Well, thank you very much. It's good to be with you. And I don't hear myself. Do you hear me? Okay. All right. Very good. As long as you can hear me, that's okay. It's probably far better for me if I don't hear myself. And it's great. It's great to be with you here at Ambassador Baptist College. Thank you, Dr. Lucan. And he and I are meeting for the first time. And Brother Beale, Dr. Beale is away in East Tennessee. That's a great place to be. That's where I'm from. And he knows how to schedule chapel speakers when he's out of town. So I don't know what that says about me, but... probably just what I suspect it does. But it's it's great to be with you. I'm honored and privileged to be here with you. And tell me if you're the group from Michigan, would you raise your hand? I didn't see that group. All right, great. Now you would never know this, but I was born in Detroit, Michigan. And it's a tough time to be a Tigers fan. That's for sure. Right. But born in Detroit, but I got to East Tennessee as quick as I could. And then it got in me, and my speech betrayeth me, right? Everybody knows I'm not from Michigan. But I have a lot of family there, and I thank God for the opportunity he gave me to be born in Detroit, and most importantly, to move to East Tennessee. Amen. It's good to be in Shelby today, and I am privileged to serve as the pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Hickory, North Carolina. And I am so thankful for Dr. Spencer and his ministry in our church before my arrival and his continuing ministry to help churches. And I appreciate the fact that he helps me and keeps in contact with me and prays for me. and has become a mentor and a dear friend, and so I'm thankful for that. I made some new friends when I came to North Carolina, and Alton, of course, is one of those. Dwight Smith will be preaching here, I think, in the next day or two. You tell him he really missed it today, will you? Because he's on a plane. And I know you'll have to say that in jest, but just say it anyway, all right? And let him know that we expected that he would be here today, but he didn't make it. But he's a dear friend. Billy Ingram is a dear friend of mine, and I'm thankful for the friends I've developed along the way. You know, we have an eternity to get to know a lot of people. And may God help us to love one another and treat one another in a way that pleases him. I'm in Philippians chapter number two this morning. I invite you to turn there with me, Philippians chapter number two. We'll begin reading in verse number 12. As I said, thank you again, Dr. Luke and all of you for your hospitality and kindness, the beautiful music and the testimonies. And I appreciate the opportunity to be with you. Philippians chapter 2, we'll begin reading in verse number 12. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings. that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. Let's pray together. Our Father, we are grateful for the opportunity that you've given us to come together for this chapel service. We thank you for your word, and I pray that as we look into your word together, we pray that the Holy Spirit would work in our midst. I pray, dear Spirit of God, that you would work in me and through me, fill me with yourself, and help me to speak the words that you want spoken. to this congregation today, keep from my lips the things that do not need to be said. And then we pray, Lord, that as your word goes forward, that our hearts would be fertile soil that you would have our attention and that our will would be surrendered and submitted to you as you speak to us, that we would leave this place having been confronted with the truth of your word and having been changed by the work of God in us. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. I'd call your attention to verse number 15. We find the phrase, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. The Apostle Paul here is charging the believers at Philippi, and he's charging them with the responsibility to serve as shining lights in the midst of what he calls a crooked and perverse nation. The word crooked here means bent or warped. The word perverse also then means twisted or turned aside, turned out of the way. And as Paul addressed the Philippians, he is addressing them in light of the truth that they are living in a nation as they seek to serve the Lord. And Philippians chapter 2, of course, is the great chapter that speaks to us about the service of Christ and His spirit of humility and willingness to give of Himself. and the fact that that mind is to become the mind that we allow God to put in us. as we yield to him, that he would change the perspective and the pattern of our thinking so that we would submit ourselves, so that we would surrender ourselves to be his slave, to be his servant, and to understand that as his servants and as his slaves, we are serving in a culture, in a nation, in an environment that we would tab as crooked and perverse. And of course today we find that happening in our nation, do we not? What can be said about America other than the fact that it is a crooked and a perverse nation? And in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, We need people, God is looking for people who will yield their lives to Him, who will serve Him, who will be not crooked, not bent, not warped, but who will be straight, in the sense that they have been obedient to the Lord and have been made righteous in Him and who follow the path of righteousness and seek to serve Him in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. That they would shine as lights in a dark, dark world. And so the charge remains the same for us today. I want to give you three words and I encourage you to write them down as we consider the fact that we are serving the Lord in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. Number one I'd like you to write the word down action. Action. Number two I'd like you to write this word down and the word that I'd like for you to write there is attitude. Attitude. And then the final word that I'd like to ask you to write down is the word attentiveness. Attentiveness. Action, attitude, and attentiveness. These three words should characterize our service as we seek to serve the Lord in the midst of a crooked and a perverse nation. I'd like for you to look first of all at this word action. And we consider the servant, and he is a man who, a woman who is to be yielded to the Lord, and one servant that is to be active in the service of the Lord. Notice, if you would please, in verse number 12, Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence also, but how much more in my absence? Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Here we find that action, we're charged to be active in the service of the Lord. We need to be obedient and we need to work out. When you think about the term work out, what do you think about? Exercise. And so we need to be exercising, we need to be active as the servants of the Lord. We need to be employed in the work of God. Have you heard the old adage, actions speak louder than words? Or have you heard someone say, don't just talk the talk, but walk the walk? And, you know, a lot of us have learned to talk a good game. But have we learned to get out on the field and back up our talk? by our play. And you see, I think oftentimes that one of the dangers that befall us is that we talk a lot about serving the Lord. We talk a lot about the things that we're going to do when we get out of college, when we get into that place of ministry, when we finally get our opportunity. We like to anticipate and discuss all the things that we would do or that we plan to do. but the Lord has charged his people in the midst of this perverse and crooked nation, not simply that they learn to talk about what they're going to do, but that they actually begin to do it. Work out your own salvation. Now, I want you to notice that Paul is encouraging them here to work out their own salvation in light of the truth of what God has worked in them. You see, it's impossible to work out what God has not placed within. And I'm afraid that we probably have a number of people today who are trying to work something out that they have never received internally. But here we find that he's charging them to work out what God has put in them. Notice again in verse number 13, For it is God which worketh... What's the next word? in you. It is God which worketh in you both to will, that is to desire, and to do of His good pleasure." Can I tell you that if you desire to serve the Lord, and I imagine that you do, for why else would you be in a Bible college? For what other reason could you possibly be here but that you have a desire in your heart to serve God with your life? Some of you are training to be pastors. Some of you are training to be in youth ministry. Some of you are training to be Christian school teachers. And by the way, I'm really for Christian school teachers. And we have a Christian school, so we need teachers. And some of you are preparing to serve, to be missionaries. And some of you, you're not quite sure what God has for you, but here's what you know. You know that in your heart, God has placed a desire inside of you. It is an unquenchable desire. It is one that you cannot walk away from. It is a call that He has pressed upon your life that is inescapable, and you wouldn't want to escape it even if you could. It is the desire that God has placed within your life to serve Him. And that desire comes from God. God puts it in you. There was a day, if you know the Lord Jesus, when the light of the glorious gospel was shed abroad in the blackness and the darkness of your own heart, which was as this universe was and as this earth was in its days before God said, let there be light, it was in void and it was in darkness. But God spoke and said, let there be light, and there was light. He brought light to darkness. He brought order to chaos. And God, by the light of the glorious Gospel, if you know Him, has brought light into your dark soul. He's brought order into the chaos of your lives. He has given you a purpose. He has worked in you. Having experienced the power of God working in your life, He charges us now, work it out. Work it out. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2 in verse number 8, For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves? It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Notice in verse 10, For we are His workmanship. God did a work in your life when He saved you. God is doing a work in your life today. by teaching you to get up and go to class on time, by teaching you to submit to authority, by teaching you to learn to study and go to work and be diligent, by putting you through trials and difficulties, God is doing a work in your life. And we are His workmanship. Notice what he says. Number 10, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. God has done a work in us so that we might in turn do a work for Him. And that He might through us accomplish the work that He desires to have accomplished in our life. You see, our salvation and our resulting sanctification is the result of God's work in us. We're His workmanship. designed to produce good works in John 15 in verse number eight Jesus said herein is my father glorified that you bear much fruit we bring glory to God when we produce fruit and what is Paul exhorting and encouraging the church at Philippi to do he is exhorting them and he is encouraging them to bear fruit to work out the salvation that God has worked within their hearts In Romans chapter 1, in verse number 13, the apostle Paul is writing to the church at Rome, and his heart's desire is to go to Rome and to preach the message of the gospel. And he says in verse number 13 of chapter number 1, Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, but was led hitherto, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. In verse 14, he says, I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. Verse 15, so as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. Paul said, I'm ready to get to Rome. I want to preach the gospel to the people of Rome. And as much as in me is, I want to preach that message. You know, there's nothing to preach unless God has put something in. And you are at a time in your life where you have an opportunity to come apart for a four year period or a five year period or however long it takes, fellas and ladies. I crammed four years of college into a five and a half year experience. And then after I graduated, that was at the University of Tennessee, after I graduated from there, years later, I went to seminary. And I thank God for the opportunities that the Lord allowed me to experience. I thank God for the people that God allowed me to meet. I thank God for the way in which He chose to humble me and work in my life. I am so thankful that God used that time of preparation. And let me tell you, at this age, at this stage in your life, it is a tendency that all of us have to sort of begrudge these years of preparation. to almost feel as if this time is a time that is being wasted in our lives because we know what a blessing we're going to be when we get out there to those churches. We know how God is going to use us and we know that those teenagers are just going to love us and think we're the greatest thing that has ever come along. We just know that if we were the pastor there were certain ways that we would do things and man I'm telling you you want to see real revival come to America you just wait till you get out of here and get in that place of ministry. And we think, well, you know, this time I just can't wait for it to end. No, no, no, no. You need to get everything you can get while you're here. And by the way, when you leave here, you're not finished with that preparation process. It will continue throughout the days of your life. So don't get impatient. Allow God the opportunity to put much into your life. Certain people you like, certain people you don't. Learn to appreciate the ones you don't. Because God is using them in your life. You know, if we have love in us, then we need to learn to love, right? Well, you say, well, that person in my dorm room, they're not very lovely. Well, Jesus loved you and you weren't very lovely either. And if you have the love of God in your life, then you're going to learn to love the unlovable and the unlovely. You see first Corinthians 13 love is not based on the character of the person that is being loved. It is based on the character of the one who is doing the loving Jesus loves us that love as we love him is shed abroad in our hearts. We can love like Christ love because he first loved us. How about that grace that you want. Oh give me a break professor. Well, let me ask you, do you give him a break when he asks the question that you don't think should be on the test and you get in the dorm room? Do you give him a break? How about the mercy extended to you, do you extend that same mercy to your roommate or to a coworker? You see, God is dealing with us here in this time of preparation for as much as in us is we are ready now to preach the gospel, allow God to put these things in your life. What's the first word? The word is what? What is it? Action. Do it. Obey. Work it out. Demonstrate it. Don't just talk the talk, but walk the walk. Do it now. Do it today, before you get on the mission field. May God help us. The second word, help me out, is what? Attitude. Attitude. Look in verse 14. Do all things without, what's the next word? Murmurings and the second word? Do all things, that means everything from where I'm from, all things without murmuring and disputings. This speaks about our attitudes, our attitude. What are murmurings? Murmurings are complaints. Complaints. Where do they come from? They come from a heart filled with discontentment and ingratitude. That's where they come from. How many of you like to murmur? Come on now. Just one of you in the whole place. My hand's up with you, man. A few more now are going up. How many of you know somebody who ought to have their hand up? Would you raise your hand? There you go. Murmurings. Complaints. I don't know why we have to do this. I don't know what that rules for. That's ridiculous. Murmuring. Complaint. I went to preach at that church and those kids didn't listen to me. I teach that Sunday school class and they don't listen to me. I work on that bus route and nobody seems to care. They don't acknowledge me. They don't show me respect. murmurings complaints which come from a heart filled with discontentment and in gratitude. And do you know where those those shoots spring up from a heart full of pride disputings arising from our thoughts our opinions and debates man the best theology is dorm theology right. Yeah right. When everybody has to share their opinion when everybody thinks they have become the seat of all truth and they they they they have to criticize everybody's opinion and position and they somehow think that in their in their 19 year old brain they have been able to grasp all the infinite knowledge that is revealed to us in the truth of God's Word. and disputings take place. I would not advise you to get on Twitter, to be honest with you. But if you do, you will find that all the brethren who have the right positions are very engaged in disputings. And if our position is important, is our disposition not equally important? The Bible speaks about adorning the doctrine of God our Savior. How do we adorn it? With our spirit, with our attitude. What is your attitude? Here is the Apostle Paul speaking to them concerning their attitude. Notice 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse number 20. He says this, Now we do a lot of talking about that, don't we? Glorifying God in our body. We need to be pure, we need to be right, we need to dress a certain way. Glorify God in your body. And that should be emphasized. But we should emphasize the rest of the verse too. And notice what the verse says. Glorify God in your body and in your, what's the next word? Spirit, which are God's. Your spirit, your attitude. Your attitude. I have known people who have gone through Bible college who have amazing ability, but they have rotten attitudes. Amazing ability, but rotten attitudes. Then I have known people who have very little ability, at least outwardly, but they have an amazing attitude. Do you know who I'd rather have working with me and for me? Somebody with a great attitude. I'm not really concerned about how wonderful your ability is. I am concerned about your attitude. And God is concerned about our attitude. And murmuring and complaining and disputing reveals there's sin in our heart, there's pride in our heart, and we, though we might have ability, don't have a right spirit. The Bible tells me in Proverbs 17 in verse 27, he that hath knowledge spareth his words in a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Ephesians 4 verse 23, the Bible says, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Oh, may God help us with our thinking, with our attitude. May God help us to understand that our disposition is as important as our position. You see I think about Caleb. You remember Caleb the spy one of the 12 Caleb was able. to live through the 40 years in the wilderness, and to enter in to the land of Canaan, and not only to enter in, but to enjoy it in all its fullness, to obtain the inheritance that he desired when he went into the land as a spy, when he sought out that property and found it, and he asked for it, God gave it to him, God allowed him to experience it, God allowed him to enjoy it, and this is what the Bible says of Caleb. But My servant. Numbers 14 and verse 24. But My servant. Listen, there's nothing anyone could ever say about you that means more than this term, but My servant. To hear God say to you, you are My servant. What a wonderful thing to have God say of us that we are His servants, we are His slaves. He said, My servant Caleb. because he had another spirit with him and hath followed me fully. Him will I bring into the land where into he went and his seed shall possess. Oh, listen, may God help us to be renewed in our spirit. To have a spirit of humility. That's what's taught in Philippians 2. To have a spirit of obedience. To have a spirit of faith and expectancy as Caleb had. To believe God. To trust God. To go forward in obedience and see the Lord do a mighty work. And let me tell you, not only did it bless him, it blessed his children and his children's children and all of his family for years to come. I think about Daniel living in Babylon and they brought Daniel and his friends in and they said we're going to train these boys to stand before Nebuchadnezzar and these boys are going to they're going to stand before us and they're going to help us out. And what stood out about those boys is the fact that they had an excellent spirit. After Nebuchadnezzar is gone off the scene, Belshazzar is the king and he brings in the vessels of the Lord's house and he revels in those vessels and drinks his wine from those vessels and the handwriting comes on the wall and nobody there can read the handwriting and the Bible tells us that the queen came in. Perhaps we believe this to be his mother. And she said in verse number 10 of Daniel chapter 5, Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house, and the queen spoke and said, O king, live forever. Let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be charged. There is a man in thy kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. And in the days of thy father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the gods, was found in him. Do you know when Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar needed truth, they found out where to turn for that truth. They turned to a man who had the spirit of God in him. They turned to somebody who had an excellent spirit, who exemplified the spirit of Jesus Christ. Do you know why the world oftentimes doesn't want to hear from us? It is because we have failed to exemplify and demonstrate the spirit of Jesus Christ. I'm telling you, I've met some preachers that just depress me to death. I'll be honest with you. Well, nothing ever good is going to happen. Can't get anybody to do anything. Nobody appreciates me. You sit around that too long, you just might as well go to the house. You understand what I'm saying to you? Honestly. I don't want my children to go to a church where that kind of mentality is. Hey, God is still on the throne. And we need to have a spirit of expectancy, a spirit of joy and gratitude and thanksgiving. Enough of this rough gruff this powerless form of godliness. We need the Spirit of the Living One in us to be manifest through us to adorn the doctrine of Jesus Christ so that a lost world says there's something about them that's different. So they bring Daniel in. And these are the words of Belshazzar. He says for as much in verse 12 as an excellent spirit and knowledge and understanding interpreting of dreams and showing of hard sentence and dissolving of doubts were found in the same Daniel. Hey something about him. You know what it was. It was his attitude. It was his spirit. He was yielded to the Holy Spirit. He didn't allow murmurings and disputings to cloud and hinder the radiance and the brightness of the light of the presence of the Son of God from shining brightly through him. He got all the stains out and the world saw it. Darius, king of Persia, noted this. In Daniel chapter 6 in verse 3, the Bible said this, then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was in him. You wanna know when the world's gonna listen to us? When we exemplify an excellent spirit. You know when those teenagers are gonna wanna hear you? When they know that you love them. When they understand, do you know when your church will respect you as a pastor when they know that you care about them that you love them when you preach to them to encourage them and feed them when they see you demonstrate in your attitude and your communication with your wife and your children and your family the spirit of Jesus Christ what's the third word tentativeness I don't know what time we're supposed to be done I didn't ask you So if you're teaching and I pass, please forgive. Brother Bill won't have me back, that's okay. Attentiveness. Notice verse 16. What's the first two words? Holding forth what? Holding forth the word of life. Now, we're concerned about the action of a servant, we're concerned about the attitude of a servant, but here we find we're concerned about the attentiveness of the servant. The word here, holding forth, means to have or hold upon, to hold out towards, to direct upon. In the New Testament it is used of the mind, meaning to fix the mind upon, to give heed to, to pay attention. Specifically here in Philippians 2.16, it refers to hold back in the sense of retaining. Retaining, you know, you go to class, you get the notes, you take the test, and the test determines what you have retained. what you understand, what you have comprehended. Here He's talking to us about holding on to firmly, tightly, but also as we hold to the Word, we hold it forth as a light. The picture here is in a dark world. We have a light. It is the light of the truth of God's word. We have that light. It is shining in us, but we're holding forth that light. We're holding on to it. That light gives us clarity for the next step. That light gives us direction for our lives. Isn't that what the psalmist said in Psalm 119? He said in verse 105, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. In that same chapter, verse number nine, he says, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word. He went on to say in verse 10, with my whole heart have I sought thee, O let me not wonder from thy commandments, verse 11, thy word. have I hid, I've retained it, I have hid it, I have held on to it, I've hid it in my heart that I might not sin against thee. The psalmist said, not only have I held to your word, O God, but I'm holding it forward, I'm holding to it to keep me from sin, I'm holding to it to fill me with your light, I'm holding on to it, I'm holding it forward so that others may be directed to that light and see that I am walking in that light. And as I walk in that light, I am taking heed to myself and to the doctrine as Paul wrote to Timothy. I'm examining where I am in light of where I ought to be. I see the dangers and the pitfalls that are all around me as I hold forth the word of light. I am shedding the light upon lost souls to help them see the truth of the gospel. You see, friend, I need to be attentive I need to be sure that I'm walking in the light of God's truth. I need to make sure that I'm not delivering some man-made message, or man-centered message, or a political message, but I am delivering the message that says Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross for you, and if you'll come to Him by faith, He will save you from an eternity in hell. That is the message that I've been commissioned to give, and there is no other message. And I better hold to it. I better deliver it faithfully. Paul said to Timothy, take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine, continue in them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, that's important, and them that hear thee. Listen, we have no other message to preach but the Bible. There's no system that takes precedence over the Bible. There's no personal handbook that takes precedence over the Bible. God has called us to be servants in the midst of a crooked, warped, twisted, out of the way world. They won't appreciate you. They will not be happy that you're there. And as you serve, you need to serve not just with your mouth, but with your hands. You need to do what God's called you to do. You need to work out what God has worked in. You need to be a person of action. It's one thing to sit in a class and have theory. It's another thing to put it into practice. Let's get it into practice. Let's do it for the glory of God. Now, let's don't shortcut our training. Let's be teachable and humble. But let's be active. Let's have our attitude right. Hey, it's not about you. It's all about him. If somebody didn't ask you to preach, that's OK. God's working in your life to reveal your own pride by the fact that you got upset about that. If they didn't ask you to play the piano or you didn't get to play your favorite instrument, somebody else did. Hey, that's OK. God's working in you. Just be thankful that you get the opportunity to serve the king of kings and the Lord of Lords. Our attitude has to be right. and then our attentiveness in line with this book. May God help us in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for your word. And I pray for these students and this faculty, the staff, the visitors who are here. Pray for Brother Bill, Dr. Comfort, I pray, God, that you'd bless them all. Thank you for their willingness to serve you. And I pray you'd help them to continue to train and teach these students, and I pray that these students would yield themselves to be your servant. That they, Lord Jesus, would be active servants with the right spirit and attitude. Who will be attentive to your word? We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.