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[0:00] But we're going to be cruising through our series in 1 Thessalonians, and we're going to be taking the last chapter a little bit slower and going to be digging out some of the meat out of these last few verses of this chapter.

[0:19] Today we're going to continue reading and studying in 1 Thessalonians, and I'd like to read the passage in its entirety of what we'll be studying today, and we will continue our worship through the preaching of God's Word.

[0:38] So 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, chapter 5, and we'll be in verse 12. It's going to be an exhaustive read all the way to verse 13.

[0:59] Are you ready? Okay. Here we go. The Word of the Lord says, We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work.

[1:27] Be at peace among yourselves. This is the Word of the Lord. You know, coming through one of those exhaustive readings like in the book of Judges, I think we covered Samuel.

[1:40] That was a reading of about three or four chapters in one sitting. The coffee was extra strong that day, I requested personally. But when we get to passages like this, we don't want to undermine the significance of a text, even just a single verse or even a single word in the Word of God because all of them are the Word of God and have different meanings and implications depending on how far you zoom out and how far you zoom in.

[2:08] Rumor has it you can actually preach an entire sermon on the entire Bible and grasp a couple themes here and there, you know, as you see that redemption storyline unfolding.

[2:21] But today we're in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and so I feel it would be helpful to inform you at this point we're in the conclusion of his letter.

[2:35] It's been a several weeks series, probably about 6 to 8, maybe 10, I don't know. And we are at the end remarks.

[2:46] And so usually the final remarks and usually when we write letters to people, we end with a high note. We end with a couple things to remember. And even in our English classes, for anybody who is attentive, you know that the conclusion sums up a lot of what is in the body of the letter.

[3:05] So we're arriving in that point at this juncture. And it begins with verse 12. And it ends, this entire chapter 5, before I bore you, this chapter 5 ends with several commands, several instructions that connect to the body.

[3:23] And so what we're going to see today is in verse 12 through 13, which are commands for members toward leadership. And which will lead into a message next week, part 2 of the message of commands for members.

[3:38] towards one another, which is verse 14 through 15, leading into instructions for the whole church in 16 and 18, leading to instructions regarding discernment in verse 19 through 22.

[3:55] And then the identity of the church in verse 23 and 24. And then closing remarks in 25, leading to the last verse, verse 28.

[4:06] I think it's helpful to see where it's going, to understand what Paul is doing in order to kind of pace ourselves and not think that we're, that this is an isolated passage taken away from the whole.

[4:24] This is including the entire context of the whole of Scripture and the whole of this letter and uniting with the body of the message. So, we know at this point that God has organized His church upon this earth.

[4:43] And He's done so in a manner that is not swayed by the cultural wind, we'll say. The cultural trigger warning culture, the latest human rights movement.

[5:00] Or it's not a pendulum that swings from one extreme to another. Well, the church was wrong over here, so we'll swing all the way to the other end, which is not the church.

[5:12] The church is God's design. And God's design is God's design. It's not swayed by culture.

[5:24] It's not swayed by the latest movement of the day. It's not swayed by any failures or successes. The church is God's design, and it's God's design.

[5:35] It's not swayed by the winds of culture. And for the specific organization of the church on earth, God has commanded, through His Word, a structure.

[5:46] Of how this assembly ought to be. And within that structure is boundaries. And the assembled church is made up of certain roles and responsibilities within.

[5:58] And it is through the biblical conviction and faithful execution of these roles and responsibilities that qualifies a church's usefulness to God on this earth.

[6:10] How much we are of use to God depends on how faithful we are to His Word, how faithful we are to execution of His Word.

[6:22] So, for instance, we believe here at Youngstown Metro that there's sort of three departments of the church that make up this body known as the church. It has pastors, elders, and overseers.

[6:33] All within an office is one of the highest offices of the church. And so, within that arena, you have different roles and responsibilities. And because of its authority in nature, we see it through the created order in all of that.

[6:50] Coming into this role with what Christ was over the church and what the man is over the household, we see that that is reserved for a man. And then leading from elders, pastors, overseers, we also have deacons.

[7:04] And deacons help as a helper to the pastors and elders to free them up for the ministry of preaching of the Word and of prayer. And then the congregation serves in many capacities.

[7:16] And we have to remember, before you're a pastor or an elder, you're a church member. Simply a church member. And while there's no specific instance where there's a perfect church, there is such thing as being a healthy church.

[7:35] There's a funny saying out there that says, if you find a perfect church, you better not walk in because you're going to ruin it. Right? Basically saying, essentially, your flaws taking into something that's perfect is going to ultimately ruin it.

[7:54] And that's obviously a funny instance. But if there's any health to be known in a church, it rests in devotion to biblical conviction and faithful execution, which then produces sound doctrine through its instruction going from the Word to the people, and in turn edifies Christians in its reception.

[8:16] Here at Young Symmetra, we believe, according to biblical instruction, that this begins, everything begins with the faithful preaching of God's Word. There's no other methods or means.

[8:27] It begins with the faithful preaching of God's Word and the practice of God's Word hitting the streets, which leads when we disperse from this assembly, it is manifested in our lives in intentional relationships with outsiders, with one another.

[8:46] We're checking up with one another throughout the week. That we're not just here as a club and then we disperse and then here as a club. We're constantly connected in our lives with a missional mindset of, who do I need to tell the gospel to in my workplace or in my life, my neighbor?

[9:05] These are the three core values of our church. And today, Paul begins to lay out commands for the church in Thessalonica and how they ought to participate in the healthy God-ordained design for the most unique organization known on this earth, known as the church.

[9:24] And he namely is hitting on the command of respect and love for those in leadership. Now, if you're new with us, this is your first time, you're probably like, oh boy, what's going on in this church?

[9:44] Preaching on respect. What compels this guy to pick this passage today? Well, if you're not accustomed to expositional preaching or exegetical preaching, going verse by verse through a passage, you just happen to stumble upon a section of passage where it's talking about respecting leadership.

[10:06] So welcome. And we're just going to continue through our series. If you want to touch base on some of the other messages, we have those on the website. But right now, I don't want you to question if you may have been more suitable to take you and your family down to the corner church around down the road.

[10:25] But we teach expositionally through the scriptures. And it's not our agenda at the driver's seat. It's God's agenda in the driver's seat. And so expositional preaching is unique in the fashion because the main point of the passage is then translated as a main point of the sermon.

[10:48] So it doesn't matter what I want to say. It all rests and is enslaved to what the text has to say. And in turn, it's inspired.

[10:59] So we arrive today with not Brent's agenda, but Paul's agenda. And if we truly believe in the inspiration of the holy scriptures, that these were inspired by God, we know if it's Paul's agenda, it's the Holy Spirit's agenda, namely God's agenda.

[11:16] So long introduction today. I know. Take another sip of coffee. But Paul is laying out some commands for the church in Thessalonica, and specifically the call to respect and to esteem their leadership and those who are overseeing the church, namely the under-shepherds known as pastors, elders, and overseers.

[11:40] And we will see today how our attitude towards our leaders reflects our attitudes we have towards God. And that's going to challenge us today, even myself.

[11:53] Now, like I said, with the word of God in the driver's seat, I too have been greatly challenged this week in studying and reflecting on this passage. And now at this time, I invite us all to come to God's word together in humility and submissive hearts to the Lord's message that he has for us today.

[12:12] But before we do, let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. And right now at this time, we know that this is no ordinary moment in our day today.

[12:25] And Father, this is a time where we can receive instruction and commands from the Holy Spirit. We know that as I submit to your text today, we ask that you help us as a church to submit to your text as well.

[12:42] And Father, we pray that you are edified through this assembly, that we are glorifying to you, that if we do desire to see change in Youngstown, we are that change.

[12:58] And Father, help us to be ignited with that passion for the lost in Youngstown. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Anybody else with us today? Amen.

[13:09] Amen. So let's look at the first section, which is the first verse. It's titled, I better put it on the screen for any note takers. Proper Respect for Leadership.

[13:24] And it says, we ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you. Paul begins the first aspect of his series of commands within the macro structure of chapter 5, just like we highlighted at the beginning.

[13:44] He's getting into his commands, uniting with the body of his message. As we're getting into the first one, we see that he describes the unique value of under-shepherds, of God.

[14:01] The unique value. Central to this expression and command is their direct involvement with those who they're called to shepherd. Notice, you is the subject.

[14:16] Respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you. All three represent three aspects of a single office of pastor, each of which call upon the means of respect by those who are under their care.

[14:36] D.L. Moody lists this in one of the many facets of administration being mentioned in the Bible. He likens it to Romans 12, 8, where Paul refers similarly to the one who leads.

[14:52] I'm not going to bore you on the original Greek. I'll bore you in just a moment on the original Greek. But Romans 12, 8 refers in the same sense of administration as to stand before, as D.L. Moody puts it.

[15:06] Hence, to lead, to rule or preside. And he mentions it is used of elders here in 1 Thessalonians 5, 12 and 1 Timothy 5, 17.

[15:18] And even 1 Corinthians 12, 28 refers to the gift of administrations. That literally means to steer a ship. So it's no question who he's speaking about here in this passage or who is the object and who are being spoken of in this passage.

[15:35] We know it plain and clear. So we'll continue in our time today to see the unique labor and the toil within this office known as pastor, elder, overseer.

[15:48] Let's look at the basis of this respect. And we see the first basis of this respect is that they labor among you. Now it's time for some Greek.

[16:01] Any Greek scholars in here? It's a Greek word here for labor. It's kopio. Kopio. This word means toil.

[16:13] And in meaning toil, it means wearisome labor. And if wearisome labor, it literally means to labor until extreme fatigue.

[16:26] This is often used to describe manual labor. Imagine that. Paul uses the same word in relation to illustrations of farm labor, of tent making labor, of muscles engaged, ripple, dripping sweat labor.

[16:44] Hard work. The word Paul uses here should call the lazy pastor off his butt. And it should also call the faithful pastor to continue all the more faithful with the task before him.

[17:03] Because the truth be told, church, faithful pastoral work is hard work. The work of a pastor is not simply a Sunday-only occupation or a paid job that involves literally no work.

[17:19] As some people think, that pastors just sit around and talk to God and think. Read books in the coffee shop. Now, unfortunately, some clergy among the ages and of the days of this life, they've been proven to be utterly lazy.

[17:44] Completely lazy. Which distorts the actual intensity of the position Paul is referring to here. Meaning that man falls short of actually representing what Paul intended as labor.

[17:58] But we have to be reminded that even a sour apple on a healthy tree shouldn't distort the sweetness of the surrounding apples of that healthy tree.

[18:12] Similarly, whatever your experience from the past of that pastor who didn't do anything. He never checked up on you. He never prayed for you. He always showed up late and did all this.

[18:23] And he wasn't around. Whatever your experience is, that does not dictate the office that Paul is referring to here. And it should not distort those who are faithful in the actual hard work that's involved in this position.

[18:39] Paul uses this word additionally in relation to his apostolic laborers in 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Timothy 4. He refers it to the hard work of his colleagues in Romans 16.

[18:51] And those who labor in preaching and teaching in Colossians 1, 28 through 29. One of my most favorite passages in the New Testament.

[19:03] But in this, the hard work of a pastor are observed through various means. It could be anything from studying. From preparing a message for Sunday morning.

[19:14] From praying alone in the woods of Mill Creek Park. Visiting the sick. Encouraging the weary.

[19:25] Counseling the weary. Instructing ordinances within the church. Guarding sound doctrine. And if it has anything to do with the body of the text, we can't forget that Paul was the model of imitation.

[19:40] For this Thessalonica church. And if he was the model of imitation for them to replicate. We know that he was modeled not only in his character.

[19:53] But his endurance and his faith. If you're thinking of the context of the entire series. And in these things, God calls some men to toil. Struggling with all their energy.

[20:05] By God's power working within them. As Colossians 1, 28 says. We also see another component of this worth of respect. And it's also found in the second participle in this passage.

[20:21] That they provide oversight for you. This is another Greek word that goes like proestemi. And this is to lead.

[20:32] This is to rule. This means to manage. To be in charge of. Now Jesus Christ provided the standard of what is known as servant leadership.

[20:45] Servant leadership. Simply meaning that if you want to be first, you have to be last. If you want to be a leader, you have to serve. If you want to be the greatest, you have to be the least.

[20:57] Right? And he additionally provided the same person who said all those things. Additionally provided the basis of spiritual headship. For creation.

[21:10] For the church. And for the family. Now all too often, there's churches who struggle in a battle of power. Who's in control?

[21:22] Who's in charge here? Some churches say. And while completely forgetting the design of being God's servants to one another. It's not about power. It's about servant.

[21:34] Being a servant to one another. Jesus made it easy. Christian leadership is about humility. It's not about authority. It's about gentleness. It's not about power. The fact that you're asking who's in charge is implying that you're interested in power.

[21:52] And here we find the call of pastoral leadership to duly be responsible for oversight of the church and also care. And this is not a contradiction.

[22:03] But express the balance of a man called by God for this position. Or in other words, a godly leader is not someone who simply just shows somebody to the door.

[22:14] But walks with them and then opens the door for them. In a simple illustration. This is what Paul had in mind. Thinking back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and chapter 3.

[22:28] Pastoral care is likened to parental care. Remember? The spiritual father that the Thessalonians were spiritual children to Paul. In which he talks about being a spiritual father.

[22:39] A spiritual mother. As weird as that might sound. Paul was a spiritual mother. So the oversight expected is that of parental calling.

[22:51] Where mutual respect is exhibited. Honor is exhibited. And trust is exhibited. My kids.

[23:02] I respect them. And in turn, it makes it much easier for them to respect me. I honor them. It makes it easier for them to honor myself. And trust.

[23:13] They can trust me. Similarly as in the church. And Hebrews 13, 17 talks about this in a practical sense. Some may cringe at the passage.

[23:24] Some may be encouraged. But it says, obey your leaders and submit to them. For they are keeping watch over your souls. As those who will give an account.

[23:38] Let them do this with joy and not with groaning. For that would be of no advantage to you. Those who oversee are brought to a place of oversight.

[23:50] Not of achievements. Not of personality. Not of intellect. But of appointments. By God. Because you notice that the oversight is provided for you in the Lord.

[24:03] It's not of their own doing. But an appointment of God. And then lastly, the third participle in this passage is that they admonish you. It's natheteo.

[24:16] Is the Greek word. And this means to simply instruct. To warn or counsel in terms of someone's bad behavior and its consequences.

[24:27] It's sort of like that other side of parenting. That you're there to care for them. But you're also there to hold them accountable. To reprove them.

[24:38] Even discipline those who have done wrong. An admonishment is offered by a pastor in a gentle paternalistic way. As 1 Corinthians 4.14 says.

[24:50] I do not write these things to make you ashamed. But to admonish you as my beloved children. In the one another nature of Christian church.

[25:02] The Thessalonians are to respect these leaders. Not simply by obligatory lip service. Like, well, the Bible says I need to respect you. So here I go with respect. And in turn actually expressing disrespect in the statement.

[25:15] That's not what God designed for his church. This is a faithful commitment to leaders. And this is even for me towards fellow pastors.

[25:26] Because we actually have a plurality of elders. As we see according to scripture. So I submit in similar fashion to Rick. And so just as there should be similar aspects of a pastor worthy of imitation.

[25:41] As Paul was for this church. We have to remember Hebrews 13.7. Remember your leaders. Those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life.

[25:53] And imitate their faith. I think at this point in the message. I have to remind you. This is not my agenda. When I came to this passage.

[26:03] I'm like, really Lord? I'm supposed to talk about this to your church here? It's almost like, why not?

[26:14] This is the word of God. This is good. This is profitable. And for instruction. For edifying our lives. And we see as we come to a close. We'll see why this matters.

[26:25] All of this matters. And you'll see it even more in view. If you stick together throughout the rest of this series. Till the very end of how everything is going to fit in perfect harmony.

[26:37] So concluding verse 12. For those appointed and approved by God. To labor. To oversee. And to admonish. Are worthy of respect.

[26:48] As they submit themselves to the lordship of Christ. Our leaders submit to the lordship of Christ. We too submit ourselves to them.

[26:59] Laboring with them. Submitting to them. And receiving admonishment from them. Church. I don't care what the latest church strategy.

[27:09] And church book says on the bookshelf. This is God's design. According to his word. This is his design for his family. And we'll continue into the section two.

[27:23] Which is titled. Proper esteem. For leadership. In verse 13 it says. And continues.

[27:35] Not only to respect. But also here. To. Esteem them. Highly. Very highly. In love.

[27:46] Because of their work. Be at peace. Among yourselves. To esteem. Is simply to have a view. We love.

[27:57] We live in a day and age. Where we all love our opinions. About everything. Right? And we love even more. To state our opinions. Especially when other people oppose our opinions. And challenge them. We love opinions.

[28:08] And to esteem. Is to have an opinion. To consider. Or regard. Hold regard to something. And so this is no ordinary opinion.

[28:19] But this is a very highly. Loving. Opinion. For the servant of God. This is the language. That the statement.

[28:30] As one commentator says. Should electrify. The reader. The basis of congregations love. Is overwhelmed. In a sense. Of the high calling. Appointed to them.

[28:40] As well as the great weight. Of the struggle. Of all the work. That's involved. As we saw. In verse 12. It's not a cakewalk. The least bit. And so these men.

[28:51] Are held high in love. Not because of their charm. Intellect. Or personality. But because they work. Directly for the chief shepherd. These men are.

[29:02] God's servants. On earth. And this is the key. Because there are. Some sour apples. That kind of ruin.

[29:12] Your. Taste for the. For any other fruit. From that tree. While there's some sour apples. These men. According to Paul's writing.

[29:23] And his intention of writing. These are men. Who prove this. In their behavior. Of being worthy. Of esteeming. Very highly in love. These are leaders.

[29:33] Who consider the great warning. Of James 3. 1. Not many of you. Should become teachers. My brothers. For you know. That you will. You who teach. Will be judged. With greater strictness.

[29:44] Not only a warning. But there is a great encouragement. Of men. Who serve in this capacity. And it says. And when the chief shepherd. Appears in first. Peter 5. Verse 4. You will receive.

[29:55] The unfading crown. Of glory. And if there. If men. Are going to receive. The unfading crown. Of glory. Then. What's holding us back. From upholding them. In love.

[30:06] Here and now. Understand. So all. Too often. Churches prove. To be useless. Utterly useless. To God.

[30:17] And literally. Destroy themselves. In a church. Nearby. Destroy themselves. In unruly. Conflicts. Unruly. Opinions.

[30:28] Or rumors. Or gossip. And this isn't just. A problem of our day. This stems back to. Genesis 3. In the relational. Turmoil. That's seen in that instance.

[30:40] And all throughout. The Old Testament. When God appoints. A leader. The people don't listen. The leaders. Often don't listen. But that does not.

[30:51] Negate the fact. That this is God's design. And when you get. The right people. Submitting to the right. Lordship of Christ. You're going to have. Great health involved.

[31:02] It's going to. Lead to. Thriving. In our walks. With God. God has provided. The means. And the methods. Of harmony. Within the body. Of which he is.

[31:13] The chief shepherd over. It entails. Respect. And high esteem. John Stott. Mentions. Plain and clear. The problem.

[31:25] Of our day. And the problem. Of his day. He says. Yet in too many churches. They are. At loggerheads. Never said that one. I'm going to start it now.

[31:37] Yet in too many churches. They are at loggerheads. Which is. Painful. To those involved. Inhibiting. The church's life. And growth.

[31:47] And damaging. To its public image. By contrast. Stott continues. Happy. Is the church family. In which pastors.

[31:58] And people. Recognize. That God calls. Different believers. To different ministries. Exercise. Their own ministries. With diligence. And humility. And give.

[32:09] To others. The respect. And love. Which God. Appointed. Labor. Demands. They will live. In peace. With each.

[32:19] Other. In this combination. Of exhortations. This morning. The rest.

[32:30] Of harmony. If we're talking about. Peace. And security. Within our lives. As we saw. On the day. Of the Lord appearing. That the church. Rest in peace. And security. It's not only.

[32:41] In what lays. Waiting ahead. It's also for us. Here and now. And it's exhibited. It's experienced. In that. Harmonious. Relationship. Between. A church. And its leaders.

[32:52] And the most. Useful. Church. To God. As we need. To remember. Is one. Exhibiting. Mutual. Respect. And the most. Disposable. Church. Unfortunately.

[33:02] Is one. Who's exhibiting. Disrespect. Towards one another. In this. We are encouraged. And reminded. Of God's grand design. To anchor us.

[33:13] Highly in love. For one another. Especially those. Who are under shepherds. Of the chief. Shepherd. A passage.

[33:26] Like this. Church. Makes us. Sort of. Ask. Reflective questions. I don't know. If. Maybe I've. The passages. Stirred that up.

[33:36] Within you. Maybe you've been. Checked out. The entire. Message. But. These passages. Sort of. Work. Against.

[33:46] Our heart. Of always. Wanting to be right. And it's not just for you guys. It's for me. This passage.

[33:59] Made me. Question. All throughout. Time of reflection. Perspective. My own perspective.

[34:09] My own perspective. According to this word. As it. Aligns. My heart. And my perspective. Because. The. Stresses of the day. Can weigh in. They come. Very early.

[34:19] Even on Sunday. Morning. And. You just kind of. Lose sight. And we all. Are. Are. Are. Victim to that. At different instances. So.

[34:30] I want to encourage. Two people. Today. Two groups of people. Two people. Please join me on stage. As I. Challenge you.

[34:41] With the words. I want to challenge. Two groups of people. And one specifically. For leaders.

[34:53] Fellow pastors. Elders. Maybe on the live stream. Maybe you were a pastor. An elder in the past. In the. Later. Earlier days.

[35:04] Maybe you will be soon. A pastor. An elder in this. Our church. Family here. Perspective challenges. For you today. As I reflected. This week. First one.

[35:17] Am I conducting. My role. And my responsibility. In a manner. Deserving. Of respect. Am I conducting.

[35:30] My role. And responsibility. In a manner. Deserving respect. In how. You're leading. In how you're. Overseeing. How you're. Admonishing.

[35:41] This begs the question. Are you. Leading. Are you. Overseeing. Do you have. A fear. Of man. Are you. Even doing.

[35:52] And executing. God's. Great design. Are you. Admonishing. And correcting. Second one. Do the ones. I lead. Have a natural.

[36:03] Inclination. Of esteeming. Me. Highly. In love. Or. Do the ones. I lead. Have this. Forced. Inclination. That's sort of. Superficial. At the surface. The third.

[36:15] Perspective. Challenge. Is. Am I. Checking. My hearts. And receiving. Correction. Or am I. More offended. When I am. Challenged. Or questions.

[36:27] Upon these. Various. Reflections. I believe. That any. Pastor. Elder. Overseer. In the church. Can. Be. Highly. Challenged. And to.

[36:38] Kind of. Inventory. Our hearts. But it doesn't stop there. We have the component for congregations. And a few perspective challenges as well for that. Number one.

[36:50] Have we considered. That. Respect for our leaders. Is equal. Is an equal expression. To our respect for God. That's a hard one.

[37:02] That if God appoints. A man. And you're. Basically. Giving him. Disrespect. What does that say. About how you view God.

[37:16] It would be shameful. Number two. Do we. Truly. Understand. The labor. Intensive. Nature. Of a pastor. And that because of its weight.

[37:26] It is always worthy of. Respect. Or are you. Kind of. Just sold that. Brent doesn't do anything. Except sit around. Drink coffee all week. He doesn't care about you. Right.

[37:38] Do you truly. Understand. The labor intensive. Of that passage. That when it's talking about. Toiling. It's talking about. Sweat. It's talking about. Extreme fatigue.

[37:49] And exhaustion. Ask my wife. If I. If I. Fall asleep. Early at the end of the day. Of just being utterly. Exhausted. The third. Challenge.

[38:00] Do we consider. How the power. Of our loving. Esteem. For leadership. Can deeply. Encourage. A pastor. Out of depression. Think about. The percentage. Rate of pastors. That actually quit.

[38:11] The ministry. Because of just being. Utterly discouraged. Utterly depressed. How many pastors. Actually commit suicide. In our day. Because they're utterly. Just disrespected.

[38:23] Do we consider. The power. Of our loving. Esteem. And how that encourages. Deeply encourages. Pastors. Out of that depression. Maybe we better. Spend our time. Praying for them.

[38:33] Rather than gossiping. And lastly. Do we. Do we realize. That is the foundation. Of lack and respect. And lack of esteem. That our church.

[38:44] Becomes useless. To God. That's a hard one. Do we realize. That is on the foundation. Of lack of respect. And lack of esteem.

[38:55] That our church. Becomes useless. To God. What do we. Why do we do. What we do then. If we're just going to. Bicker and argue. And not see eye to eye. You see church.

[39:07] The quality of love. And respect. You offer. To those. Who oversee you. Is a litmus test. Of love and respect. You offer to God. Who oversees.

[39:17] Them. Repeat that. The quality of love. And respect. You offer. To those. Who oversee. You. Is a litmus test. Of love and respect.

[39:27] You offer. To God. Who oversees. Them. That there's a cycle. Of respect. That's expressed. Through your respect. Towards leaders.

[39:38] And in this. We must be reminded. Lest we dishonor God. Through our absence. Of love and respect. Towards leaders. Now you might be asking. Like. I don't really know. God. I don't know the Bible.

[39:49] I've kind of. Just strolled. Into this church. Just checking it out. And boy. This was a doozy. Of a passage. And of a message. But maybe. You're in a department.

[39:59] Where. Something actually. Finally makes sense. That. A church is. Observing the design. And the structure. Within God's holy word.

[40:11] And it exceeds. Anything that you've. Any abuse. You may have had. In your past. Or maybe. What you've experienced. Or maybe. That church is just. A wasted point. Pointless time.

[40:22] Where people get together. And sing songs. To an unknown God. Or. Or pray. To an unknown God. If you're not. In Christ today. Have you even thought. For a second. That God cares enough.

[40:33] For a church body. To give instructions. Like this. To equip. To encourage. To spur on. For the sake. Of the body's.

[40:43] Health. God has. Went to the. The extreme. Of writing this. Into a book. For us. To study. And to heed. Not as just. A little self-improvement.

[40:54] I want to pick me up today. I'm going to go. Here today. No. This is a contextual. Word. That is bound. To a meaning. And a purpose. And this specific text.

[41:05] Calls us. In a manner. Of respect. You know. That God. Is. Is inviting you. By your faith. To enter. A new family.

[41:16] One that has. A structure. One that has. Purpose. One that has. Life. That everyone. In this body. Has been bought. With a price. That the forgiveness.

[41:26] Of our sins. Was paid for. Upon the cross. Of Jesus Christ. Through his blood. We are. That was shed. Has. Has. Given us. Atonement. And release us.

[41:37] From the penalty. Of our sin. If you're not. In Jesus Christ. This is good. News. That by your faith. You can have. Justification. Through his.

[41:48] Blood. And his sacrifice. This is the gospel. He cares about you. He gives you a new family. New belief. New desires. New attitudes. An entire new way of life.

[42:00] And. Significance. Of. Eternity. To come. Not necessarily a pay raise. Or the possessions that you own. Or the. Couple fridges that you bought. With your stimulus. Or the.

[42:10] The pay raise that you're trying to earn. At your job. None of that matters. They say that you can't take a. You can't take all your possessions. Behind you.

[42:20] In a casket. With you. Once you're gone. Only thing you have. Is assured in this word. And so come to Christ. And find the beauty of that purpose. Of why God intended this.

[42:31] Unique structure. To be assembled. Upon this earth. And learn. That he knows precisely. What you need. Better than you know it. And it is within the community of God.

[42:42] That he proves it. May we all be reminded. That we belong to the Lord. And so does our respect. As we express that.

[42:52] To our leadership. And so does our respect. And esteem. To our leaders. In this. We glorify God. And are of much usefulness. To him. Upon this earth. Church.

[43:03] I said it once. And I'll keep on saying it. We are. His church. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray.