is the one who was preaching precisely the pure precepts of God, When you turn away from Paul, you're turning away from the precepts of God because he is accurately handling the word of truth. Just like if I am accurately handling the word of truth and you walk away and you turn away from me, you're not turning away from me as long as I'm being accurate to the word, you're turning away from the word. So what does it look like to turn away from Paul? Let's think of it on a different level because this is where Paul goes. This is a positive case study, okay? Instead of turning away, what does it mean to turn to, Paul? What is the result of the reception—that's your blank—what is the result of the reception of God's Word? The reception of the pure, precise preaching of God's precepts. What is it? Well, we turn to verse 16. The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesi for us, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. But when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me. The Lord granted him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. And you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus. Now, for those who are OCD and need blanks perfect and everything, I'll try to help you out here. But as I was meditating on this, and I looked at the outline, and I texted Ursula, did it already get printed? It did? OK, good. Well, it's fine. We can deal with this. OK. was the result of reception. Just fill in what you want, what you think, okay? What happens when somebody actually receives the proclaimed Word of God? What happens when somebody receives the gospel of Jesus Christ, receives the faithful preaching of the Word? Well, one, you end up acting like Onesiphorus. Onesiphorus. Okay, I'm going to say it many different ways. He's not a friend of mine. I mean, he's a friend from afar. I never heard his name spoken by him, so I don't know. Onesiphorus. Okay? What did he do? Well, first, it isn't about what he did. It's interesting that Paul now, he thinks about Phygelus and Hermogenes and then all of a sudden he's like, the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus. Paul pleads for the kindness of God, for the grace of God to be lavished on Onesiphorus. And not just on him, but on his people. on his children, and his children's children, and his children's children. Lord, grant mercy to his house, to his people. And Paul, he interjects sometimes. He interjects sometimes because he's just so filled with awe and wonder and the greatness of God that he must do something. And so he says, the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus. And what does this mercy look like? It is a present mercy. It is a kindness. It is a grace. It is a present salvation. It is a goodness. It is what we experience when we are in the presence of God. Lord, give them grace, mercy, peace from our Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Why does Paul all of a sudden interject that when he thinks of a person who received his word? Well, because he says in verse 16, for he, that is Onesephorus, often refreshed me. And this is truly the first blank. If you filled in the first blank already, that's okay. But he often refreshed me. You know, I had this outline and I'm like, what actually comes out of this is all refreshment. Refreshment is put in the place of prominence here. Of what happens when somebody receives the gospel. Instead of somebody being spiteful and slanderous and spreading words like gangrene or cancer or anything like that, they become refreshing. They become life-giving to others. They build up the people of God. Namely, they build up Paul, a pastor. Pastor, what happens when you preach the word faithfully people will be formed into a blessing and refreshment to you as a pastor. And isn't it providential that we're celebrating you all saying, we appreciate you. We got wonderful I don't know what to call that. It's not really a bouquet of flowers, but it's something fun. A little bag of some other stuff that's fun. I don't know what's in it, but I didn't look at it. And all these cards of appreciation. And I pray that that is not flattery, but I pray that that is from the heart that has been shaped and molded by the faithful preaching of the word from this pulpit. That's what I pray. I pray that your hearts are so overflowing with blessing and wonder from the Word of God and being shaped into the image of Christ that you're putting away slander and you're putting on words of affirmation and love and genuine charity and kindness and grace and mercy to your pastor. The person who is receiving the precise preaching of the Word of God is refreshing. How are they refreshing? Well, the rest of the verse says, When you are bold in faith, When you are bold in the gospel, you don't even have to tell me, you don't even have to say anything to me, but when you are bold in the gospel, when you hold fast to the precepts of God, that's refreshing. That's refreshing. Because we know we are being faithful to the word because you are obeying the word that's being preached. That's refreshing. Being bold and being not ashamed. And this word for being ashamed, I mean we've seen this throughout this passage and we'll see it further on. We see in verse eight the command, therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me, his prisoner. And then verse 12 it says, Paul says, for this reason I also suffer these things but I am not ashamed. And so, because Paul's not ashamed, and Timothy is not ashamed, then Onesiphorus is not ashamed, and so on. And we see that is refreshing. Bold faith, unashamed suffering, unashamed faith is refreshing. And we see in the very next verse, I think I'm following my outline. The very next verse, what else? What else is Onesiphorus doing? But when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me. and he found me. Now this is why I think Paul wasn't under house arrest anymore. Because if he was under house arrest, he probably would have been able to be found pretty quickly. But he wasn't. It actually took Onesiphorus some time to find Paul. But he didn't give up. He eagerly moved towards Paul instead of turning away from Paul. He turned to Paul and searched for him. And he searched for him until he found him and had true fellowship. And I think that's your next blank. True fellowship with Paul. True fellowship. Probably bringing tidings from Ephesus. Probably bringing food or clothing or something. But that fellowship, that true face-to-face, he found me. eagerly searched for me. He was eager to find me and he found me. That true fellowship is so refreshing. True fellowship. And I think of a book we did as a grace group last year, Caring for One Another. And I'm still a work in progress. But it says, seek out people, move towards them, be interested in them, greet them, have true fellowship with them. And we risk a lot when we do something like that, especially when We want to do this for the people we really love and we can always just chat it up. We risk being rejected or feeling foolish or something when we approach somebody we don't know, that we've never seen before. But let us do that. whoever wants to come here to hear the precise preaching of the word, whoever is coming here, so many people are hurting, so many people have broken relationships, so many people have burdens, and they come here and they're unknown, they don't know what they're going to get on a Sunday morning. And I, a lot of times, just go back to the three or four people that I talk to because that's comfortable for me. And we, if you're like me, that's kind of what you do. Some of us do a great job of warmly welcoming people. I mean, Michelle, warmly welcoming people. But do we actually move towards people for fellowship? Let's do that. Let's do that. Because when When Onesephorus did that to Paul, it refreshed Paul. And honestly, when I see you guys do that, and I see somebody new, and I may not be able to greet them or talk with them or something, but I see somebody else in the church doing that, it's like, ah, that's refreshing to me. And I know it's refreshing to you when you see that as well, when our church body is actually moving towards people and not away from people. And it is because we have been shaped by the Word of God, because of the faithful preaching of the Word of God. So fellowship, fellowship was refreshing to Paul. And then we see in verse 18, there's another interjection, and I'm gonna leave that for a second and switch over to the words that say, and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus. Onesephorus was a servant. He was a servant. The word here is diakon. He didn't serve as a deacon, at least not to my knowledge, but he was a servant. Somebody who was always there, always willing to serve, always willing to have coffee with somebody, always willing to move a refrigerator out of a 98-year-old grandmother's basement. It's very specific. No reason for that. But the service he rendered at Ephesus, he served in Rome. This guy was consistent. He was a consistent servant, shaped by the word of God. When somebody serves, as people serve, as people get involved, as people seek to not serve for the sake of service, but serve for the sake of the love of the saints because of the faith in Christ, that is refreshing. That is refreshing. to pastors who may feel like they're in chains, to pastors who feel dry and need refreshment, to see the people of God so shaped by the gospel that they love one another and serve one another. Let's go back to the very beginning of verse 18. The Lord grant mercy The Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. It's a weird statement, okay? It almost sounds like a tongue twister. The Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. Okay, what's happening here? This is future mercy at the second coming. And this is actually kind of a bookend to verse 12 where Paul says that I know whom I have believed and I'm convinced that he's able to guard what I've entrusted to him until that day. Paul has entrusted himself to Christ fully until his second coming. And Paul is praying because so many people have turned away from him, Lord, don't let Onesimus fall away. He is a great servant. I see his love for the people. I see his love for me. He's refreshing me. Don't let him turn away. may he find that mercy in the eschaton at the at the second coming when you come back may you preserve him until that day and not only a preserving of Onesiphorus, and I pray that God doesn't only preserve you until the coming of Christ, but in chapter 4, verse 8, it's the exact same construction of until that day. Verse 8, it says, in the future there is laid up for me, Paul says, for I'm already being poured out as a drink offering. My head's going to be chopped off and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. Let Timothy keep the faith. Let Onesiphorus keep the faith. Let them keep the faith. In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day. But not only for me, this isn't just for me as a pastor, this isn't just for Pastor Jeff, Pastor Jason, and Pastor Jim. This isn't a promise just for us, but also for those who have loved his appearing. If you have loved his appearing, oh Lord, have mercy on Grace Community Bible Church on that day. But we look, we look at our life sometimes, and that future mercy seems sometimes perhaps in doubt. You say, have I loved that mercy? Have you? So there are some in here who are listening to me and they're like, I don't get, I don't understand the words that are coming out of your mouth. It's like learning another language. I understand the words, but I don't get the concept. I don't get what you are talking about. Well, here's the thing. There are people here who have never trusted Christ. Perhaps they've never heard of the the perfect life that Christ lived on our behalf. The sacrificial death on the cross, paying the debt we owed God, then never heard of his resurrection from the dead, bringing life and immortality to light, being resurrected and ascending to heaven. And you've never heard that if you don't turn from your own idolatry away from your idols and to God, you will never get this. You cannot be shaped and mold and fashioned according to the pattern because you have rejected the pattern. Don't reject the gospel. Trust in Christ. Turn from those idols and turn to Christ. those of us who believe, who trust, who love, who serve. For those of us who We love his appearing. We want him to come back. We are so tired of sickness and illness and death and John MacArthur and James Dobson and Sheldon Street and Charlie Kirk and Votie Bockham, all in a matter of months. So tired of it. Would you just come back, Lord? We want his appearing. How are you being shaped? Are you allowing yourself to be shaped? Are your ears open to the Word of God? Are you being refreshing to others? Is this what you desire? Is this what you desire? Let's look at a challenge from 1 Peter, the scripture reading today. 1 Peter chapter 1. Let's see what happens, okay? 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 22, it says, For you have been born again, not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. We preach the word of God to you every week. We study it every week so that you will be shaped by it, so that you will love one another. In verse 25, the end of verse 25, and this is the word which was preached to you. This is the good news. Therefore, because you have been preached to, because you are listening to the Word of God, not me, because you are listening to the Word of God, therefore, Peter says, putting aside all malice and all deceit and all hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Some of these words bite us. Some of these words bite me. But we are commanded, put aside all malice, turn away from these things, all malice, all deceit, all hypocrisy, and envy, and all slander. And like newborn babies long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted in the kindness of the Lord, the mercy of the Lord, and coming to him as a living stone. And oh boy, if we were doing communion today, coming to Christ. I don't tell you put away slander and white knuckle it. I say come to Christ who was a physical man. And we take the wafer in our hands because God was a man. Jesus Christ was a physical man and we take him and we consume him. And as the bread nourishes our body, Christ nourishes us and heals us and causes us to turn from slander and malice and deceit and all sorts of wickedness. And as we are reminded of his lavish spilled blood pierced in the side, blood and water flowing like grace, cleansing us, we take the fruit of the vine and we consume it. And looking to Jesus and coming to him, we are cleansed. We confess our sins and he is faithful and just to cleanse us, purify us, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And so we come to Jesus. And we come to Jesus because he is the master stonemason, not Pastor Jeff, not me. And so we look at the pattern of sound words, and we preach it to you, and we allow Christ to shape and fashion you, and to mold you, and like a good stonemason, shape you into what is being built up. You also, as living stones, you're not dead stones who just come to church and hear a good sermon and then leave. You are a living and active stone, loving all others. You are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ Jesus. And this is all of Christ Jesus. When we go back and we look at the refreshment that Paul received because he and Timothy proclaimed the pure word of God, the pure word of Christ's life, death, resurrection, and pure doctrine, and pure creeds, and pure precepts to the people. So the question we have to ask ourselves And I have to ask myself, every time I talk to my wife, every time I talk to my kids, and when I put that in my mind now, and every time you talk to your wife, every time you talk to your kids, every time you talk to your coworker, every time you talk to your friends, okay? Now this is getting a little bit nasty. Are you being refreshing? Are you speaking words of life? Are you speaking the word of life? Or are you speaking what's contrary to it? Are you preserving what's being taught or are you altering it or changing it? Are you softening it so you feel good? Brothers and sisters, we must repent of those times where we spread word like gangrene because that can happen. It can happen in a family. It can happen in a church. It can happen in a neighborhood. It can happen at work. It can happen anywhere. But we must repent and we must follow the pattern. We must follow the pattern, looking to Jesus, looking to Jesus. So the pastor is to present this. The pastor presents this, purely unadulterated, so that we and you will be shaped as living stones, molded and shaped, fashioned together as a living temple. And oh, if we loved each other, how those from the outside would see our love for one another. We don't slander one another. We don't have malice for one another. We don't have envy for one another. but we have great love for one another, great boldness and faith and fellowship and refreshment for each other. May this truth be felt for the following generations. May pastors continue to preserve this. And this is where we go next time. And providentially, I preach on November 23rd, Lord willing, that the pastor also passes this along to other pastors, faithful men who will continue to preach it so that your children and your children's children and your children's children will be blessed. Let's go before the Lord in prayer. Oh Lord, may this word that was proclaimed to you go deep within us. May it shape and fashion us. May we be those living stones. who love one another, who care for one another. Oh Lord, I've seen it these past few weeks and months as there have been need of childcare and so many of this church have stepped up and taken care of each other's children, taking care of each other's burdens. Oh Lord, may we continue to do that. May our love not grow cold. May we not be like the church in Ephesus in Revelation who has pure doctrine but they have lost their first love. May we never leave Christ Jesus who guards us and he is the one who shapes and molds and fashions us through his word. so that we might love one another. Oh Lord, I pray that you'd have mercy on many of our homes. I think of the Davis family, Lord, with the new child. Oh Lord, bless them. May you grant them kindness and mercy. May we as a church continue to minister to them. Lord, I think of Colton. May we minister to him. Lord, I think of the Serdulas. Oh Lord, may we lift them up in prayer. Lord, there are so many needs. There are so many hurts. There are so many desires in this room. Can't pray for them all. But Lord, may we find those people who will pray for us. Maybe you even today make connections, spiritual connections, that the stones will be fit to one another, where we move towards one another and we ask questions and we pray and we ask for prayer. and we actually do it, loving one another, refreshing one another. Oh Lord, may we not go from here today and think just about football or food or the next fun thing we're doing, but may your word sink down deep in us. May it change us. Would you be with us? Pray these things in Christ's name.