Measuring Our Steps

If you have your Bibles, please
turn to Ephesians chapter 4. We come this morning to the final
of those three passages that I proposed several weeks ago
as kind of our state of the church address. Usually I’ll take one
Sunday, pick one passage. But things being what they were,
I observed the need to kind of draw that out a little bit. Three,
convicting. passages of Scripture. 1 Thessalonians
4, 9-12, two weeks ago. Last Lord’s Day, Romans 12, 9-13. And then today, Ephesians 4,
1-3. And as I said, we’re considering
these sections of Scripture for the express purpose of examining
ourselves. And especially according to three
character qualities that are declared in those passages that
of brotherly love in 1 Thessalonians 4. Devotion, as we saw last week
in Romans, and today patience, as we will see in Ephesians 4.
We’re looking, really having the spirit look at us for areas
of weakness. Weakness in our thoughts and
our behavior, our conduct in the church. The church should
be a showcase to the world for love and devotion and patience,
but too often it isn’t. And that is what I would call
church abuse, the mistreatment of Christ’s bride. The church
is, in God’s eyes and estimation, the greatest institution on earth. And perhaps the simplest definition
of the church would be a gathering of those who believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ. A gathering of Christians who
regularly and formally for the express purposes of glorifying
God, edifying one another and proclaiming Christ to all who
can hear them. And the Spirit of God is equipping
each believer for that very purpose. The Holy Spirit, the same one
who initiated the work of salvation in our life is the same one who
initiates the work of sanctification in our life. I wanna make sure you got that.
The same spirit that begins the work of salvation in our life
also begins the work of sanctification. As sure as you’re saved, you
will be sanctified. The Holy Spirit will finish what
he has begun. If God has saved you, his work
will be completed in you. And so. These passages. The Bible says that we are to
test ourselves to see if we are in the faith to examine ourselves. And we do so by means of passages
like these. And we are prayerfully examining
ourselves because it is God’s church, the institution for which
Christ died, that is affected, even harmed by our sinful mistreatment
of her. And yet, this is a concern that
I have plentifully observed this past year, a casual, even flippant
abuse of Christ’s pride. And so we examine ourselves.
We examine our Christianity, we examine our treatment of the
body of Christ regarding these three basic Christian graces. If we discover that there is
but little or no evidence of sanctification, that God’s spirit
is not at work in us, we have an alarming need to go again
to the cross for repentance. If we observe that we are fading
or flagging or slumping in some particular area of Christian
character, we have need to cry out for more of God’s transforming
grace because these qualities will be produced in a believer’s
life. We spelled it out in plain terms
over the past few weeks, sinful tendencies for which we are to
look and watch in our lives. Is there in me
a critical heart? Is there in me a harmful meddlesomeness
that engages in other people’s business? Is there in me an inflated
view of myself? Is there in me a wayward wandering? Is there in me an absence of
any real brotherly affection? Is there in me A tendency to
hide and excuse my sin, is there in me a self-centered, self-absorbed
attitude that willfully refuses to serve my fellow believers?
Is there in me a gracelessness that snubs all overtures of peace? If those things are true of us,
we are in desperate need of God’s grace. either to save us in the
first place or the grace of repentance as we plead for his continued
work of sanctification. As we come again to Paul’s epistle
to the Ephesians, we note again that it presents a nearly identical
layout as the epistle to the Romans, which letter we considered
last Sunday. There in Romans, Paul established
11 chapters of doctrine before setting forth the more practical
applications of those things in chapters 12 and following.
Here too, Paul utilizes the first three chapters in Ephesians to
instruct the Ephesian believers on the deep things of God, doctrine,
theology. And then in chapter four, he
moves to provide practical application for that doctrinal instruction. Chapter four is the starting
place for Paul’s powerful and very practical address regarding
Christ’s church with an admonition to godly patience with one another. Would you just read along with
me? Chapter four, verses one through three. I therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling
with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness,
with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being
diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of
peace.” We need to measure our steps in our Christian life. We need to walk carefully. We need to choose our path carefully. We need to attend to our Christian
walk. We need to make sure that our
Christian walk is really that. We need to measure our steps.
And we do that by what I see three particulars here in this
passage this morning. The Christian needs to evaluate
his or her gait, if you will. G-A-I-T. We need to watch how
we walk. We need to measure our steps.
And we need to do so by observing the standard of measure in our
steps. We need to do so by the precise
gauges of our steps, and we need to do so by observing the attendant
results of our steps. Where are we going in the first
place? Let’s go back to the first. We find it in verse one, the
standard of measure for our steps. I therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling
with which you have been called. Paul isn’t feeling sorry for
himself or attempting to garner sympathy for his imprisonment. Instead,
it’s a clear submission to the sovereignty of God that is in
his view. No man was his captor. He was the prisoner of the Lord. And even in mentioning this,
he is their example of joy in suffering and in dedication and
service to others, even in the midst of tribulation. Because
even in the course of such difficult circumstances, Paul redeemed
the time by writing not one, but four epistles, which not
only nourished and encouraged those to whom they were immediately
sent, but in time came to complete the New Testament. Now, in this
particular epistle, especially in the latter part, Paul extensively
uses the metaphor of the Christian walk. If you’re familiar with
this epistle, as I’ve already mentioned, Paul utilizes the
first three chapters to expound upon the great themes of Christian
doctrine. And then in the latter half of
the book, he waxes practical. The daily application of those
doctrines in our Christian life. To God, the Christian life is
always more than just right doctrine. Remember, even Jesus said the
demons believe and shudder, but right doctrine, rightly applied,
leads to a God-honoring life, which Paul refers to as the walk,
the Christian walk. In employing this metaphor of
the walk, Paul refers to the entire course of the Christian’s
life. It was a very familiar Hebraism,
a well-turned phrase, an illustration, if you will, that was used among
the Jews. And it is one of Paul’s favorite
metaphors. He uses it again and again, no
fewer than in eight of his epistles. Would you just listen for a very
brief overview? Romans 6, verse 4, walk in newness
of life. 1 Corinthians 3.3, are you not
walking like mere men? 2 Corinthians 5.7, walk by faith
and not by sight. Galatians 5.16, walk by the Spirit. Ephesians 2.10, we are created
in Christ Jesus for good works that we may walk in them. Philippians 3.17, walk according
to the pattern you have in us. Colossians 2.6, walk in him. 1 Thessalonians 2.12, walk in
a manner worthy of the God who calls you. Now, in none of those
passages is Paul speaking about a literal step-by-step physical
process of walking. It’s again a metaphor of the
Christian course of life. In his epistle to the Ephesians,
Paul actually introduces this concept in chapter 2, 2 and verse
10, but the metaphor of the Christian walk is an area of particular
focus here in chapters 4 and 5, five times. Five times in
this section, Paul uses this imagery. Would you listen just
briefly once again? Chapter 4, verse 1, walk worthy. 4.7 through 24 discusses a walk
with Christ. 5.2, walk in love. 5.8, walk
in light. 5.15, walk in wisdom. But let’s dial it back and let’s
focus on Paul’s initial use of this metaphor in this section,
chapter 4, verse 1. where Paul urges, exhorts, strongly
encourages, or as the new American standard has it, I entreat you
to walk in a manner worthy. That’s a fascinating little phrase,
walk worthy. This word worthy originally referred
to the process of weighing some commodity. It measured out. It was worth its weight. And
so the phrase walk worthy effectively sets forth a standard, a way
of living to which the Christian is called and which the Christian
can observe and evaluate his or her progress in the Christian
life. It refers to a life that is befitting of the name Christian. A life that is that measures
up to its claims, not just a claim of believing in Christ, but a
life that is commensurate with those claims. Paul uses this
phrase in four other places in his writings, Romans 16 to. He’s speaking there about a lady
named Phoebe. I’ll tell you more about her
in a minute, but he says, receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy
of the saints. Paul’s dear friend, Phoebe, who
was likely, as you might recall, the deliverer, the letter bearer
of the epistle to the Romans, he says of her that she is to
be received in a particular manner. in a manner worthy of the saints. Phoebe, I mean, she was an amazing
and godly woman, but it’s not as if she was to be treated any
differently than any other Christian, because Paul says here that all
saints are worthy of such treatment. Fellow believers inherently deserve
our utmost in affection, hospitality, regard, because Christ died for
them. We are to treat saints, fellow
believers in Christ, as they should be treated, as it measures
out. Paul uses the same little phrase
in speaking to the Philippian believers about their testimony
of life. You know the passage, Philippians
127, only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel
of Christ. Here, Paul uses the same standard
appended to the gospel. The good news of Christ is a
message of God’s transforming grace. Such a message would mean
little if it isn’t attended with a life worthy. A life that measures
up to the standard of the gospel. Paul says essentially the same
thing to the Colossian church. Paul tells them that he earnestly
prayed for them so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the
Lord. To please him in all respects,
bearing fruit in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of
God. Colossians 1 10. He urges them to attend to the
general course of their spiritual walk, to walk worthy. Paul uses the same phrase to
remind the Thessalonian believers in his fourth use, in addition
to this one in Ephesians, 1 Thessalonians 2.17, that he was exhorting and
encouraging and imploring them that they would walk in a manner
worthy of the God who had called them. If they had truly turned
their backs to idolatry to follow Christ, they would walk worthy. They would live lives that measured
up. And so here in Ephesians four,
that’s exactly what Paul says again. Walk in a manner worthy
of the calling with which you have been called. Believers have
been issued a divine summons. We have been called by God himself
through his word and his spirit. And here too, there is a divine
standard. Did you grasp all of that? Paul
says, walk worthy of the saints, worthy of the gospel, worthy
of the Lord, worthy of the God who has called you. It’s an exceedingly
high standard. In fact, it can only be done
by God’s sanctifying grace. What is this worthy walk look
like, however? Well, that’s point number two.
As we evaluate our gait as Christians, we look at not only the standard
of measure for our steps, that we are to walk worthy, but I
want to look at the precise gauges of our steps. We find those in
verse two. Take a running start at it. Chapter
four, verse one, I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat
you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you
have been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience. These are the attitudes by which
their walk was to be marked. The first of which is humility
and not just some humility, in some of the areas of their
life, but Paul says here, all humility. It’s a sad and telling
thing that the heathen word thought very poorly of this quality,
humility. It was the natural companion,
they believed, of lowliness, poverty, some groveling person,
some coward. A Greek would never think of
humility as a virtue. Sometimes believers, pardon me,
unbelievers accidentally can manage to pull off some degree
of humility or something that looks like it. But true humility. is the only right and reasonable
response to our calling in Christ, and it is only produced in the
life of those who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. It’s only
possible to have true humility in Christ. In fact. We deserved. None of God’s kindnesses. We
did not deserve this call to salvation. We were lost, dead
in sin, fully deserving of God’s righteous wrath. And yet because
of his mercy, and that’s all that motivated him, it inclined
him to move in our direction. It was nothing but God’s abundant
mercy. How can we be proud? When we ponder the movements
of God on our behalf, beginning in eternity past, and yet culminating
in a very practical grace shed upon us, not just forgiveness,
but eternal salvation. What could possibly be our response
except humility? An honest assessment of our spiritual
standing should humble us. It should prevent us from any
degree of overestimation or of our importance of our or of our
person or of our usefulness. And so humility is not just a
characteristic of a few more mature Christians. It’s a characteristic
of Christianity itself. There is in true humility and
acknowledgement and a dependence of God’s on God’s grace in all
things, beginning with our salvation. And so for the believer, humility
is a state of mind. It’s an attitude of heart that
humbly acknowledges that we deserve nothing. One such humbled saint painted
the picture very well when he said, undeserved honor always
produces these effects upon the unsuspecting. To be raised from
the depths of degradation and misery and made sons of God and
thus exalted to an inconceivable elevation and dignity, does and
must produce humility and meekness, a low estimate of oneself founded
on the consciousness of guilt and weakness and a consequent
disposition to be low, unnoticed and unpraised. Well, that’s the
very opposite, isn’t it, of arrogance and self-promotion, where we
demand recognition I want to tell you the beautiful
thing about God’s word is that it doesn’t just give us a cold,
lifeless command. It gives us a full color image
of such concepts. Paul, of all men, sound, zealous,
spiritually trained in the finest schools, wise, capable, gifted,
He reminded the Ephesian elders, Acts 20, remember this, that
during his time that he was with them, he was serving the Lord
with all humility and with tears and with trials. Paul, even with
all his giftings and graces, was at the end of the day humble. Nothing was beneath him. He was
willing to do anything and everything to be used and to be spent for
Christ. And this is what made it so natural
for him to exhort his fellow believers to the same grace. To the Philippians, he urged,
do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility
of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves.
Philippians 2.3, that doesn’t mean that we have to disparage
our God-given gifts. We can and we should receive
and employ those to the glory of God. Paul’s caution is an
undue pride that glosses over the giver of such gifts. And so to the Colossians, he
implored, As those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved,
put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness,
and patience, Colossians 3.12, anything but arrogance or conceit
or pride. The Christian embraces a lowliness
of mind in his utter dependence on God for all things. He cannot. cultivate pride, he lives in
a constant recognition that everything has been given quite undeservingly
to him. So Paul urges his fellow believers
to a godly humility. This was the attitude with which
they were to engage with each other. in humility, not in arrogant
anger, but from a spirit wrought humility that truly regards one’s
brother as more important than himself. One godly Puritan, Robert Johnstone,
detailed this attribute this way. Lowliness of mind is a distinctively
Christian virtue. This element of character enters
only when, in the light of God, we see our ignorance and folly
and feebleness and guilt and learn also, through the example
of the Lord, the sublime beauty and dignity of humbling ourselves
in self-sacrificing love. There’s a second. There’s a second
gauge for Our steps. I, therefore, the
prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy
of the calling with which you have been called with all humility
and gentleness. Gentleness. Not only humbleness,
but it’s resulting fruit of gentleness. This is the carriage, if you
will, the demeanor of a humble man in his interaction with others. He is one who possesses a meekness
of spirit as one described it. This is the individual who is
not quick to take offense, not short tempered, not unwilling
to peacefully endure outright mistreatment. This is the godly
man whose passions are under control. Such a one is composed
and peaceful. He’s a person who has made a
study of that scripture and by God’s grace enabled to live out
the wisdom of the proverb, a gentle answer turns away wrath. Such
a person is not a warring, critical, irritable individual. Always
lying in wait for the slightest fault or slip of a brother. He’s
certainly not a person who takes offense at the slightest or even
imaginary offenses. This is not the guy who lashes
out in vengeance towards someone who has wronged him. Rather, he is humbly and graciously
submitted to the will and workings of God in his sovereignty. This results in a prevailing
gentleness about him, not only in his relationship to God, but
also to his fellow believers. It is important to observe that
in 1 Corinthians 10, Paul there speaks of gentleness as an attribute
of Jesus Christ himself. He tells them, now I, Paul, urge
you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. And not surprisingly, gentleness
is one of the elements produced, right? Galatians 5.23 tells us
as a portion of the spirit of the fruit of the spirit. And in a beautiful application
of that spirit produced character of gentleness, In the following
chapter, Galatians 6, 1, Paul urges believers to apply it.
He says, if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are
spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. He echoes the same pastoral admonition
to Timothy, 2 Timothy 2, 25, with gentleness correcting those
who are in opposition. That is gentleness in action. And in Colossians 3, 12, Paul
says that as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved,
put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness,
and patience. Listen to it plainly. as those,
not if, as those who have been chosen put on a heart of gentleness. As Christians who are transformed
by God’s grace, we are to deal graciously with the offenses
of others against us. There’s a third gauge for our
steps in helping us to evaluate our gait not only humility and
gentleness, but thirdly, patience. The list would not be complete
without this third. The other two really grow into
this third. This third virtue of three, humility,
gentleness, patience, is the grace that allows a bothered
or even offended individual to keep his anger in check for a
long, long time. It graciously bears with another
who may be either abrasive or rude or unkind or inconsiderate
or even just plain unjust. And this forbearance with others,
this patience, cannot possibly be equivalent with the modern
idea of tolerance, particularly with the suggestion of tolerating
sin. That’s not what Paul’s talking
about. The context is plain, as verses one and two indicate
here. This forbearance isn’t with sin
in a fellow believer’s life. Rather, it’s a godly tenacity
of oneness, an attitude that refuses to give up on a relationship. It perseveres. It waits on God. It’s patient. And we know this attribute best
as an attribute of God, don’t we? We should. God is patient. So says Paul in Romans 2, right?
Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance
and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you
to repentance? I hope you know that attribute
of God. God’s patience is an infinitely practical patience.
It’s a real patience. It bears up under the most extreme
conditions because whereas God is infinitely holy, we are exceedingly
sinful. And yet God is patient toward
us. God could justly mete out punishment
to any and all sinners immediately. But such is the nature of God
and his patience. That even though punishment is
rightly deserved, God shows severity only in his delay of justice. But it’s more about astounding
still. Because sinners do not wait in
quiet contrition to see what God will do, how he will react. Instead, they heap And they pile
their offenses and brashly heave them in God’s face. And His response is more patience. And His patience toward us is
completely undeserved, yet it’s exceedingly manifest. The Word
captures the idea of an intentionally delayed punishment, a deliberate
holding back That response to offenses. He’s patient toward us in spite
of our wretchedness. Perhaps this is why the King
James translation of this word is still a pleasant sound in
our ears, isn’t it? They translate it as long suffering. Long suffering. You see, that
translation captures God’s slowness in taking offense at our sinful
ways. God bears long and suffers long
with those who are sinful, even the outright wicked behavior
of his own people. To Moses. On Mount Sinai, God
declared the Lord, the Lord God is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abundant and abundant and loving kindness. Numbers
14, 18, the Lord is slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness,
forgiving iniquity and transgression. God is slow to anger, even in
the face of the willful rebellion of his people. Listen to the
refrain of the psalmists. Psalm 86, 5. But you, O Lord,
are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in
loving kindness and truth. Psalm 103, 8. The Lord is compassionate
and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness.
Psalm 145, 8. The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and great in loving kindness. Peter, would you turn to 2 Peter
for a moment? I just want to let you see these
verses in context. Peter in his second epistle,
he speaks of men as provoking God to his face, doubting his
ability to respond, doubting even his promised return, doubting
even his very existence. And while Peter speaks of this
as future, there is a long history of such examples. I’m in chapter
3, 2 Peter chapter 3. Look at verse 3. Know this, first
of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their
mocking, following after their own lusts. Remember Romans 1,
they suppress the truth in their unrighteousness. Mockers will
come with their mocking, following after their own loss and saying,
Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell
asleep, all continues as it was just from the beginning, which
is such an ignorant statement as if they were there. This past
week I heard an equally absurd statement that somebody attributed
to the fact that there’s apparently a crater on Mars that looks like
it could have held a lake that was there billions of years ago. And you know that how? Jump down
to verse nine before I get off my mark here. Verse nine. Peter provides a
balance to this foolish argument. The Lord is not slow about His
promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not
wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. Jump down to the very end, verse
14. And 15, therefore, regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. The very fact that God doesn’t
execute justice immediately, as we deserve, is a sign of hope,
possibly salvation. Back, if you would, to Ephesians
4. The patience and long-suffering
is not only an attribute of God the Father. But it’s supposed
to be an attribute of believers as well. To the Galatians, Paul
explained that this patience is among those attributes that
is communicated by God’s spirit to the believer, the fruit of
the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness. To the Colossian church, Paul
declared that there had been such a great outpouring of God’s
power on them that it was for the attaining of all steadfastness
and patience. Chapter 1, verse 10. In fact,
later on in that same epistle, Colossians chapter 3, where we
saw him urging humility, Chapter 3, verse 12, he admonishes us,
those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on
a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Patience is an attribute of God,
but godly patience is expected of believers as well. As such, it is a very practical
attribute, easily definable. It’s the opposite of irritability
that lashes out at those who offend or cross us. It’s the
grace that enables us to bear long with those who offend and
even disappoint us. There is an uncanny peace and
calm to such a person, one referred to it as a tenacity of spirit,
which still holds on. It’s not a holding back out of
ignorance. but holding back that shows restraint even with the
knowledge of an offense. Well, as we measure our steps,
we know what the standard is. The standard of measure for our
steps is that we walk worthy. The practice or the precise gauges
of our steps, humility, gentleness, patience, what are the attendant
results? Where do we end up? If we walk
a worthy walk, we see it at the end of verse two and three. Take a running start, I, therefore,
the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy
of the calling with which you have been called with all humility
and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another
in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of spirit and the bond
of peace. Look at the first, if you would,
showing forbearance. It’s really the practical exhibition
of the three previous qualities, humility, gentleness, and patience. Instead of some measure of retaliation,
the godly individual walking as Christ would have him to walk,
he actively bears with rude treatment, especially of his brother. The result of the Spirit’s production
of humility and gentleness and patience was a life that was
marked by real, tangible, practical patience. Forbearance. And please note that I did not
use this modern, popular word, toleration. I think it was about
10 or 12 years ago that some evil genius came up with this
bumper sticker idea that employed the symbols of many of the world’s
religions. Remember this thing? You still
see it. As if the greatest problems in our world are caused by religious
tension and strife, that all we have to do is practice tolerance
for each other and all will be well. I’ll tell you what, the
devil would love that. The devil would love for Christians
just to tolerate Buddhists and homosexuals and Mormons, tolerate
all of them, and never engage them with the gospel. The devil
would love that. So no, I don’t care for the word
toleration, and that isn’t really what Paul is urging here anyway.
I don’t want to be tolerated, do you? I don’t want to be just
tolerated. What’s the use in that? Paul isn’t encouraging them to
look the other way on sinful behavior, on aberrant theology.
He’s talking about those frustrating quirks, mannerisms, gray area
matters of opinion, things that are not in themselves sinful. These should be met with forbearance. As one godly pastor described
it, retaliation was not to be allowed. No acerbity of temper,
no sharp retort, satirical reply was to be admitted. As it is
the second word, which really begins strife. So where mutual
forbearance is exercised, even the first word should never be
spoken. We should be those who carry
ourselves that not only don’t perpetuate the problem, we don’t
get it started either. There’s one final result. To
the spirit’s production of humility and gentleness and patience,
if those are true and fruitful in our lives, not only do those
character qualities produce forbearance, but Paul says here, finally,
that they lead to being diligent to preserve the unity of the
spirit in the bond of peace. Here is the Christian commitment
to preserve, not to create, we can’t create it. But to preserve
what the Holy Spirit himself has created in the body of Christ. He has bestowed upon the church
a divine peace, which can either be cultivated or pardon me, it
can either be cultivated and maintained. Or it can be diminished
and destroyed. This God-given peace between
brothers, what is here called the unity of the Spirit, it must
be guarded and protected with the greatest urgency and care. Be diligent, he says. It’s the
unity of the Spirit because it’s God’s Holy Spirit that establishes
such peace in the body of Christ. We don’t create it. We can’t
create it. All we can do is preserve it or destroy it. But Paul says
here that they should be a sincerely diligent effort to see that it
is maintained, a wholehearted, focused, intentional effort to
preserve the Spirit’s unity. Christ died for His church. He
died for her to establish peace with a holy God. If there is any quality, if there
is any quality that should characterize the church, shouldn’t it be peace? Let’s pray. Our merciful King, we humble
ourselves in your glorious presence. And Lord, even the most godly
of us As we are held up to the light
of God’s word, it must reveal flaws, shortcomings,
even sinful attitudes and behaviors that are trying to take root
in our life. Lord God, we come before you
and having examined our hearts, we do come before you in quiet
confession. We know that You have much work
to do yet in our lives. The fault is not yours, the fault
is ours. For dragging our feet, for making
excuses, for holding on to petty little gripes and complaints
about our brothers. Lord, we pray that you would pour out your spirit. In the
exercise of sanctification in our lives, we do desire these
things. We do desire to model Christian
love. Devotion to one another. Patience
with one another. And we know that that’s possible
only through wholesome provision of your spirit in our lives. Lord, there are others in this
room. who don’t even know what we’re
talking about. They don’t even know what these things are. They may be appealing to them,
but they know that they cannot produce these things in their
life. And so we come before you on behalf of these that are in
our midst. They do not know Christ. They have not placed their faith
in Christ for salvation. And we plead with you. To go
to work on their hearts and lives, to bring them to repentance. To show them. That Christ is
the only way of salvation. Lord, only then would your spirit
begin. To produce in them these glorious
character qualities. Humility and gentleness and patience.
Love and devotion. Lord, have your way with every
person in this room. To God be the glory. In Jesus’
name we pray. Amen.