I want to begin this morning by making you think, and I'm going to present a series of statements to you, and I want you to guess what I'm talking about. We'll begin with the first statement, which is this, every Christian has this. Every Christian has this. The second statement is, it either can be good or bad. It either can be good or bad. Then, thirdly, it can be a great help or a hindrance. It can be a great help or a hindrance. And then the last statement is this, that it is a powerful way to share the gospel. Now, as you mull that over in your mind, and I'll give you a few moments to think about it. Every Christian has this. It either can be good or bad. It can be a great help or hindrance, and it is a powerful way to share the gospel. The answer is a testimony. Every Christian has a testimony. It is either a good testimony or a bad testimony. It can be a help to the body of Christ, or it can be a grave hindrance to the body of Christ. And it is one of the most powerful ways that an individual can share the gospel of the Lord's saving grace. A few weeks ago, I was speaking with a young man who was visiting Canada from Germany, and I asked him if he had ever attended church. He replied to that and said, well, he went to church when he was younger on special occasions. But now, as an adult, he would not attend church at all. And I asked him why he would not go to church anymore. And he replied, because of all the bad that the church has done. Because of all the bad that the church has done. Now, I'm sure that many of us here this morning, when we have been witnessing for the gospel or inviting people to church and so on, have been given that objection. I will not come to church because of what the church has done to the world or what the church has done to me." And whenever we hear somebody make that objection, two things can be true at the same time. First of all, It can be true that what they are saying is false. It can be true that what they are saying is false. That they are simply coming out with just the typical jargon of the secular world as an excuse not to have to go to church and hear the Word of God being preached. And within that, they exaggerate. the mistreatment of the church, and the ills of the church around the world. And we see that especially in our own country. All of the blessings that Christianity brought to Canada, and the great advancements in culture, and in godliness, and holiness, and in lifestyle, and in work ethic, and so on that the gospel brought. And yet the evils that were committed by those in the name of the church are greatly exaggerated. There has been no greater force for good in the world than the church of Jesus Christ. And when somebody makes that objection to you, don't back down. Don't back into a corner. Stand your ground. Because you're standing on a historical fact that the church has been the greatest force for good in the world. But something else can be true at the same time. And that is that there are those who would genuinely say that and mean that. That there are those who, because of the bad testimony of some Christians, have turned away and hardened themselves against the things of God. And we cannot just say that everyone is making an excuse, or everyone is exaggerating what has taken place, because the Bible itself tells us And the Bible itself stresses to us the importance of a good testimony in order to have a good influence upon the world. I want you to see with me just several passages that speak about that. If I can turn you back to Philippians chapter 2. The verse number 14 to 16, we've already considered this, so we'll not make much comment on it. But it says, do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless. That's your reputation. The sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights of the world, holding forth the word of life. And the implication of that is that if we are not blameless and harmless in this world, then that will affect us being the lights within the world and holding forth the word of life. But then, if we turn to 1 Peter chapter 2, in the verse number 12, 1 Peter 2 and verse 12. Let me read just verse 11 here to you as well. that whereas they speak evil against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation." False accusations can be made against the church, and they are made all the time as to the negative impact or the bad things that the church has done. But Peter is saying, This is even more reason to live holy and godly and blamelessly within this world, that your godly character might refute the vain accusations that are made against the church. And then if we turn over a chapter to 1 Peter 3 in verse 1, Paul is writing here to Christian wives who are in a marriage where the husband is not converted. And so there's not an encouragement or an endorsement here of those who are Christian marrying non-Christians. The circumstance here is that these were both pagans, and now the wife has been converted, and what ought she to do? Peter writes here and says, "...likewise ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wise. Why, they behold, your chaste conversation coupled with fear." That term conversation is speaking about how we live, the lifestyle, the character that we live out. And what Peter is saying is this, that the godly character of a Christian wife has the power to win her pagan husband, her unbelieving husband, to Christ. And so here again, we see the power and the efficacy of a testimony, a godly testimony in this world. And then the final portion I want to turn you to is 1 Timothy chapter 3. In the verse number 7, 1 Timothy chapter 3, and the verse number 7, Paul writing here, speaking about the elder, he says, Here, Paul is stressing that the elder must have that good report within the church. Yes, that's important. He must display these godly characteristics, but he must also have a godly reputation, an upright reputation, even with those who are outside of the church. He must, again, be blameless. And so here again, what's being stressed time and time again in these various scriptures that we read, is that a godly testimony is a powerful thing. And that is why Paul, as we have read today, he writes here in verse number 5 of Philippians chapter 4, He's saying that you are to be known not just in the church, but you as Christians in Philippi are to be known Among all men, wherever you would go, wherever you would be, wherever you would socialize, wherever you would work and so on, wherever you would come into contact with the people of this world, you are to be known by the virtue of moderation. This is, I believe, the thrust of the passage, if we could just revise it again. Paul has been outlining things here in chapter 4 that will hinder the Christians standing firm in Christ. And we've already considered together that disunity hinders the Christian church being able to stand fast in the Lord. Last week we considered together that a lack of joy hinders the Christian church from standing fast in the Lord. But this week, what I believe Paul is speaking about is this, that a lack of moderation, a lack of that Christian virtue being displayed, not just in the church, but before the entire world, is a hindrance to the church itself. It's a hindrance to its witness, it's a hindrance to its work, it's a hindrance to the lordship of Christ going across this world. And so, what we have here today is an indication that this is a text of Scripture speaking about our testimony in the world, and especially concerning that virtue of moderation. I want to speak to you this morning upon the subject of the moderate Christian. The moderate Christian. And there's three things that we're going to draw from verse number five. First of all, I want you to see the character that we must possess. The character we must possess. Then secondly, I want you to see the conduct we are to demonstrate. And then thirdly, I want you to see the consciousness that we are to have. So the character we possess, the conduct we are to demonstrate, and then the consciousness we are to have. If we begin here firstly by looking at the character that we are to possess, notice our text says very simply, "...let your moderation be known unto all men." What does it mean by the term moderation? Well, the Greek word there is the Greek word epikos. And it's a very difficult word to translate from the Greek into the English, because the Greek word is so densely packed with meaning and with application. And so, it's right to translate it as moderation. It's one of the best words to use in the translation. But there's many other words that could actually be translated here, because it's such a rich word in its original. As I was reading and studying about this word, one commentator, I believe, encapsulated what this word means, and I want to read this to you now. He wrote concerning this word, moderation, epicus in the Greek. He wrote and said, it is a sweet reasonableness, a generosity, goodwill, friendliness, Magnamity, charity towards the faults of others, mercy towards the failures of others, indulgence of the failures of others, leniency, big-heartedness, moderation, forbearance, and gentleness are some of the attempts to capture the rich meaning of the Greek word. But then he goes on even further, and this was perhaps even more insightful. He said this, he said, perhaps the best corresponding English word is the word graciousness. Graciousness. And I think that word graciousness does encapsulate the meaning of this word. I'm not denying that moderation is not one of the best terms to use, but in our modern understanding of the word, as we think about moderation, I think graciousness, we can understand the meaning of that word even better. And so as we think about this, let your graciousness be known unto all men. As you go out into the world, that is to be one of the virtues, one of the fruits, one of the qualities that the Holy Spirit is cultivating in your life, and you are demonstrating to the world that you are a gracious person. I want you to see here as well the expectation that there is for us to have this moderation, for us to have this graciousness, because he says there, let your moderation. There's an expectancy that the Christian is to have moderation, and that moderation is to be demonstrated and displayed to the entire world. Now, why is it that there's such an expectancy here? for our graciousness and moderation? The answer is very simple, because if anybody ought to be gracious, it is the Christian. Have we not received of the manifold grace of God? Have we not more than anybody else in this world, even those who have experienced God's common grace and His goodness to all men, have we not more reason to be gracious, those who have experienced His saving grace? and have been born again in the Spirit of God. And God has dealt with us not according to our sins, not rewarding us according to our transgressions, but he dealt with us in grace. That is why I believe there's such an expectancy here for us as Christians to be gracious to others because we have received such rich free grace upon our lives. A Christian who does not display grace is a hypocrite. A Christian who does not live out a gracious life is inconsistent with the very salvation they claim to have. So that is why there is this immediate expectancy. Let your moderation. If you are an ungracious person, I would say to you this morning that you're probably not a Christian. If you do not deal with people in this world, whether the saints of God or those who are not saved and so on, if you do not deal with them in graciousness, if you're known for your hardheartedness, if you're known for your stubbornness, if you're known for your ill temperament, you probably have never been converted. You've never tasted and received of the manifold grace of God. Now, as we think about this, We need to draw an example here of what graciousness is. And I think, as we usually do, and we always do, we find the best example of a gracious character in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want you to turn this morning to John's Gospel chapter 8. Now, there's no direct link this morning between Philippians 4 verse 5 and John chapter 8. But as I thought about the life of Christ and I thought, about the gracious character that he possessed. This portion of Scripture came into my mind as an exemplary moment in the life of Christ when he displayed graciousness toward those who were undeserving. Let's just read through this in a moment. The scribes and the Pharisees, verse number three, brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast the stone at her. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last, and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in his midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. I see in that exemplary grace being displayed to those. The scribes and Pharisees brought this woman in, They were eyewitnesses to the very act of adultery that she had been committed. This was a wicked woman. This was a grievous immorality that she had committed. And we ought not understand this portion as if the Lord Jesus Christ is minimizing the seriousness of adultery. As we'll see in a moment, He does no such thing. This is a wicked violation of the seventh commandment, and God in the Old Testament demanded that such people would die, and He rightfully did so to preserve the godliness of a nation. But here these men bring her in. And the Lord Jesus Christ, as they challenge him to do this, he writes on the ground. And we're not sure what he's actually writing here. I think if we had to take a guess, the best guess would be that Christ wrote the law. He wrote the law on the ground. And whenever the Lord Jesus Christ stood up, the scribes and the Pharisees, what did they see? When he said, He that is without sin, let him cast the first stone. What did they see? They saw the law written. and it condemned their hearts. And they realized that they themselves were guilty before God and had no right, because it would be hypocrisy to do so. But there was one there that day that could have cast the stone, and that was the Lord Jesus Christ. He rightfully in that moment could have picked up the stones as one who had never violated the law of God, never broken that commandment, and He could have cast the stone and condemned her. And yet he turns to her again, notice the graciousness here, where he says to her, "'Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.'" In that one statement, he in no way undermines her sin. He in no way dismisses the seriousness of the sin that she has committed. He calls her to repentance. And he says to her, "'Go, repent of your sin, and live no more in sin.'" But at the same time, He is gracious to the one who would repent. He does not explode the situation. He does not come down with a heavier hand than what is required, but He is gentle, He is gracious, He is moderate in His response, and He portrays here an exemplary graciousness. Sometimes we think to ourselves that people are gracious. That means that they're going to be weak. But graciousness and weakness are not combined. They are not synonymous one with another. Here we have a Savior fully gracious, but there was no weakness here. He reproved sin in the hearts of the scribes and Pharisees. He upheld the law of God. He didn't diminish it in any way. And yet, at the same time, he gave grace to the repentant sinner, the one who would go the one who would go and sin no more. And so we learn even from the example of the Lord Jesus Christ and the graciousness that He had toward those who were sinners. Graciousness toward those who did not deserve it. And so as we think about this this morning, and we think of examples, and I'm sure you can even think of earthly examples of people who display this gracious temperament, look to your Savior. and see the greatest act of graciousness ever displayed. But then, secondly, this morning, I want you to see the conduct that we are to demonstrate. The conduct that we are to demonstrate. It says here, be known unto all men." Now, we've understood what this moderate character is, what this moderate quality is, but notice now that Paul is writing that it is to be made known unto all men. And I want you to see, first of all, the environment in which we display this virtue. Notice with me the word know there. Now, that's a very interesting word. It's speaking of knowing through close proximity. So you are knowing something, or knowing somebody, because you have a close relation to them. The word is actually used in Luke's Gospel, chapter 1, in the verse 34, if I could turn you there. Luke's Gospel, chapter 1, in the verse number 34. Mary has met with the angel, the angel has revealed unto her that she is with child, Mary responds to the angel, "'How shall this be seen? I know not a man.'" That's the same word. The word that Mary is using here, that she had never been intimate in that way with a man, is the same word that Paul uses to say this virtue of moderation is to be known to all men. And so the term here is speaking about an intimate, close relation that you would have with somebody. And in these close, intimate relations in that environment, you are to be known for your graciousness. When people come into contact with you, when they would do business with you, when they would be one-on-one with you, they are to recognize the gracious character that you have. Now, as I thought about this, as we think about moderation. Generally, there's two categories of people that we tend to be least gracious with. And whenever I'll say these, it might seem to contradict one another, but I think you will agree with me as we think about this. There's two categories of people that we tend not to be gracious toward. The first category of people is those that we simply do not know. The stranger. Perhaps we have a run-in with a stranger. They scratch our car in the parking lot. Perhaps they come to our house to do a bit of work. We don't know the person. We're not happy with the work. Perhaps we have a run-in with them at some other club or society we're a part of and so on. And we say to ourselves, well, I don't know this person. I don't care what they think of me. I'm just going to be letting them know what I think of it. And so what? I don't care. I'll never see them again. And with those that we'll never perhaps meet again, those that perhaps we do not know, we tend to not care about being gracious towards them. Now, on the other side of that, which may seem like a contradiction, but I still believe is true, we tend to be less gracious with those that are the closest to us. those that we know the best, those that are the closest to us within our lives, our husbands, our wives, our children, and so on. We tend to not have grace toward them. Why? Because they know us so well. They know us so well. And there is this seemingly odd contradiction, but I believe these are two categories of people that we tend not to be gracious toward. And yet, here is the application for our hearts this morning. Let your moderation be known. in every single contact that you have, however close the proximity to you, whenever you are dealing with people one-on-one, whenever you are speaking with them and dealing with them in whatever capacity, in whatever way, you're to be known for your gracious temperament, your gracious character. Whenever you would have to call up, tell us, you have to spend an hour with the music playing, and you get somebody, and you all know what I'm talking about here, whose English is not perhaps great, they could be from Northern Ireland, and you have a difficulty of understanding them. And you think to the fact, I'm never going to meet this person, and I'm going to tell them what I think. And you become this person that you're not in many other circumstances in your life. Such an attitude should never be adopted by the Christian. We are to be known in every single path of our lives, in every single way, as those who have a gracious temperament, as those who are able to be moderate, in all that they would do and say." And then notice the extent of this. We thought about the environment where this moderation is going to be known and displayed, but now the extent, let your moderation be known unto all men. And yes, I believe as Paul is writing this, there's obviously the application here that their graciousness is to be known to the saints. And this would be important for any church because if there's not a graciousness in how Christians would deal with one another, then it will hinder the ability of the church to stand fast in the Lord. If there's always wars, if there's always contention, if there's always strife in a congregation, it weakens their steadfast grip upon the Lord Jesus Christ. It weakens the fact that they are rooted and grounded in Him. It weakens then their testimony to the world. It weakens their outreach to the world and their influence to the world. When there's strife and contention, the church grinds to a halt. Outreaches don't get done. Activities don't get done. Ministries don't get performed because you just can't bring people together to work with one another. But whenever people are full of grace, It doesn't matter the inevitable difficulties and strifes that will come through people being in close proximity and contact one with another. And those strifes and difficulties will come because we're human, but it won't matter because grace will cover a multitude of sins. And if we have that graciousness in our heart, it will enable us as the Lord's people to continue on in service for Him. But then also, there is the application here to the broader world. All men, those within the church, those outside the church, our moderation is to be known. Paul would write in Colossians chapter 4, Colossians chapter 4, in the verse number 6, he says, let your speech be always with grace. seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." We're to take our speech, just like we would the little salt shaker, and we are to shake it over our mouths and our tongues, that grace would come upon it. That we would know how to minister and how to speak. That grace might sweeten and add a greater flavor to the words of our mouth. that we would speak to others. I pray that you would see the great requirement that has been laid upon you this morning, that you are commanded here to make this moderate, kind, long-suffering, gentle, meek, gracious virtue known in this world. And in doing so, what are you doing? It's not just so people can turn around and say, well, weren't they a lovely person? It's not just so that person from Dallas can put down the phone and say, oh, that was one person the day that hadn't ripped my head off over the phone. It's not that way. It's so that they might understand this person is gracious because they have received grace. They are being gracious to me who has perhaps failed them, who has perhaps let them down, who has perhaps sinned against them, they are being gracious to me because they understand that their God was gracious to them. And you're bringing them with that gracious attitude to the gospel. You're bringing them with that gracious attitude to Christ. When you go into your workplace and your mouth is not filled with cursing and swearing and blaspheming, When somebody does something wrong in your workplace, and yes, you have to reprimand them and correct them, but you don't curse them out. What is that? That gracious temperament that's on display, that is a witness to them, I will be gracious to you in this situation because God is gracious to me. It is an open door for the gospel. It is a means of drawing them to the gospel of Christ. So let us be moderate. and all that we would say and do. Let us be gracious in how we would deal with others. Thirdly and finally this morning, I want you to see the consciousness that we are to have. The consciousness that we are to have. The final statement here says, the Lord is at hand. Now, some commentators would have that as a statement independent by itself. And they would say that this was actually another exhortation or instruction that Paul was giving, just as he said, you know, he warned against disunity, he's warning against a lack of joy, he's warning against a lack of moderation. Now he's warning them to not, or in their lack of consciousness, of the nearness of the Lord Jesus Christ. others would connect it with the following verses and say, the Lord is at hand, and so because the Lord is at hand, be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication, make a request, be known unto God. I think the best fitting of this is to connect it to verse five. That's how the majority of commentators would understand it, that we are to let our moderation be known unto all men in light of this truth. of the nearness of the Lord Jesus Christ to his people. In light of the fact that we have his presence with us, and an understanding that Christ is with us, it removes any argument on our behalf to ever deal with anybody in an ungracious way. Because Christ, the one who is near us, the one who has promised us his presence, has always been gracious toward us. How could we ever say that we would not be gracious to an individual when we have received of such grace? And so, we understand this to speak of the presence of Christ with His people. Again, some would perhaps look at this and say that there can be a reference here to the judgment of the Lord, His second coming, that final judgment. There is an aspect of that here, but I think it's better within the context to understand it as Christ's presence with His people. And because He is with His people, we ought to display this moderation. Why? Because it is the Spirit of Christ that indwells us. It is the Spirit of Christ that He has given to us to cultivate this fruit within our life. We have no reason to be angry all the time. We have no reason to be hard-hearted. We have no reason to be foul-mouthed or ill-tempered. Why? Because we have the Spirit dwelling within us. The old nature, the dominion of sin has been broken by the power of the Spirit of God. Our hearts have been renewed. And now because of the nearness of our Savior, His Spirit dwelling within us. we ought to be cultivating righteousness and godliness within our lives. With no excuse, we have all the power of Christ who is in us and near us to live out this fruit. But then also as well, the Lord is at hand. We have the idea, not just of the Spirit or His Spirit cultivating this fruit, but of His Spirit convicting us when we fall short of this. The Lord is at hand. He is near. He watches over all. He sees the interactions that you will have day to day and week to week that nobody else will see. He will see the interactions that you have with those people that you'll never meet again. He will see the interactions that you will have even with those that you're close and intimate to. And he will see those interactions, and he knows those interactions. And so, therefore, we ought to be conscious of this, that whenever we sin and we fall short, he knows. He knows. And our sins grieve him, and they grieve him. But also, as well, we are to have this consciousness because as Christ is near us, as he is at hand, He is at hand by His Spirit to comfort us. To comfort us. I mentioned earlier on that graciousness does not mean weakness. It doesn't. But there are times, whenever you would display a gracious attitude, that that graciousness could be taken advantage of. There are times whenever you are displaying that graciousness, that you are displaying that grace in a very difficult situation. When somebody has wronged you, sinned against you, when somebody has done perhaps a sin that you think is so grievous and wicked, and you are perhaps right in that assessment, but it takes great grace within your heart to be moderate to them. takes great aid of the Holy Ghost for you to manifest that graciousness to them. In those times, we can have this, that the Spirit is there to comfort us. The Spirit is there to comfort us, even in those times when it is difficult for us to display such a gracious attitude. What a Savior we have, who not just commands us what to do, but also gives us the strength to do it. and who gives us the comfort to know that if there are times when perhaps our graciousness is taken advantage of, or we perhaps feel that somebody is taking advantage of our gracious demeanor and so on, the Lord will come in judgment. And there will be a day when every wrong will be put right. There will come a day when those who perhaps exploited our gracious character, when the Lord will judge them. And yet we will leave it to Him to do what is right. I pray that as you go out this week, that you may be thinking about this word, that the Lord, by His Spirit, would bring this word back to your mind, that your moderation, oh, that it would be known to all men. that we would be known by a congregation amidst all of the false accusations that could be made against us as a church body, as individual believers, that we would refute the world by our gracious demeanor. And if somebody says, well, that church there, they're stuffy and dead and strict and boring and so on, that whenever people would meet us, they would say, well, I met somebody from that church and I saw this graciousness toward me. or somebody is saying wrong about you, and you meet that person that's heard this bad report about you, and they meet you and they say, well, I met them, and they are not the person that you told me they were. Let your moderation be known to all men. And may the Lord give us help even to live in this manner for His glory.