If you would please turn in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. And we're going to be considering today verses 24 through 32. And this is not a sign of anything, but because of the wind I'm going to read it off the printed page. The wind continues to try to close the pages. Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one of you, to his neighbor, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. would that God would have mercy on us and teach us from this passage. Well, everything that Paul says now that we are to do as Christians, as believers in Christ, a people of God, is based upon what has already been done in us, to us, and for us by Christ. Amen? In verses 17 through 19 of this chapter we have the contrast of the unregenerate man, how he walks in the futility of his mind, being darkened in his understanding and excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in him. Paul says they do not know God and they are not known by him. That's not good news, is it? But it is an accurate and apt description of the unregenerate mind. You have probably known this when you try to talk to a neighbor or friend about Christ and you get that glazed over look in their eyes. Have you seen that before? I've seen it many times. And then Paul goes on to write at the end of that, but you did not learn Christ this way. And that's a great statement to let sink in, isn't it? To get into the bloodstream. To understand that that is opposite the mind of the Christian. We don't think that way. We're not darkened in our understanding. We're not. were to think with clarity, to think biblically, and to have a sound mind, a biblical Christian worldview. Well, this kind of life, this way of thinking, the way of Christian thinking that we've been given, as opposed to the darkened mind that is in opposition to Christ, And so it is abundantly clear that we, from our text this morning, based upon all that I have already said, and Paul has already said, teaches us we don't work for our salvation, we work from it. We labor in our Christian life for sanctification because God has already worked it out in us, and continues to work it out. God is at work in you, both to will and to do for His good pleasure. There is a passage that I quote often because of the truth that undergirds the Christian, that he is a new creation. And by the way, the words new creation denote something that was not the case before. So whatever the new creation is now, it is starkly different from the men and women we were. And we expect a change that denotes what? A change in behavior. Right? And sometimes if you talk to a person about their behavior and someone claiming to be a Christian, you know what you hear, right? You're being a legalist. Oh, you shouldn't steal. You shouldn't commit adultery. You shouldn't lie. Well, you're being a legalist. Well, then Paul was being a legalist. Jesus was being a legalist. Amen? Here's that passage I wanted to read to you. It's found in 2 Corinthians 5, verses 14-18. And I want to read it slowly and kind of let it sink in. It says, For the love of Christ controls us. For the love of Christ controls us. Isn't that good? It controls me. It restrains me. And if it restrains me, it restrains my sin. and in restraining my sin it does so from the power of the Holy Spirit using the Word of God in my life so that there will be an obedience to the Word of God. Not out of spite or legalism. Those of you who have had children, a child comes and says, you don't love me because you won't let me have candy bar, or you don't love me because you won't give me whatever it is. And we as parents know that's not true, right? You keep things from children sometimes because you love them. You speak into their life because you love them. You say things they obviously don't want to hear because you what? You love them. Fathers do this. Mothers do this. God the Father tells us things. He speaks truth into our life because He loves us. It would be the case that God did not love us if He did not speak truth into our life. Amen? If I'm in sin, if I'm committing a sin or if I'm thinking sinful thoughts, what is the thing that I need the most? I need what God has said in His Word to set me straight because He loves me. Amen? Now we've all known, especially when we were kids, we've known children whose parents let them do whatever. Would you say that was a parent who loved their children? That's a form of hatred, isn't it? For the love of Christ controls us. Some versions say the word, use the English word, constrains us. It wraps its arms around me and it affects the Word of God in my life. Man, am I grateful for that. If you had to live the Christian life on your own, you'd mess it up. Amen? For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died. And He died for all so that they who live, that's us, might no longer live for themselves. Christian, your life is not your own. It doesn't belong to you. I've got news for all of us. It's His life. You belong to Him. Your life belongs to Him. And that means your daily activities belong to Him. Your plans belong to Him. Your relationships belong to Him. Your work belongs to Him. Christ Jesus is Lord of your life. If that's news to you, come and see me after the worship service. that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. He died for me. Christian, what will you not give Him in exchange for that death, in gratitude for that death? It is this statement, this passage, is the definitive statement that Christ's death was not only an atoning death, but it was a perpetuatory death. It was a redeeming death and an inclusive death, inclusive of all whom God intended to save in his death. See, our view of the death of Christ has to be right, biblically. He died for the elect, because he intended to die for the elect. The Father commanded him to die for the elect. Well, if that is also true, equally as true is the statement that the elect belonged to him. And not only that, but when God raised him from the dead, we were raised to newness of life. Now Christian, I'll be honest with you, that's a spiritual truth of scripture that we struggle to wrap our minds around. What do you mean I was raised when Christ was raised? I wasn't even born yet. But the spiritual biblical truth is that God raised us from the dead to newness of life when He raised Christ. Newness of life, a new creation. All things have become new. All foundational to our obedience to these commands. The old man died and you are a new creation. And so the rest of your life on earth, in this body, you will be laying aside that old man. That is the business of the Christian. I have often in my life made plans, you've done the same thing, well this time next year I think I would like to fill in the blank. Or I think I would like to go get a job doing whatever. When really what the Christian ought to say is, Lord what would you have me do? What is your will for where I will live and where I will work and all of the things of this life? In this body for the rest of your Christian life you will be laying aside that old man. You see the Christian, and by the way there is no such thing as a carnal Christian, we have said that before. Just by way of reminder, a carnal Christian is that doctrine that teaches that I can claim to be a Christian but live how I want. I can do what I want, I can say what I want, as long as I walk the aisle, as long as I was baptized, as long as I name the name of Christ, I can live any way I want. The term carnal or fleshly Christian, who has a professed faith but really isn't following Christ, isn't obeying Him, He doesn't go to church. He isn't really interested in the things of God or in the people of God. Oh, he walked an aisle once, or he raised his hand at a Christian concert, or he was baptized, and so he's a believer. He just isn't walking with Christ. You know, the Scripture is no such Christian. Or worse, the carnal Christian is living in outright sin, engaged in fornication or some other immorality, but he once made a profession of faith, so he's a Christian. But listen to what Paul writes in response to that. In the rest of 2 Corinthians 5, beginning in verse 16, Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh. We don't see one another according to the old man whose mind is darkened in understanding, who doesn't have a Christian mind and who doesn't walk in obedience, who says, I'm Christian but it shouldn't affect the way I live. We recognize no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, we now know Him this way no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come. And I love this next verse. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ. Wait a minute. He did what? He reconciled us to Himself. God did that through Christ. You've been reconciled to Him. Your sins have been washed away. You've been made a new creation. You are therefore to walk in obedience. All things He has done to reconcile us to Himself. In our passage, Paul lists sins common to man. By the way, these are not unusual sins, far-fetched sins. They are common. But they are sins that should not be present and practiced in the life of a Christian. And so I want to begin by simply this morning walking, or this afternoon, walking through them. And the first one Paul says is, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor for we are members of one another. The first thing I want to say about that is that is hard, isn't it? The first thing that comes to the Christian's mind when he thinks about walking up to another believer and speaking the truth is they'll reject me. They'll judge me. They won't like me. I'll offend them. Amen? I'm so glad I'm the only one that worries about those things when I have to come to a fellow Christian. And by the way, can I make a confession? As a Christian pastor, guess what I get to do as a part of my vocation? I have to come up to you sometimes, and I have to speak truth, and I have to disagree with you, and I have to even at times, God forbid, argue with you. To that we all say what? Amen. Listen, folks, as a Christian pastor, if I'm not doing that, I am not doing my vocation. And I'm in disobedience. I'm going to share something else with you. I'm a whole lot more afraid of God than I am of you. You might bother me. He frightens me. Speaking the truth is hard, and we don't want to do it. I'd rather be nice. I'd rather be gentle. I'd rather be kind. But I dare say probably everyone in here, I've had to say, brother or sister, you got that passage wrong. And nobody likes being corrected, do they? They don't like the pastor arguing with them or telling them they don't have something right or there's a flaw in their life or a sin. Sometimes I'd rather just take a nap. It's hard. Pastors are people too. They want everybody to love them and get along, but sometimes you can't. But you want to know the startling truth? That isn't just for pastors, that's for you. Amen? So, if Aaron hears Nathan say something and, Jesus, oh boy, he just butchered that passage, what's Aaron's responsibility? Go to your brother. Amen? Nathan Squirman. The truth is that speaking the truth in love is hard. It is difficult, but it is commanded, isn't it? Laying aside falsehood. One of the ways we lay that falsehood aside is in a persistent, continual effort at pursuing the truth, no matter what it costs. Christian, are you willing to do that? Does the truth matter to you that much? And do you love one another that much that pursuing the truth in the life of a brother or sister in Christ would drive you to go to them? That's what love requires. Anything less is not loving. Therefore, laying aside falsehoods, speak truth, each one of you, to his neighbor, for we are what? Members of one another. Literally, if I am unwilling to speak the truth to you, I might as well lie to my hand. You say, well that seems rather silly, your hand can't hear you, it has no ears, it has no eyes. That's the facetiousness of what Paul is saying. Speak truth to you, each one, for we are members of one another. We're the same body. We owe the truth to one another. Amen? You expect it out of me, right? Fire me if I don't do it. Do I get to fire you if you don't do it? Speaking the truth comes out of the law by the way Exodus 20 that you know it, but let me quote it You shall not Pretty clear so far right you shall not what bear false witness against your neighbor Don't lie about him pretty clear It has the idea of saying something untrue, of lying as a witness about something, that we are not to bear false witness against our neighbor. I am not to lie to him. I am not to lie about him. I am not to lie for him. Better to press the lips together if you are in a bad situation than to lie in any way. To lay aside falsehood then is to remove it from our lips, but from our thinking, from our speech, and from our relationships. Do you have an honest relationship with the brothers and sisters in your church? Do you have that level of love for them that you are honest with them? Do you love with the love of Christ? Because that's what that is. That is the love of Christ. A Christian who has the mind of Christ must put aside falsehood because no lie is of the truth, 1 John. A Christian must speak truth because he is no longer of the devil. I love this passage in John 8, verse 44. By the way, you want to talk about confrontation and speaking the truth when it's uncomfortable? Listen to what Jesus says to the Pharisees. By the way, this isn't nice. This is the warning. Not nice? I know that's the God of this age, the God of nice. We bow to the God of nice. It doesn't matter if truth must be spoken. If it's not nice, then you what? Don't speak it? Jesus is standing in front of the Pharisees and there's this confrontation and it's heated. Listen to what he says, you are of your father the devil. Boy, that's how you win friends. And you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. You get a sense of what Jesus valued. Amen? Whenever he speaks, he speaks a lie. He speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. You guys are liars because of who your father is. Ouch. In Psalm 24, listen to what the psalmist writes. This is good. Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? That is, who may go up to his temple? Who may go and see God, right? And who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully. He swore a lying oath. he shall receive a blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation." You get a sense of how God views truthfulness and honesty in the life of a Christian. Laying aside falsehood and speaking truth is about more than simply following in obedience to the command of God. It is that. That should be enough reason though, right? God said it. Shouldn't that be enough reason for the Christian to do it? When I was a kid, you mothers will be familiar with this, and you fathers, my parents were fond of telling us something one time. You only had once. Anything after that, you wouldn't remember for weeks. Well, God should have to tell the Christian, or should be able to tell the Christian, something one time in Scripture. Amen? And what should be the response of the Christian? Well, Lord, I know what you said, but you know, No. I hear, Father, and I obey. Imagine if the church did that. What a witness to the world it would be. Obedient Christians, what a concept. Paul gives the reason for we are members of one another. How hateful it is to lie to a brother or sister in Christ. When you find out you've been lied to, what do you feel like? You feel violated, don't you? In fact, listen, not only do you feel violated, you feel like somebody stole something from you. Like they stuck their hand in your pocket. See, we by nature, actually whether we're Christian or not, feel an inherent obligation and right to truth. Even unbelievers know this. Try it sometime. Lie to an unbeliever and have them find out what's your reaction. You lied to me." And they're unhappy. But for Christians, we're in Christ, aren't we? We're His body. He's the head of the church. If we lie to one another, we're lying to Him, aren't we? How do we know this? Ananias and Sapphira walk in early in the church. They lie about selling a piece of property and giving the proceeds to the apostles. Well, the Holy Spirit already told Peter they lied. and the rest is history. He buried the matter, didn't He? Amen? Verse 26, Be angry and yet do not sin. I'm going to hazard a guess that this is a lot harder than not lying. How many times have every single person in this room gotten angry? with a spouse, or with a relative, or a child, or a brother or sister in Christ, and it not only does not go away before the sun goes down, you're angry for weeks. Come on now, if you can't say amen, you ought to say ouch. Don't let the sun go down on your anger. What's it talking about? In scripture, that phrase, do not let the sun go down on your anger, likely is a euphemism. That doesn't literally mean don't shut your anger down before the sun goes down. Right? We're not going to take it in a wooden, literal sense. What Paul is referring to is don't let that anger seethe. Don't let it stay and develop a root of bitterness and then start to seep into the church and to cause divisions. And if you've been around church and around Christians long enough, you've probably seen this. That's kind of ugly, isn't it? Amen? It's not Christian. It's certainly not Christ. Be angry and yet do not sin. What kind of sin? Letting the sun go down on your anger. Because if you do, what do you do? You give the devil an opportunity. And I'll tell you what, I'll tell you something about that guy. He'll take the opportunity, won't he? You give him an inch, he'll, he won't just take a mile, he'll take the whole freeway. The Christian is to put aside anger as quickly as he can. And not only, listen, not only are you to put aside the anger as quickly as you can, you are to forgive as quickly as you can, looking to yourself and realizing your own sin. Well, there is this belief, and I've heard this before, that anger is a sin. Right? You ever heard that? If you get mad, you're sinning. If you get angry, you're sinning. I've had that said to me, you're angry, you're in sin. Well, there's just one small problem with that, just a little one. Jesus got angry. Is that a problem? So, if just getting angry, just being angry is a sin, then Jesus sinned. Well, I've got a bigger problem with that. I've got a problem with Jesus sinning. In Mark's Gospel in chapter 3 verse 1 it says he entered into a synagogue and there was a man there whose hand was withered. And by the way, Jesus knew before he got to the synagogue, which is why he went to that synagogue, that there was a man sitting in that synagogue with a withered hand. You okay with that? He knew it before he went. They were watching him to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. He knew they were there too, so that they might accuse him. He said to the man with the withered hand, get up and come forward. Now, he's sitting in the middle of the synagogue and he tells the man with the withered hand, the man he came for, to get up and come toward him. And they're all sitting around watching him and glaring at him. I'm so glad Jesus didn't like confrontation, amen? And he said to them, the man with withered hands standing in front of Jesus, they're all glaring at him, and he says to them, while the man's standing there, is it lawful to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life, or to kill? Now you get what's in their hearts. Ready for this? But they kept silent, seething. Notice in verse 5 Jesus' response to their treachery. I love this. After looking around at them with anger. Yeah, it said that, with anger. Grieved at their hardness of heart. Do you hear the expression of the anger? Grieved at their sin. He said to the man, stretch out your hand. He stretched it out and his hand was restored. Listening to one man recently who said, Jesus better than anybody knew how to pick a fight. Boy, did he know how to pick a fight. But you see, you and I, when we get angry most often, we get angry because we think someone has violated us in some way, or has offended us. We get angry because we think, we imagine in our own minds that we have a right to not be angry, and we have a right to never be offended. We think we have an inherent right to have no one ever offend us. You see it all over the place, right? But, newsflash, you don't have a right to never be offended. If you never want to be offended, let me help you with a way to make that happen. You ready for this? Never sit and read this book. Amen? Because this will offend you. In fact, not only will this offend you, it will take its scriptural finger, it will put it on your chest, and it will poke at your life. Number two, never sit in preaching. Never listen to a sermon. Never listen to a sermon. I know I've offended every single one of you at least two or three times. Some are laughing going, nah, it's more than that. Never ever read or listen to the Word of God because, Christian, guess what? You will be offended. Never wrestle out a passage because someone's going to disagree with you and you're going to be, what? Offended. We live in a no-offend generation. Don't offend me. I like vanilla. Don't put chocolate in front of me. That offends me. Don't offend me. I have a right to never be offended. No, you don't. You know what the worst part is? This is really the worst part. Most often, when we get offended, it's not at sin. It's my right got violated, or my sensibility got violated, or my feelings were violated. And I have a right to have. You never do that to me. I got news for you. If you have a problem with your feelings never being violated, don't get married. All the ladies are laughing. The truth is that when we are offended, listen Christian, when we are offended it is because we have chosen to be offended. We choose to be offended. I'm offended. No, you chose it. The Christian has the ability with a Christian mind to not choose to be offended and therefore to not choose to be angry. The reality is, the perspective that should really govern my temperament and yours is the view of Scripture. Developing a Christian mind that loves the truth and loves Christ above all else is the surest way to keep you from falling victim to be offended when you shouldn't be. What do the Scriptures teach? What is God telling me? That's the goal of the Christian life. Man, how many relationships in the church, how many divisions, how much animosity would be avoided if Proverbs 19.11 were taken to heart? Let me read it to you. I'm going to read this slowly. I want you to hear this. This is so good. This is one of those diamonds out of Proverbs. A man's discretion makes him slow to anger. Isn't that good? And it is His glory to overlook a transgression. Christian, when's the last time someone said something you didn't like, something hard to you, true or untrue, offensive or inoffensive, and you chose to overlook it? To take that offensive statement, to play baseball with it, and to throw it from you as far and as hard as you could, when's the last time that happened? What we typically do, though, is we get offended and we stay offended. I don't want to be around that person. They said such and such to me two years ago. There's another saying, and perhaps you've heard it. It goes like this, I'll forgive her, but I won't forget it. You ever heard that one? Can I share something with you? If you won't forget it, you haven't forgiven it. Because the standard of forgiveness is what? God's standard of forgiveness. If you can't forgive it and you can't forget it, then you haven't forgiven it. Now, what I don't mean is that you suddenly develop a severe case of amnesia. It's that you don't bring it to mind, you don't dwell on it, you don't keep it to your chest, you don't seethe in it. You let it go. You forgive and you love because you're Christian. That's what we do. That's why we're not like the world. That comes out of being a new creation. Behold, all things are what? New. Let me tell you what the anger of man does not produce. If I can grab my paper here to give you the reference. In James, chapter 1, verse 19. It's a verse you all know. This you know, my beloved brethren, In the Greek it means, this you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. If you're going to get angry, Christian, it ought to take you a heck of a long time to get there. For the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Psalm 37.8, cease from anger and forsake wrath. By the way, it says, do not fret. It leads only to what? Evil doing? I want to do one more before time gets away from us. He said, do not lie, do not get angry, do not bear a falsehood. Verse 28, he who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. There are those times in scripture when I am profoundly grateful for the absolute simple clarity of God. Stop stealing and work. Simple. Do something to earn a living so that you have a lot of money to spend on yourself. Amen? Now wait a minute. It's to share with the one who has need. That's the purpose of working to gain money. Now, scripture doesn't mean that you can't spend money on yourself. Obviously, you have to eat. I prefer it when we all buy and wear clothing. Just a personal... You have to forgive me for that, by the way, because you're Christians. We need to get around. There are things in life we need, and God is a generous God, and sometimes lets us spend our money on things we want, but there ought to be a little money somewhere. when you see a need, to be able to just walk up and meet it. By the way, let me ask you a question. Don't answer out loud, but think of the last time you just went and gave somebody something because they needed it. Money, possessions, whatever. Did God bless you in your spirit when you did that? Come on now, you know He did. Amen? He blessed you, didn't he? And he walked away thinking, man, I got more out of that than I just gave. How's that work? You know it's true, huh? God did that. Makes you proud of God, doesn't it? Don't steal anymore. Comes right out of another commandment in the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20, 15, you shall not steal. I love that. Simple. Sometimes I need profoundly simple. You shall not steal. Don't steal, don't take what does not belong to you. And so we do not steal or take from another that which is not ours, which we didn't work for, which we didn't earn, which does not belong to us, because God has commanded us not to. When someone steals, he is walking according to the old life and he is denying Christ. But there is a second application to not stealing. We're not to steal another's reputation by gossip. Say, ooh, that's a hard one. That's ouch. We're not to steal another's reputation by gossip. Say, well, I just need more information to rightly pray for them. That's Christian gossip. Amen? That's not the regular pagan gossip. We've got to Christianize it. I need to know more information to pray for them in a godly way. No, not if they come and share it with you, okay? We're to bear our souls, our sins, our troubles of one another. We're to hold each other up. Listen, we're to do that, because if I can't come to my church family, where am I going to go? To the world? I had enough of that. Thank you very much. But when we gossip, when we talk about a brother or sister in Christ in a negative way, we share something we shouldn't be sharing about them, we've stolen from them. We've taken from them. You say, ooh, that's kind of harsh. It gets worse. It gets worse because not only have we taken from the person that we talked about, we are now stealing the reputation of that person from the mind of the person with whom we share it. He says, man, I don't know if I like this sermon. This is kind of close to home. I sure hope not. He says, well, what I said was true. You ever heard that one? Yeah, I know it was gossip, but it was true. Can I give you a theological description of that? So what? So what? I don't care if it was true. If it was gossip, Don't say it, and don't steal. Let me give you the Christian conduct in response to that. It's found in Philippians 2, and I love this. This should be in your scripture memory. Really, Christian, if you've been a Christian more than two minutes, you should begin memorizing this. Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, If there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind. Those things don't leave room for gossip, do they? Or for lying, or for falsehood. I'm going to love you, I'm not going to do that to you. Paul says, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose, and that, by the way, what's that one purpose? That one purpose is to see that I put into your life, through my Christian fellowship, my speaking the word of God to you, sanctification, that you will be like Jesus Christ. That's your job. That's my job. Amen? Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourself. That's easy for me. All of you are more important than I am. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Ouch. I'm going to close with a story I was told of a pastor who met a beautiful young woman, it wasn't his wife, in a restaurant for dinner one evening. Now I can tell what you all are thinking already. I can hear it. The pastor and this young woman were deep in conversation across the table and he didn't notice that one of the members of his church was walking in the door of the restaurant. And the member of the church comes in as their nearing the end of dinner, and as they stand up to leave, they hug each other and give each other a kiss on the cheek. And I tell you all, thinking, whoa, that ain't right. Well, the next day, this church member, she gets on the phone and she calls the other elders of the church to confront this illicit affair. This kind of thing will not be tolerated in the church, she says on the phone. Well, the pastor gets a phone call the next day from the elders, the fellow elders. As the phone call comes, he's unaware of the reason that they want to meet with him. And as he sits down in the room with the other elders, he is confronted with the accusation of an affair. And as the confrontation comes, he calmly explains to the other elders that this young woman is his sister. And it was the two-year anniversary. of the death of their parents. And they had decided to meet once a year because they lived on opposite ends of the country, and so she would fly to meet him to grieve the death of their parents. See, the Christian gets grace. The Christian loves at all times. The Christian seeks the best and does not trust his own eyes or, most of the time, his own ears. The Christian has the mind of Christ. Amen. Father, we do indeed thank You for Your love and patience and mercy and grace poured out to the brim of the cup and overflowing to us. How much of our lives do You cast into the sea of Your forgetfulness because You are full of grace and mercy. And You would, through Your Word, desire that Your people would imitate that. and be like Jesus. Well, we have that opportunity in the church even now to be Christ to one another, Father, and so we pray that you would indeed help us to be Christ to one another and to always look for the best and to think the best and to love unconditionally and to overlook a transgression and to not be offended and speak truth and to put away anger We ask these things, yea, even plead for them in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.