All right, if you'll take your Bibles please, open them to the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews and the ninth chapter. And we'll begin reading again at the first verse. So if you would join me in standing out of reverence for the reading of God's word, as we turn to Hebrews chapter nine, beginning at verse one. Then indeed, the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was prepared, the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary. And behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all, which had the golden censer and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid on all sides with gold. in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant, and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things, we cannot now speak in detail. Let's pray. Father, we ask that you give to us grace in this day. And we pray, Lord, that as we approach your word and seek to hear your voice, that you would speak to us plainly. We pray, God, that your word would go forth with power and that your message to your people would be heard. God, help us to understand the reality of what it is to be your church. Help us to understand the reality of what it is to be a faithful place where Christ is honored. Help us to see it, to aim at it, and to have it by your grace and by your strength. And we pray, Father, that in this day, you would help us all see a little more clearly what it is to be yours. And we ask it in Jesus' name. So as we started this passage last week, we talked about how God is the one who ordains the practices that we engage in as a church. That God is the one who has ordered and structured and set in motion, set in place what it is to be a faithful New Testament church. And as we stay in this first verse, I want to spend some time thinking about what that means for some of the the physical things that we do as a body, thinking about how we think about the place. So just as our activities of worship are defined and prescribed by scripture, so too are our places of worship, and the life that grows from and centers around them are also defined and bounded by the Word of God. We must avoid the pagan idea that this place of worship, or any, is holy for its own sake. Consecrated ground is a fallacy of the pagan mind. But when we walk in the truth of God, empowered by his spirit and motivated by his will and purpose, every place that we set our foot is holy ground. this is a holy place because of the life of him who lives in us. And that truth should shape and form every single thing that we do as a church. So the first thing I want to address with you is this question of, is the sanctuary sanctified? So the truth is, it is, but it is sanctified not because we built a holy building, but it's sanctified because of the God that we worship. So look with me at Matthew chapter 23. Matthew 23 and we'll start reading at verse 16. Matthew 23 starting at verse 16. Jesus is teaching the disciples and giving them some things to think about, and he says this, rebuking the Pharisees in this point. He says, woe to you blind guides who say, whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing. But he who swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it. Fools and blind, for which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing. But whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it, fools and blind. For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore, he who swears by the altar, swears by it and all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and him who dwells in it. and he who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits on it." So the point that Jesus is making here is that in the end it is not the gold, it is not the structure, it is not the gift, it is not the altar, it is the fact that it is the place where God is worshiped. It's the place where God dwells. It's the place where God has his abode among his people. And beloved, the truth is, is that no building is holy. No building is sanctified on its own. You can't convey that to a physical place. You can't convey that to wood and stone. No matter how much holy water you sprinkle on something, it's still just wet. Right? There is no way to convey the sanctifying presence of God to a place because God does not dwell in temples made with hands, the scripture says. He dwells in the hearts of his people. So this place is holy when we are in it worshiping God. And if we are in it doing something other than worshiping God, guess what? Not so holy. And if non-holy people are in here worshiping something pagan, guess what? Not so holy. The truth is, is that it is the worship of the God who is that sanctifies the place where his people gather. And that doesn't matter whether it's a church building or someplace else. And we'll talk more about that as we move on. But in the midst of this, we are also sanctified by God's actual presence among us. Do you remember what Jesus promised the disciples? He said, where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Right? Now we read that as if it were this stunning, startling new revelation. And in the sense that Jesus gave it, it was. But it's also an Old Testament promise. Look at Ezekiel chapter 37. Ezekiel 37, and we're just gonna read a few verses here, starting at verse 24. Ezekiel prophesying about the coming Christ, and he says, David, my servant, shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd, and they also shall walk in my judgments and observe my statutes and do them. Does this sound familiar, like what the writer of Hebrews had quoted from Jeremiah? Yeah, sort of. Then they will dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, where your fathers dwelt, and they shall dwell there, they and their children and their children's children forever, and my servant David shall be their prince forever. Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore, and my tabernacle also shall be with them. Indeed, I will be their God, and they will be my people. And the nations will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore. So there's two words here that I want to kind of point out to you, and the first one is the word sanctuary. And sanctuary is the Hebrew word mikdashi, and it means a sacred or a holy place. But God says, I'm going to establish my sanctuary there. But he goes on to say, my tabernacle. Now, if we think about this, to our ear and our mind, the tabernacle is less than the sanctuary, right? We know that the tabernacle was a tent, it was a traveling sort of band, it was kind of this weird thing that existed for a while, but then the sanctuary was built with the temple, right? But the holy place, the sanctuary, but notice when God says, I will establish my tabernacle among them. That's because the word tabernacle is a word that means, it's mishkane, and it means the dwelling place. So God says, I'm going to establish the place where I dwell in their midst. I'm going to establish my presence among them. And that's what makes the sanctuary a sacred place. That's what makes the place of God's worship a holy place. It is because God's presence is among us. He promised it in the Old Testament. He promised it through Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus promised it by the giving of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised that where his people were, he would be there with them when they were gathered in his name worshiping. And in the midst of all of these things, it is so important for us to remember that everything we do as a church must be about the worship of God, or it is just a gathering. Everything we do as a church must be about the fact that God is in our midst, or it's just a club. Now, this doesn't mean that we can't do things together that aren't specifically worship. Okay? We actually like each other, which is kind of cool. And we enjoy each other's company, which I find refreshing. I've been in churches where that's not the case. But the truth is, is that if we're going to call what we're doing church, then we have to be, as Jared prayed in his prayer earlier, laser focused on Jesus. We have to be laser focused on his presence and on his person. Because that's what sanctifies it. That's what makes it holy. Now, interestingly enough, when we get this right, when our focus is on God and God is in our midst, when that truth is going on, we also then are sanctifying the place where we are gathered by the worship that is offered. So Isaiah 56, verses six and following says this, also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and holds fast to my covenant, even them I will bring to my holy mountain, and I will make them joyful in the house of prayer, and their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. The Lord God who gathers the outcasts of Israel says, yet I will gather to him others besides those that are gathered to him. So talking about the gifts and the offerings of foreigners being accepted as holy by God, right? We are permitted the privilege of worshiping God and having what we bring as worship sanctified by his gift, sanctified by his presence, sanctified by his love, sanctified by his power. And that means then, that as we are offering our gifts, as we are offering our worship and our worship is sanctified by God, then the place where we are, the places that we belong are themselves sanctified by the fact that the people of God are engaged in a relationship with God and belong to God. Leviticus 26 verses 11 and 12 says this, I will set my tabernacle among you, my dwelling place, and my soul shall not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be my people. Peter echoes this in 1 Peter 2, verse 9. He says, So if we are sanctifying the place where we worship by the worship and by the fact that we belong to God and by the fact that God dwells in our midst, then the truth is, is that the purpose of what we're doing drives the presence of the place. It drives what the place is. It drives how the place is used. And so that means that we as a people must keep and maintain a singular focus in our worship. So Jeremiah 24, starting at verse 4, says, For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land, and I will build them up and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. Then I will give them a heart to know me. that I am the Lord and they shall be my people and I will be their God for they shall return to me with their whole heart. So what is God promising here as a thing that becomes the agent of our sanctification and the residual sanctification that is placed on our places of worship? It is the fact that we are walking with God. So I want you to recognize how this pans out in life, right? If the only time that you think about God is when you walk through those doors, are you sanctifying anything by your presence? No, not at all. If the only time that you give any thought to the God who saved you, to the creator who made you, to the redeemer who bought you with his blood and sustained you by the word of his power, if the only time that you give any thought to it is when somebody here reminds you of it, and other than that, you're just living your life, doing your thing, going your way, when you come in, you're not adding to the sanctification of either the place or the people. There needs to be a focus. There needs to be an ongoing relationship, an ongoing thinking, an ongoing heart for God. And this is what God promises is what should be expected from those who belong to him. He says, if you're mine, your heart is going to be for me. You're going to love me. You're going to walk in a different way. You're going to be changed. We call that, the process of that holying of us, it's called sanctification. We are being made ourselves into a holy place. We are being made ourselves into an abode which is fit for the presence of God. Now, how do we do this? Well, we start by focusing on God and on his word, okay? So turn to 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy 3. And we'll start at verse 14. Paul says, but you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of knowing from whom you have learned them. And that from childhood, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, preach The Word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. But you, be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. Is there any way in the world that a church can remain faithful without a focus on the Word of God? No, because the only thing that's going to grow out of a church that is not focused on the Word of God is the imagination of man. It may be an incredibly gifted speaker. It may be somebody who is charismatic. It may be somebody who is vibrant and dynamic. It may be somebody who is just absolutely off the charts awesome. And the only thing that he will ever be able to do is build his kingdom and his mind and his will. And the church that follows him will be led astray after those fables. It will be led astray after the falsehood that he proclaims. There is an absolute responsibility for every church that desires to be faithful to God, to be focused on the Word of God at all times and in all things. There is no part of the life of a church which is not spiritual and no part of the life of a church which is not based on the Word of God. The Word of God forms our understanding and it forms our practice. So if we don't have our doctrine right, we are not going to have our practice right. If we do not have our understanding shaped by the Word of God, then our understanding will be shaped by culture, or by preference, or by opinion, or by a combination of all of that icky soup. Beloved, we have to be attentive to this. And you are responsible to hold me accountable to be biblical in everything that I say and do. And I am responsible to be biblical and to teach you to hold me accountable to be biblical. Does that make sense? We do this together. There is some cooperation that has to go on between the pulpit and the pew. And we do this because it is the Word of God that shapes us and not my preference. We do this because it is the Word of God that shapes us and not the practicality that might become forced upon us by difficulties when we cannot see a way clear. We have to be submissive to the Word of God. We have to be obedient to what God has told us to do. Now, There are some subtle traps in the midst of this that we have to be aware of. There's a tension that exists between our best and God's glory, right? What is the reason why the giant cathedrals were built? The stated reason is that they were edifices to the glory of God. But the real reason is that they were monuments to man's ability. They were monuments to the people for whom they were named. They were built in order that somebody would receive glory. And that's still why they're built today. Nearly $100 million, 30 miles south. That's still why they're built today, right? That's not the temple of Jesus. That's a shrine to the Virgin Mary, who is not the Redeemer, right? As followers of Christ, we have to recognize this tension exists even in us. Proverbs 3, verses 9 and 10 say, honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all of your increase. So your barns will be filled with plenty, your vats will overflow with new wine. So what God is demanding is our best, always our best, right? He says to us, whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord. He requires of us our best in our maintenance of his buildings, which we fail at. He requires of us our best in the doing of our worship and the programs that we put in place. He requires of us our best because he deserves our best. But the second that our best moves from honoring God by us giving him everything we are and have to us saying, look how good I did that, we have a problem. Right? And that line is so thin, it is so hard to find it. And it's something that collectively as the church, we have to be aware of and hold each other accountable to. Yes, God deserves the very best that we can do. He deserves the very best that we can bring. But when it becomes our glory, it then becomes something which God himself despises. Look at Mark chapter 11. one of many places in scripture where Jesus points out this very real problem. So Mark chapter 11, figure out where I am, Mark chapter 11 starting at verse 15, So they came to Jerusalem and Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple. And they overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And he would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. He taught them saying, is it not written, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of thieves. And the scribes and the chief priests heard it. and sought how they might destroy him for they feared him because all the people were astonished at his teaching. So Jesus called them out on their determination to exalt themselves, to honor themselves, to enrich themselves. In Luke chapter 20, verses 45 to 47, it says, then in the hearing of all the people, he said to his disciples, beware of the scribes who desire to go around in long robes and love the greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues and the best places at the feasts, who devour widows' houses, for a pretense, make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation." That was one of the shorter passages that I could find when Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees for that intention, because everything that they did, they did for the praise of man. Probably the most damning words in scripture are in John when Jesus has been teaching and teaching in the crowds and the scripture says, John says, that many of the scribes and Pharisees believed in him, but they remained silent because they loved the praise of men rather than the praise of God. Those are terrible words. And may it never be true of any of us that that becomes our motivation. We have to be on our guard. If we're not focused on Christ, if we're not focused on worship, if we're not focused on giving to Him what is His and what is rightfully His, then we're going to fall into this trap because it's just too hard to keep it clear. So if this is our intent, if our intent is to bring glory and honor to Christ in what we do, then that intent informs what we do. It informs how we build, it informs what we possess and how we do it. So it shapes the physical form of the buildings themselves. Pay attentions when you walk into churches of different calibers or different varieties, I guess is the word I wanted, different flavors, and figure out very quickly what is central to the church, right? When you walk into a Baptist church, front and center is what? The pulpit, the place from where God's word is proclaimed. If you walk into a Catholic church or a Lutheran church, what is front and center? an altar, a place where they continue to make sacrifices. The lecterns from which people speak are off on the sides. They're relegated to a side issue of importance. Architecture speaks to intent. It speaks to purpose. Why we build the way we build is because we believe what we believe. And directly behind the pulpit, you'll find a baptistry where the word produces new life and then somebody is baptized. Right? Architecture is informed by intent. It is defining what it is that we believe. So even in a single church and the things that we believe, notice what a difference there is between the building in which we worship regularly and the family center. Right? Two different buildings owned by the same organization, two very different purposes. Is what we do there still a church function? I hope so. I pray so. It's our intention that it be so. Is it church? No. It's not. Is it worshipful? Well, it can be. Is it worship? No. And believe me, I'm there every week, right? I'm there doing what we do. I'm there trying to be faithful to be what God has called us to be. But it's not church. It's not worship. I pray that it's an honoring thing to the King, but it's not worship. So we need to think about the fact that in this In the differences that are built into what we're doing in a place, we are making confessions about what that place is or isn't. Does that make sense? And we're making confessions about its purpose and about its intent. So what we permit then is shaped by purpose. Let's stick with that same example of the difference between the family center and the church building, right? Some things go on at the family center that we would never stand for in church. There's a lot of loud noise. There's a lot of yelling. There's a lot of tossing of things. There's a lot of chaos. There's a lot of weird behavior, prayerfully not sinful. But these are all things that are not appropriate for a church gathering. Right? Are they wrong? No. Not at all. I mean, when something's wrong, we put a stop to it. But they're not things that we would permit to go on on a Sunday morning. Why? Well, because what we're doing here is not about us just having a good time and playing games. What we're doing here is about the instruction of God's word to feed our soul. And more importantly, what we're doing here is focused on God with that laser focus. And it is worship by design. It is worship by intent. And everything that we do should elevate worship. It should focus worship. It should define it carefully in our minds and in our thinking. And we need to be disciplined about the fact that when we come in here, we set aside foolishness. And we come in here to focus our attention on God. Does that mean we can't have a good time? No. I hope we have a good time here. I hope we enjoy it. I hope that when you leave here, you're going, man, I'm glad I was in church today. Right? But our focus to be here is not a rowdy good time. It is worship. And so we might permit things in one set of circumstances that we would not permit in another. Does that follow? Does that make sense? All right. It also means that how we present ourselves is bounded by intention and focus and purpose. Now, I want to say this carefully because I don't ever want to be accused or, heaven forbid, guilty of prescribing a dress code for church, right? But I think that we have to be cautious and each of us as we know God and as we understand God should come to church in the best that we are capable of because God deserves our best. But the edge of that line is to not come so that people notice how good we look. Right? There's that fuzzy line again, right? There's that hard-to-define, indistinct thing. Paul addresses it in 1 Timothy 2, and he says this, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but which is proper for women professing godliness with good works." Now again, Paul's not establishing a dress code, but some principles. And he's not opposed to a woman doing up her hair. He's opposed to a woman doing up her hair so much so that that's the only thing anybody notices is how wonderful her hair looks, right? What he's talking about is a mixture of dress, demeanor, and reverence. That we come into the house of God with the best with which we are capable of, and that we come in focused on him, and that we do not do anything to distract from him. Right? That's the flavor of this. It's about a reverential demeanor. It's about a reverential idea that says, Lord, I am here for you, and I am bringing to you my best, but I do not want me to get in the way of somebody else seeing you. And that could be either by flashy or by immodest, which in the time that Paul wrote this was the real issue. And strangely enough, all things come around full circle. It can be an issue today as well. And we see clothes in the youth center that I hope we wouldn't see in church. Right? It's a hard line to figure out because we're dealing with lost kids. But we've always tried to maintain a dress code that would promote some level of modesty. You gotta wear a shirt. During the summertime when the pool was open on Saturdays, that was always an issue. We fought that a lot. So this idea of how we present ourselves is less about a legalistic set of terms than it is about purpose, right? This entire conversation, I want to anchor it to this question of purpose. Why are we doing what we're doing? What is it that we're about? Are we about the worship of God or are we about something else? And so no matter what it is that we're doing together as a church, we need to have that conversation with ourselves and know that what we're doing is formed by our purpose. It's formed by who we are and what we understand ourselves to be as a body. Everything that we do has to be shaped according to Scripture. So, how often do we meet? Well, desire drives frequency, pace, and duration. Right? Gene's preaching over in Holton this morning, and he was told no longer than a half hour. Period. Okay. You can get a lot of truth crammed into a half hour, but you know what? I have noticed over the years that I preach a little while longer than most preachers. And I have noticed over the years that sometimes people come in and that sort of puts them off and we don't see them again, or at least we don't see them often. And I have noticed over the years that sometimes people really want the preacher to stop and they're pretty unabashed about going, these things happen. What is it that drives that? It is a desire for God. It is a desire to hear the voice of the Lord. And prayerfully, I pray, it is an acknowledgement that you are. Because if I was just up here rambling for an hour, I don't think you'd stick around and I wouldn't want you to. Right? I'd want you to go someplace where you're going to be fed. It is driven by a desire for God. It is driven by a love for him. And I've had people say things to me like, well, I don't know why we have to meet every Sunday. There's nothing in the Bible that says you have to. Well, that's because they haven't read the Bible. There is, actually. But if we're going to look at a model for how often the church met in the New Testament, the book of Acts says they met daily, every single day. They met for teaching. That's driven by desire. It's driven also by the fact that there were a lot of displaced Christians in the city of Jerusalem at the time of the beginning of the church, and the church was feeding them and caring for them, and so they didn't have to go to work. They didn't have the other responsibilities. So God ordained a lot of things to make that work. But you understand the issue here is desire. The issue here is what do you want? What would you rather be doing? And for all of us as followers of Christ, we recognize that our own hearts betray us and that we don't want as much as we should. We don't desire as strongly as we ought, but prayerfully as God speaks to us, we desire a little bit more. We desire to hear just a little bit deeper. We desire to know a little bit more of his truth. And that desire should be something that the church seeks to strengthen. So when we're all on the same page about these things, we begin to walk in unity because expectations being identified, unite us together. Ephesians chapter four, starting at verse one says this, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. One of the things that is most important and precious about a church being a church is a sense of unity. We know to whom we belong and we know that we belong to God together. I heard some wit say once, you better learn to get along in church because you're going to be with these people for all of eternity. He's not wrong. He's not wrong. Unity is something that the scripture defines as precious, right? It's like the oil of Aaron's beard, the psalmist says. It is the anointing of God. It is the very mark of his presence. How pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in unity. This comes, in part at least, when we are all clear about what we are expecting, right? If you are expecting this to be a place where people jump around and dance around and have chaotic interactions, you're going to be upset when Sunday after Sunday after Sunday that doesn't happen, right? But if you're expecting this to be a place where the Word of God is faithfully taught, I pray that you leave here satisfied. I pray that it binds us together. I pray that the truth of what God is speaking to all of us is something that forms us, not only to grow up as individuals, but to grow together as the body. So when we have the same expectations, unity is made better. It means that there is a place for discussion and harmony. Still in Ephesians chapter four, Turn to verse 11. So Ephesians 4, and we'll skip down to verse 11 of Ephesians 4. And it says, he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, until we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man. to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men. in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. But speaking the truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes the growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." That's a whole lot of expression to give us this very basic, simple truth. When God is working in you as an individual, and you bring that to the table at the church, God uses what he's doing in you to shape us and bind us all together by the action that he's working in your life. And since that is something he's doing in the life of every believer, collectively we are so much more together than we ever are alone. because he is shaping all of us into the likeness of Christ. And we all bring what God is doing into that communion of worship, into that fellowship of believers. And he binds us together in this place that is so unlike any other human organization. He binds us together because it is his glory that is at stake here. It is his name that is being magnified. It is his truth. It is his glory. It is his power. It is his person. And that edifying that goes on is something that happens when we talk out what God is doing. It harmonizes us. It brings us into an accord one with another. Okay. What about when my personal preference is opposed to your personal preference? Is there still room for us to be harmonically unified as a body? Well, if we're doing it according to God's word, it absolutely is, because there is room for harmonious disagreement. Look at Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14, and we'll start reading at verse five. Paul says, one person esteems one day above another. Another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day observes it to the Lord, and he who does not observe the day to the Lord, he does not observe it. He who does not observe, I'm sorry, he who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks. And he who does not eat to the Lord, he does not eat and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end, Christ died and rose and lived again, that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. Why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God. So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God. Therefore, let us not judge one another anymore. but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or cause to fall in our brother's way." So the classic way to express this is, in essentials, unity, in non-essentials, liberty, and in all things, charity. It means that we need to be gracious to one another. Now when we're talking about a doctrinal essential, we need to speak the truth graciously, but we need to be dogmatic about what the truth is. We're not talking about dogmatic doctrinal issues. We're talking about, and the examples that Paul uses, are some converted Jewish believers wanted to continue to observe the Jewish feasts. They esteemed a day above another. Others said, hey, no, we have liberty in Christ. We don't have to observe those feasts anymore. They were both right. For one, it was, this is my heritage. I love this. I want to give thanks to God in doing this. And the other said, yeah, no, we don't have to. Okay, then don't. Let me put it to you in today's vernacular. Mind your own business. Right? Just as bluntly as I can put it, mind your own business. If we're not talking about something that is sin, then issue to your brothers and sisters in Christ some grace. And understand that we can forgive our sister for being a KU fan. You're welcome. Understand that in the midst of everything that we do as a body, if it is not a core doctrinal issue, we should seek for unity. We should seek to see Christ exalted in how we relate to each other. And that means even if we disagree on something that is non-essential, or even something that we might feel like is, man, this is important, We need to do it with grace. We need to do it with charity. We need to do it with love. We need to do it with a heart for one another that says, at my core, what I want for you is what is best. I am not trying to be right. And I've mentioned this before, but there is a strong and distinct difference between being right and being righteous. And our target should be righteousness, not rightness. Makes sense? So there is a place for harmonious disagreement because there is allowance for individuality. In Romans chapter 12, Paul says this, starting at verse nine. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love in honor Get this, giving preference to one another. There's the key. In honor, giving preference to one another. Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. This means that where there is a difference of personality or a difference of preference or a difference of a million tiny little things, if we're going to be gracious and kind and loving and Christ-like, our job is to give the preference of right and priority to the other instead of demanding it for self. In the honor of Christ, we give preference to one another. Now here's what's really cool about that dynamic. If you're giving preference to others because they are honoring Christ, then they are giving preference to you. It means there's a whole lot of people looking out for you and yielding to you, even as you are yielding to others. And what that creates in a body is a harmony that cannot be faked. Right? What that creates in a body is a unity that cannot be pretended. And I know that you know of places where unity is nothing but pretend. And when you scratch it with the slightest little bit of anything, what comes out is not harmonious. What comes out is not gracious. What comes out is not kind. What comes out is not loving. This is because basic Christian unity has never been inculcated. And the reason for this is in the fact that we have learned to worship with a very self-centered purpose. You listen to how people talk about worship. Listen to why people hop churches, right? Why do they go from church to church? Well, because I wanted something else, my preference. Usually, there's some stages in people's lives, and it normally follows around the age of their children. So they'll move from one church to another because this church has a great children's church and I don't want to deal with my kids in church. And this church has a great youth program so when my kids are out of the children's church I'll move over there to this youth program because I want my kids to have something else to do and I don't want to deal with my kids. Or I really like the music over here. and it feeds my preference, or I go hear that preacher and he never talks about sin, he never talks about anything that makes me feel bad, I always leave church feeling good, and so that's what I really need. I need my gas tank filled up so I leave church feeling like I'm the king of the world. What's at the center of all of those things? Self, right? I go to a church because it feeds me. Well, first of all, that's not a biblical premise, that's not a biblical instruction, right? We read it last week, Hebrews 10, 25 and 26 says, to gather together, not forsaking that gathering, but be mindful of each other, right? So that we could provoke one another, stir up love and good works. We need to recognize that as a church, self is superseded by spirit. We need to yield to the Spirit of God, and we need to yield to the truth of God's Word in everything that we do. So when our worship is cockeyed because we're at the center of it, guess what's gonna come out when we're scratched? Ick, self, ruin, right? That's what comes out because that's what's been put in. Well, when the Spirit supersedes self, we all pursue Christ for His purpose. So even though we can be disparate in a lot of different ways, think about it like the base of a triangle or the base of a pyramid. All sides lead to the apex. Right? And they may start off a long way away, but the closer they get to Christ, the closer they get to each other. Right? That's the unity that a church provides. That's the unity that a church is supposed to show and teach the world. 1 Corinthians 10.24 says, Right? We all pursue Christ for his purposes. In Philippians, the letter of joy, the closest thing that Paul comes to having anything bad to say or a complaint occurs in Philippians 2 verses 20 and 21. He says this, I have no one like minded who will sincerely care for your state, for all seek their own and not the things of Jesus Christ. Right? Paul is worried for the church because he doesn't have anybody that he can send there except Timothy, and he's going to send Timothy. But he's worried for the church because he doesn't have anybody who will faithfully care for that church because everybody is self-driven. Beloved, if we're going to mature, ultimately his desire has to be our aim. If we're gonna be a church that honors Christ in everything that we do, His desire has to be what we aim at. It has to be who we are, what we're about, what drives us, what provokes us. It has to be the thing that makes us who we are. Every single part of our lives has to come from a desire for Christ's purpose and Christ's will in the life of this church. It's not about me. It's not about my preference. It's not about what I want. It's not about what this community wants. It's not about what anybody in this community thinks or says or does. It is about Christ and Christ alone. It is about His will and His preference. And all of our differing ideas and wants need to be brought into submission to his perfect will. Second Corinthians chapter 10, starting at verse two, Paul writes this. I beg you that when I'm present, I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. So Paul's saying, I'm gonna come and I don't wanna have to be ugly. Right? But then he goes on to give this really amazing statement. Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. What is it that he's talking about? He's talking about us surrendering our will, bringing our thoughts captive to the will and the purpose of Christ. God has established his earthly sanctuary. He has established his earthly tabernacle. And in the new covenant, it is the church. It is the place where God dwells in the hearts of his people. But if everything that we do and everything that we are is driven by self, are we making a place for God? Are we making him welcome in our midst? And then we whine and complain and wonder when things don't go the way that we want them to go, when God's spirit just isn't on us. Well, maybe we should try doing what he says. Maybe we should try obedience. Maybe we should try submission. Maybe we should try taking our thoughts captive. Instead of giving ourselves permission to think bad things, maybe we should take them captive. Maybe we should force a little bit of submission on our own hearts. Because in the end, what God requires of us is yielding to him. Self-surrender is required in our dealings with God, and it is also required when our differences or our different opinions threaten to divide us against each other. Look, there are things where God's word has spoken plainly. And in that, our opinions, none of our opinions matter. We come to the Word of God, we say, thus saith the Lord, okay, thus we will do. I don't know how, I don't know how to put this in place, I don't know how to make it work, but I know what the target is, I'm gonna do what God says. And then we hammer it out, and that's what we seek to do, right? But there are a lot of places where friction occurs in churches that has nothing whatsoever to do with the plain, clear teaching of the Word of God. It's all about preference. And these are the disputes. I mean, I've told you before, I know of a church in Tucson that split over the size of the toilet paper rolls they were going to buy when they were rebuilding a church. They had a big roll crew and a small roll crew. And in the end, they had two different churches. One had big rolls and one had small rolls. And to the best of my knowledge, both of them are gone now. There are issues that are absolutely foolish. And those are the issues that often divide us the most strenuously because we will not die to self. We will not surrender our preference for the sake of others. Romans 14, 19 says, therefore, let us pursue things which make for peace and the things by which we may edify one another. Now, Here's the key to all of this. We started off, Hebrews 9, 1, talking about God making his sanctuary among us, about how this place wherein we gather is sanctified by the presence of God. It is sanctified by the presence of God when the people of God submit to the will of God. And it is sanctified by the presence of God when the people of God have God ruling in their individual hearts. Because when the Spirit rules in the individual's heart, his presence will always be made known in the corporate gathering of that people. Right? Let me say it another way. When a church collectively is not experiencing the presence of God in their midst, it is not a problem with the pastor, it is a problem with the pew and the pastor. Because the church is not the pastor, it is the pew. Right? So if we collectively are not walking with God and being submitted to the will of God, then the problem is not the dude up here pointing it out. Right? The problem is the fact that we are not submitted to the will of God. We are not surrendered to his purposes. And where the Spirit rules in our lives, then the corporate gathering of a church will reflect the fact that the people in the church are individually submitted to the will of God, and that breathes life into this gathering. And it is a sweet and precious gift that we happen to possess as a church. And I'm very grateful for it. It is a precious, precious thing. It is a glorious truth that by and large, this church gets along really well because by and large, the folks that are here really just wanna honor God. And I like that. I'm so grateful for that. It is such a blessing. Listen to how Paul describes it in Romans chapter 15. Starting at verse four, he says, whatever things were written before were written for our learning, so that we, through the patience and comfort of the scripture, might have hope. Now, may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another. according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we are like-minded, we with one mind and one mouth bring glory to him. And that becomes a place where God dwells in power. Let's pray. Father, I ask that you give to us grace in this day. And I pray, Lord, that where we are in error on any of this, that you would bring it to mind and cause us to repent quickly, fully. God, we pray that you would let your glory be known in the midst of your church, that you would bind us together in Christ, that you would teach us to fulfill his glory in all that we do. and that you would remind us, Lord, that the fullness of everything that we are and everything that we do is because of you. Teach us to love and honor the Christ, for it's in his name that we pray, amen. you