Would you please stand with me now for the reading of God's Word? We begin this morning in the wonderful prophet of Malachi. If you did not know or struggle with finding Malachi, Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament before the Gospel of Matthew. Malachi chapter 2, and we'll read verses 1-10. Malachi, the last prophet in the Old Testament, chapter 2, verses 1 through 10. And now, O priests, this commandment is for you. If you will not hear, if you will not take it to heart, to give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts, I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, because you do not take it to heart. Behold, I will rebuke your descendants and spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your solemn feasts, and one will take you away with it. And you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, that my covenant with Levi may continue, says the Lord of hosts. My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, and I give them to him, that he might fear me. So he feared me, and was reverent before my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and equity, and he turned many away from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. but you have departed from the way. You have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts. Therefore, I also have made you contemptible and base before all the people, because you have not kept my ways, but have shown partiality in the law. Have we not all one Father, has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another by profaning the covenant of the fathers?" May God add a blessing to the reading of his word. Now would you turn with me in the New Testament to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, as we read verses 4 through 12 this morning. 1st Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 4 through 12. Paul writes to the Thessalonians, "...as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men but God who tests our hearts." For neither at any time did we use flattering words as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness. God is witness. Nor do we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. so affectionately longing for you. We were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also of our own lives, because you had become dear to us. For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil. For laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preach to you the gospel of God. You are our witnesses, and God also, how devotely and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe, as you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. For this reason, we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you welcomed it, not as the Word of men, but as is in truth the Word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus, for you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen just as they did from the Judeans. All flesh is like grass, and all of its glory is like the flower of the grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord abides forever. And all of God's children said, amen. Would you please be seated? If you have not done so already, would you please turn with me to Ephesians chapter four, as we examine verses one through six. Ephesians chapter four. verses 1 through 6. Would you join me in a word of prayer? Gracious Heavenly Father, Lord, we humbly come before you asking you, O God, to help us as we look upon your word. I pray, Heavenly Father, that it would be just as it says in James, a mirror unto our face. Lord, that we would see ourselves as clearly as we can, that we would respond to you by faith. We ask these things in your precious Son, Jesus Christ's name we pray, amen. Well, it should come to surprise no one to hear me say that I enjoy the game of football, amen? I enjoy football. I enjoy the University of Michigan, although they lost yesterday pretty handedly. I enjoy the Kansas City Chiefs. I enjoy other teams as well. What may surprise you in that announcement is that out of all the players on the field, those who carry the ball, those who throw the ball, those who catch the ball in all of its glory, the one position that I enjoy watching out of any other is the offensive linemen. The offensive linemen. Because on the offensive line, you have big, strong guys whose job it is to push people or protect people. They either push, or I guess by virtue of pushing, they're also protecting. You need to watch them sometimes, if you can, as you're watching the game. The ball is snapped, and these five guys which also may surprise you, move in some kind of unison, putting their arms up and pushing other players around. They either block for a pass, pushing people around, or they block for a run, pushing people around. Either way, people are getting pushed around. What you may not know, however, is that as these men are pushing people around and protecting and creating holes and whatever, is that what tells the linemen what to do is a thing called a blocking scheme. In other words, these big 300-pound guys are not just up there pushing the person in front of them or finding somebody to push. There's actually a rhyme and a reason behind their pushing people around. And as they approach the line before the ball is snapped, the offensive lineman is looking over at how the defense lines up. And when a line group, the five of these men, are well trained, what you'll notice is that they begin pointing to people across the line that they're getting ready to push or hit. That's because as the defense lines up, the play that they're about to run automatically changes. And when a line is seasoned and trained well, even as they are bending over and they're pointing to people, they can tell that the way that the defense is lined up, that they're going to push someone they may not ordinarily push. In other words, the blocking scheme tells them where to go and who to push. It would appear to be chaos, but it's not. It's structured. It's ordered. Sometimes it does break down. However, the idea is that these men work as a unit, pushing people out of the way in a very systematic way. You watch them, you see some linemen will pull, that is, they'll run from one part of the line to another part, blocking someone that they don't ordinarily block. Sometimes you'll see two linemen blocking one person or a couple of people together. What you may not see is that in this craziness, this muck of these big, you know, burly guys, is that it's actually a controlled endeavor. It's interesting, this past week I read a sermon transcript by a well-intended minister of the Word outside of the Reformed theology, and he describes unity as being able to work together despite differences amongst God's people. The differences that he is referring to are doctrinal differences. Doctrinal differences. If you're not aware, outside of many Reformed churches, Baptist churches, Anglican churches, Episcopalian churches, charismatic churches, all kinds of different churches, will be made up of members with a plethora of views on any given doctrinal point that's being taught. The idea in what this man is saying is that even though the pastor or the elders or the deacons of the church, the officers of the church, may be teaching something that not everyone agrees with, you can somehow work together for the glory of God. And to some degree I would agree with that. The question is not whether this man is right, the question is what does scripture teach? The point that Paul makes here in chapters 1-4 of Ephesians, what you see throughout redemptive history in the scripture, beginning in Genesis all the way to Revelation, is that because of God's electing us, the scripture clearly teaches that God elects us. that the Spirit regenerates us, that He sanctifies us, as well as our understanding of theology and biblical doctrine rightly divided, that these things that we believe in actually unite us. In other words, as the Church gathers together under the umbrella of the preaching of God's Word, the ministry of elders and deacons and officers of the Church, is that the Church looks to not only love one another through Christ and Christ's work in us, but we look for the glory of God to think in terms of what Scripture teaches us, and that is what unites us. We grow closer together not because we have a plethora of opinions, although there will be some, but because we look to understand the Word of the Lord together and grow in that understanding, leading to the way in which we both worship the Lord our God and therefore love one another. In verses 1-6 of chapter 4, Paul makes two very interesting points, speaking to the how and why we are to be spiritually united together. First of all, in verses 1-3, Paul deals with the issue of how we are to walk in spiritual unity. And secondly then, verses 4-6, Paul discusses the why we walk in spiritual unity. With that being said, would you please follow along with me as I read verses 1-6 for you? Beginning in verse 1, chapter 4, he writes, With all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. So we begin in verses 1 through 3 as Paul explains how we are to walk in spiritual unity. Paul begins this section of the letter. The sections are called pericopes if you didn't know. this pericope or section of scripture in his letter, Paul is dealing with how the body of Christ is to be unified. You'll notice that he begins what he says, that he is a prisoner, it says, of the Lord. I, therefore, verse 1, the prisoner of the Lord. prisoner from the Greek word desmaios. It is literally someone who is under the custody of another. In the Greek, it's interesting, it says here in English the prisoner of the Lord, but in the Greek the idea is in the Lord. I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord is the literal rendering. But Paul, in calling himself a prisoner, is not suggesting that God has supernaturally taken him prisoner into being an apostle, and he kind of comes along, but he's kicking his arms and he's kicking his legs. He doesn't want to come. That's not the idea. The word prisoner actually depicts a oneness or a union or a closeness that Paul has with the Lord, because as the Lord came to him and regenerated him and brought him to himself, Paul actually grows to love and cherish the Lord. He says, I am a prisoner of or in the Lord, meaning I take delight in that the Lord has called me, he has regenerated me, and now as an apostle I minister to his church. But the idea in saying that he is a prisoner of the Lord is the idea that what he tells us concerning unity is not something that Paul suddenly comes up with because he's such an intellectual. What actually is happening is his discussion here in this pericope about unity has everything to do with God revealing this truth to him as a a part of God's heart for the church. In other words, what God desires for the church is for you and I to be unified together. It's a burden that God has for his church. You notice that he says, the prisoner of the Lord, verse 1, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. I beseech you Do you understand what Paul is describing here? Let me read for you from Romans 9, verse 25. It says, As he says also to Hosea, that is, God, I will call them my people who were not my people, and her beloved who were not beloved. In other words, God is calling a people together for the glory of God through the unity of the binding of the Spirit upon us. I beseech you." The word beseech literally means to plead or appeal something to someone, but it brings with it an earnestness. So Paul is not talking lackadaisically about how we might want to consider being unified. He is saying with earnestness that that is something we strive for, to be unified. You notice that he talks about walking in a worthy way. He says, so this is what he is beseeching us to do, to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. To walk worthy in our being called or predestined or elected is not just to talk about the transformative power of the Holy Spirit as it applies to us. the regenerating work of the Spirit, or the sanctifying work of the Spirit, but that we would see for ourselves the slow and steady weaning off of the things of this world and a growing desire to be more like Christ. So when he says, I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, we walk worthy because we have been so called. It's like a delight. Something that we look forward to, although it's difficult. It's difficult to look into the word of the Lord and to be reminded that I need to grow in A and B and C and all the way to double Z and, you know, a silly talk, but But the idea is that even after we look into the Word and we see this mounting thing of stuff that we're not, and we realize that the reason that the Word of God gives us this mounting list isn't to push you down. It's actually to build you up. Because what happens when we read this list is that we come humbly before Him, asking Him to help us get to where we ought to be. depending on whether or not we are even looking to walk in a worthy way. Let me tell you what this is like. What this is like is somebody who goes to the Y. I like the Y. You go to the Y and you see people of varying abilities and strength and You see older people. You see younger people. Heck, one time I went there and I played basketball. I was just in there by myself. It was a way of getting my heart rate up. And I see this guy at the end of their end of the court. He's 20. And he is running from one end to the other. And he isn't even breathing. He's just zipping and zipping and shooting and zipping and shooting and doing layups and zipping. And he doesn't stop. He says, you want to play a game? I'm like, oh brother, I'm not going to be a challenge. I'll give it a go. The point is not an encouragement to go to the why. The point is that as you go to the why, And you begin to get some momentum. You see some strength, right? Maybe before you couldn't pick up the gallon of milk like you once could. And you start going to the Y. And all of a sudden now, it's a little bit easier to pick up the gallon of milk. Or you start walking a little bit faster or running a little bit longer. You start lifting more weights. The point is that as you see this development, doesn't it cause you to want to continue? The idea here is not that God is asking you and I to walk in a worthy way because of this calling which you were called in and of yourself. The idea is that there's a partnership between the sanctifying work of the Spirit that as we read the Word and participate in the means of grace, we come to church, we hear the Word preached, we enjoy fellowship with one another. Even on Friday night with the Reformation party, that is God's grace towards us. Amen? We participate in the means of grace, we grow spiritually, our understanding of the Word, but at the same time, we're not just depending on the Word preached on Sunday for us to spend time in the Word. No, no, we go home and we read it for ourselves. The partnership between the sanctifying work of the Spirit and the desire that ought to grow as we grow in our own hearts so that we might walk worthily before the Lord." Look at verses 2 and 3. 2 and 3. It says, "...with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." So Paul has described for us this calling that is placed upon us by virtue of our being in Christ to walk in a way that is worthy of the calling with which you were called. The idea is that we walk this way so that we grow and continue to grow in the unity of the bond of peace. Well, in verses 2 and 3, he describes what that looks like. Loneliness, gentleness, long-suffering. These are adjectives that describe how you and I, as we are looking to build unity, must treat one another. must treat one another, lowliness, gentleness, and long-suffering." You see this list may be written differently, perhaps in a different order, in both Colossians chapter 3, verses 12 to 15, as well as Galatians chapter 5, which you'll remember is the fruit of the Spirit. The theme or the idea here is that because you have been transformed by grace, And as you see the fruit of the Spirit as evidence in your, or rather, the fruit of the Spirit as evidence of your walk with Christ is in your life, that we will continue to pursue them for the glory of God as we love one another. As we love one another. The first one here, verse 2, is lowliness. lowliness. Another translation will have the word humility. You know, in the Old Testament, this word occurs more than 250 times and is often the case, it is in the context of God bringing the proud and the arrogant, according to his sovereign will, down a notch, to humble them. But this word lowliness or humility is also used in the Old Testament for those who the Lord exalts because they trust in the Lord. They're humble. They look to the Lord to lead and guide them, to deliver them, and at the right time, according to his sovereign hand, he lifts them when it is appropriate for him to do so. In the New Testament, it is essentially the same thing. It's used to describe those who, as the Spirit works in, allowing them to believe upon Christ for salvation, that they in humility see their need to be saved by Christ and humbly look to Him to save them. In other words, they repent of their sins, acknowledging that they have sins that need to be saved from. The idea here is that as you and I look to build unity as we're taught under the preaching of the Word of God, that you and I, understanding our need to be saved, would treat one another in a lowliness, a humility, because together we are in need of His saving grace. In other words, there isn't one amongst us who is superior spiritually to anyone else. humility and loneliness we understand as we build the unity under the preaching of God's Word that together we need to be saved, forgiven of our sins, and therefore we treat one another in humility. Secondly, gentleness. Gentleness with all lowliness and gentleness. This is an interesting term because it speaks against those rather aggressively who are of the mind that they are allowed to be boisterous, self-asserting, those who are bragging, those who are rude. In other words, if somebody were to walk into the church like a peacock, you know peacocks, right? The doodad in the back with all of the colors, right? They get mad, they puff up. There isn't a, what is the animal I just said? A peacock. There isn't a peacock at Christ Reformed Church. There isn't someone who gets to walk into the church because they've memorized a certain number of passages, or because they held a certain position of leadership in the church, or because they have a certain college degree that would then allow them to be under the impression that out of all the people that God has saved, there is a special grace on them making them superior to anyone else. There is only the body of Christ. We are lowly or humble towards one another. We're gentle. The idea in gentleness is that when we speak to one another, we are not haughty. We are not arrogant. We don't talk down to people. Thirdly, long-suffering and bearing with one another. He says, long-suffering, bearing with one another in love. long-suffering and bearing are words and phrases of the same state of mind. They denote an absence of constantly taking offense. Constantly taking offense. What that means, practically, Rachel and I have a rule. It's a silly rule, but when we play board games, we always say, leave your feelings at the door. That means that when she wins, I get to not feel bad about it and take it personally. That's just a joke. That was just a joke. But understand my point. The point is that if you and I want to be unified, one of the benefactors of our being lonely and gentle towards one another is the person who at a heart level doesn't walk around taking offense just because something does not automatically go their way. Understand that this is about unity. This is about the kind of person who looks at another and says, because we are a brother or a sister in Christ, that I at a heart level must look at you as being more of value than myself, not philosophically, but when I come to talk to you, I talk so as to encourage you. to love you, and when you annoy me or frustrate me, my knee-jerk reaction isn't to take it personally, but to long suffer and help you get to where we need to be so that we are united in Christ." Notice verse 3, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. Endeavoring. Some translations have the word translated, make every effort. The Greek word is a mouthful, it is spoudaxontes, spoudaxontes. It means to be careful and earnestly watch for, to promote. We read this again, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit of the bond of peace. That is the picture of a people understanding what they have been delivered from in Christ, looking to serve and love one another. They're on the lookout. They're on the lookout. Not only against themselves taking things personally or them being puffed up with pride or speaking harshly to people or, you know, being arrogant. They in love with a great deal of compassion. look to encourage one another away from such things as well. You'll notice he says, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. This word endeavoring, it ends here in an I-N-G. Understand that this word is in the imperfect, which means that desire, it does not end. And again, because we're looking at this in context of being lowly and gentle, our resolve isn't to just go up to somebody and tell them exactly what we think. No, no. We open up the word of the Lord very much like a flower blossoms. And we help them. We help them. He says, endeavoring to keep. The idea here in keep is a very interesting Greek word. It's synonymous with observable. That is to see it, to witness it. Amen? It is not our coming together and simply describing it. It is that when folks come here because we love Jesus Christ, because we have been saved and delivered from the wrath that is to come together, that we are striving to be lowly and gentle, that we treat one another as we talk about needing to treat one another. It's witnessable. We don't just talk about it. Yep, we're going to mess up, amen? Do you have any idea how many arguments in churches are fought over because of the color of carpet? I remember one time Rachel and I were serving in a church in Missouri, this is a number of years ago, And this gentleman's wife suggested that we move a couch from out in this foyer area because it protruded into the middle of this foyer into the lady's bathroom, which had a very big, spacious room just for the ladies to sit down and talk. They had big, spacious mirrors and big, spacious. And that guy, when he found out, he was as mad as a hornet looking to fight everybody because he didn't get his way. We are endeavoring, we are fighting to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. 1 Corinthians 1.10 Paul writes, Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Colossians 3, verses 12-13, Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so also must do. idea here in all of this is that in order to have the kind of unity that honors and worships God is that you and I cannot just hope this unity happens. It is something that we must all do our part to preserve. The way that this is written, beloved, harder to see here in English, but the way that this is written in the original is that apart from our pursuit of these things, verses one through three, unity, the kind of unity that honors and glorifies our Father in heaven cannot be achieved. This is an all or nothing. This is a black and white. This is something we pursue. So what is the how here? What are we talking about? The first point is the how. The how is essentially that you and I, in our striving to understand correctly the word of the Lord, make every effort in and of ourselves to maintain this unity so as to worship the Lord our God. Second thing Paul writes about here, verses four through six, is the why we strive for unity. Would you follow along with me as I read this for you? It says, There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. So as was said at the beginning of this sermon, Paul is not talking about a unity that would deny sound doctrine or to gain some kind of unity that isn't real with people who would claim to understand who God is apart from his word. The unity that is being discussed here is the kind of unity that will not bend right biblical thinking in an effort to attract other beliefs which the gospel openly refutes. Our unity, Paul writes here, is one that stands on sound doctrine and does not apologize for the manner in which that may very well make others feel. And why? because it's based on what Scripture clearly teaches. Verse 4, he says, "...there is one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling." Paul begins this next little paragraph, "...why we strive for unity under there being one body and one spirit." We get what Paul is saying here. Let me read for you from 1 Corinthians 12-13. He writes, You go back with me, if you would, to Ephesians 1-22-23. Paul writes, "...and he put all things under his feet, and he gave him to behead over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." The idea here is that in Christ, and in Christ alone, God, in His electing work, has saved those, both consisting of Jews and Gentiles, through Himself, into the one body, by the work of one Spirit. That is to say, that although there are many religions in the world, although there are many people that would call themselves Christians, who outright deny Christ's incarnation. They deny that salvation is by grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone, according to Scripture alone, that they are not only not of the faith, they do not belong to the one true Catholic Church, who has been regenerated and drawn together by God the Holy Spirit." In other words, Paul's point is the exclusivity of the one body of believers. Again, there is no middle ground. The separating of the wheat from the tares, as it were, at the end of the age. It says in Romans 8, verses 29-30, For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called, whom he called, these he also justified, and whom he justified, these he also glorified. The one body and the exclusivity of that one body is not something that we apologize for, it is His grace that has brought us together to be unified for the glory of Christ our Savior. Notice that the other thing Paul discusses here in this first verse 4 is this one hope. This one hope. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling. That is to say that if someone is outside of the true biblical Christ and faith in Christ, no matter how positive they are or how right they believe themselves to be regarding who Christ is, how they look to do more good than bad in their lifetime, how regularly they participate in rituals of religion, that no matter how hopeful they may say they feel, there is no hope outside of Jesus Christ. In other words, the hope that we're talking about comes for those who not only look to keep the unity of the bond of the Spirit, but those who actively participate in his church, believing on Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. You may ask yourselves, is Paul and his exclusivity being mean? Is he writing these things to intimidate people, to get them to do what he wants? The answer is no. John chapter 14, verse 6, Jesus summarizes the issue for us. He says, True hope can only come through the one body, the result of the one Spirit's work within us. Verse 5, Paul writes, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. You may not know it, but Lord is a title that the Old Testament uses for Yahweh. It is also the title that is given to Jesus Christ. in the different apostolic letters here in the Word of God, because Jesus is the Son of God, is God himself, but is also Lord and Ruler over all the earth and is King over his elect people. The point is that there is but one Lord, one Savior. There is only one faith, which is to say that there is but one way to the Father, that is, through the Son. But people cannot have faith in whatever they deem to be God, because there is only one way. He writes, there is one baptism. That is to say that there isn't several, but there's one. You're either baptized as a covenant child or as a confessing adult, but after the one, there are no others. And finally, verse six, he says, One God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. The question we need to ask ourselves here is, why does Paul finish his point on unity? Describes walking in a worthy way as being lowly and gentle and long-suffering with one another, to keep the unity of the spirit of the bond of peace. But why is he then finishing his talk on unity by describing this one faith in this one true church? Rather simply, it's because through these and the Church's proclamation of them and faith in them, being of the one true body, one spirit of God, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father, the Christian will be able to identify the true Church. Article 29 of the Belgic Confession says this The marks by which the true church is known are these, if the pure doctrine of the gospel is preached, if it maintains the pure administration of the sacraments, and if church discipline is exercised." The point here, as it says in Article 29, summarizing faithfully what Paul writes here in Ephesians 4, is that as Paul exhorts to the church that if these things are upheld and preached, if the sacraments are rightly administered, if church discipline is upheld in light of what the gospel teaches us, that we are in and a part of the true church. But the idea in being a part of the true church, that worshiping in the true church isn't to be arrogant. It's to realize the extent of God's sovereign grace being given to us so that we can worship the Lord. That we can give of ourselves in a worthy way of the calling with which we have been called. In other words, the reason we need to strive for this, both as individuals and as the church, is because in our doing so, we are worshiping the Lord our God. And there is nothing more beautiful or precious than that. The only question is, is that what your heart is striving for? Is that what you're looking to do? You may not know it, but for, I think, a grand total of 15, 16, maybe 17 years, I played hockey. I remember very specifically I had long, beautiful blonde hair. You put your helmet on and you have beautiful hair. I'm jealous of old Kevin. And every year, didn't matter what team I played for, they always talk about unity. We gotta be unified. We gotta be together. We gotta do it. And you, you know, go through unity exercises where somebody's standing on a trash can and they fall backwards and everybody's got to be there and catch you. Trust the process. Trust the catching. You close your eyes, you fall backwards, everybody's going to be there. They talk about it, they talk about it, they talk about it, they talk about it. Unity, unity, unity, unity, unity. Be together, work together, together. You know the problem with that is that at a heart level, what each and every one of those players wants is to get to a level where everybody can see how successful and good they are. That's why it doesn't work. When it boils down to it and you're out there and you're in the field or on the ice or you're whatever as a team sport, the one thing you want more than anything is to do the thing that gets you the attention. It's like when an NFL wide receiver catches the ball and it was a five-yard throw and he gets up and he dances around like he had just saved the universe. You know why it works in Christianity? You know why this works on a practical level? Because salvation was never about you. Amen? It is about the transforming grace of Jesus Christ upon your mind and in your heart so that you think differently, see differently, talk differently, behave differently, and look to be gentle and lowly towards your brothers and sisters in Christ. because you love him. I admit, some people are harder to love than others. On a Sunday school lesson, what is his name? Sinclair Ferguson, we're watching First Peter, and I would encourage all of you, if you're able, to come. I will resume next week. But Brother Sinclair Ferguson taught one Sunday school lesson and it was heavy on my heart, what if instead of just looking at that person saying, man, what were they thinking? You look at them as a redeemed child of God who has received the same mercy that you have. Wouldn't that change so many things? Let's pray. Lord, your people come humbly before your council, acknowledging that we fall short of your glory. We fall short of your glory, O God. I pray, Heavenly Father, that as we look to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, that even though we fall short of your glory, we would be reminded that you, in your grace and your mercy, have saved us from our sins, and there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Let us not depart weary, but rejoice, because not only have you made us perfect in the sight of our Father, but every day in your grace and your mercy you help us to become a more faithful brother or sister in Christ. You will never leave us nor forsake us. It is in your precious name we pray. Amen.