Aug. 17, 2024

Gentleness and Meekness

Gentleness and Meekness

A discussion about Ephesians 4:2 and the attribute of gentleness and meekness

Spreaker podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
PocketCasts podcast player badge
Amazon Music podcast player badge
Overcast podcast player badge
Audible podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
iHeartRadio podcast player badge
Castbox podcast player badge
Podchaser podcast player badge
TuneIn podcast player badge
Deezer podcast player badge
Pandora podcast player badge
RadioPublic podcast player badge
Podcast Addict podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
YouTube podcast player badge
Fountain podcast player badge
PlayerFM podcast player badge
Goodpods podcast player badge
Podverse podcast player badge
Podyssey podcast player badge
Breaker podcast player badge
Podurama podcast player badge
Audacy podcast player badge
JioSaavn podcast player badge
Spreaker podcast player iconApple Podcasts podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconPocketCasts podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconOvercast podcast player iconAudible podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconiHeartRadio podcast player iconCastbox podcast player iconPodchaser podcast player iconTuneIn podcast player iconDeezer podcast player iconPandora podcast player iconRadioPublic podcast player iconPodcast Addict podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player iconYouTube podcast player iconFountain podcast player iconPlayerFM podcast player iconGoodpods podcast player iconPodverse podcast player iconPodyssey podcast player iconBreaker podcast player iconPodurama podcast player iconAudacy podcast player iconJioSaavn podcast player icon

A discussion about Ephesians 4:2 and the attribute of gentleness and meekness

WEBVTT

1
00:00:02.359 --> 00:00:06.120
Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

2
00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:13.000
the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good morning everyone.

3
00:00:13.240 --> 00:00:17.440
It is Saturday, August seventeenth, twenty twenty four. It is

4
00:00:17.559 --> 00:00:21.199
currently ten oh seven am Central Time, and I am

5
00:00:21.239 --> 00:00:25.519
coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located

6
00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:30.800
right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, I have a number

7
00:00:30.839 --> 00:00:33.640
of rule books. I'm looking through all of these rule

8
00:00:33.640 --> 00:00:37.640
books trying to find the rule that tells me what

9
00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:43.359
should I do after there is a delay between one

10
00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:48.159
broadcast and the next broadcast. What is the role? Specifically speaking,

11
00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:52.520
if you are kind of doing a series, you're focusing

12
00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:55.799
on a specific say, chapter of the Bible. Right, You're

13
00:00:55.799 --> 00:00:59.799
working on a specific chapter. You're giving everyone specific assignments

14
00:00:59.799 --> 00:01:03.039
to do on that chapter. You're having everyone listen to

15
00:01:03.079 --> 00:01:07.640
sermons specifically on that chapter. Everything is there, and then

16
00:01:07.879 --> 00:01:10.959
there's a delay. Let's say you kind of just stop

17
00:01:11.079 --> 00:01:13.480
talking about it. You don't do another broadcast about it

18
00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:16.040
for like a week or over a week. What is

19
00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:19.159
the rule? Is? The rule is you just wait until

20
00:01:19.239 --> 00:01:23.000
someone emails you going, hey, you were working on Ephesians

21
00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:30.879
chapter four. I've done all the assignments. Where are you

22
00:01:30.439 --> 00:01:33.719
you just kind of leftists there, come on, finish this,

23
00:01:33.879 --> 00:01:37.000
bring it to some kind of conclusion. Do I wait

24
00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:39.319
for that email? And if I don't get that email,

25
00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:41.359
do I take that as a sign to mean, well,

26
00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:45.200
no one cares, so you should just forget about it

27
00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:48.079
and move on? And well, then I have to ask myself, well,

28
00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:50.640
can I move on or will I not kind of

29
00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:54.120
be obsessed with the fact that I left it unfinished?

30
00:01:55.359 --> 00:01:57.920
Ano there are many times I leave things unfinished. A

31
00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:01.040
lot of times is because of well, no, if you

32
00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:03.480
don't get an email, if you don't get anyone asking

33
00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:05.959
you about it, then you kind of have to just decide, well,

34
00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:08.639
maybe no one is interested. Now sometimes that's a wrong

35
00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:11.560
conclusion to come to, but you just you don't know.

36
00:02:11.639 --> 00:02:13.400
So what is the rule? I've been looking at the

37
00:02:13.479 --> 00:02:17.240
rule books and there is no There's no rule. But

38
00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:19.800
I feel like we have to go back to Ephesians four.

39
00:02:19.879 --> 00:02:23.080
We have to write because we were working on Ephesians

40
00:02:23.159 --> 00:02:25.199
chapter four. I told you to read the chapter over

41
00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:27.479
and over and over. I remember there was a specific

42
00:02:27.560 --> 00:02:30.680
church that held a conference, the Assault and Light Conference

43
00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:35.680
of twenty twenty four, and their key text for their conference,

44
00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:38.479
the key verse for their conference was Ephesians chapter four,

45
00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:42.680
verse five, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God

46
00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:45.360
and Father of all, who is above all and through all,

47
00:02:45.560 --> 00:02:48.800
and in you all. And once I realized here's an

48
00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:53.400
entire conference dedicated to Ephesians four five. Remember how excited

49
00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:56.000
I got. I was like, Oh, this is going to

50
00:02:56.039 --> 00:02:59.080
be awesome, right, we will review some of these sermons.

51
00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:01.719
This will be great, and we'll dig into the Book

52
00:03:01.719 --> 00:03:04.639
of Ephesians. So everyone read it and then and then

53
00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:09.319
what happened, Well, what happened is I started getting extremely frustrated,

54
00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:12.919
right because this is a conference where Ephesians four to

55
00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:17.319
five is like the key and the first speaker. I

56
00:03:17.319 --> 00:03:20.919
think we review two sermons, maybe three sermons, and they

57
00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:23.439
didn't really deal with a Book of Ephesians. It was

58
00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:27.159
really frustrating. It was almost maddening. It's like, wait a minute,

59
00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:29.599
if you're going to have a conference on Ephesians four five,

60
00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:33.199
don't you have to then establish what Ephesians one, two

61
00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:36.919
three was about. Then you have therefore in chapter four,

62
00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:41.360
verse one, and so we have then a transitional transitional word.

63
00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:45.000
Therefore is a transition from the three chapters one, two,

64
00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:48.360
and three, which was a philological exposition. Now chapter four

65
00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:53.199
begins the practical exposition, and the practical exposition relies and

66
00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:56.520
is built upon and flows from the philological So remember

67
00:03:56.560 --> 00:03:59.199
I told everyone to go through chapter four and then

68
00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:02.280
find how each thing relates to chapters one, two, and three.

69
00:04:02.439 --> 00:04:05.840
I remember, I give you all these assignments, but it

70
00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:09.439
was maddening how they were handling the text, and so

71
00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:12.520
I kind of got irritated. To be honest, I got aggravated.

72
00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:15.520
Probably you even heard a little anger in my voice

73
00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:18.040
at times, because I'm just like, can we just deal

74
00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:23.439
with the text. But what I try to do is

75
00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:26.199
when I get frustrated, when I get aggravated in a

76
00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:28.759
sermon review, I could just sit there and be negative

77
00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:31.959
and be critical. That's easy to do, But then I

78
00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:35.439
always say, okay, all right, even though that frustrated me.

79
00:04:36.199 --> 00:04:38.920
Even though that irritated me, even though I may disagree,

80
00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:43.199
I am forever grateful that they put their content online

81
00:04:43.560 --> 00:04:47.759
because now I can use that as motivation for us

82
00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:51.319
to dig into the text and really try to get

83
00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:53.759
something from it. So what did I do. I provided

84
00:04:53.800 --> 00:04:57.199
you an entire message, I think almost an hour long,

85
00:04:57.399 --> 00:05:02.000
of giving you the structure of Ephesians one, two, three, four, five,

86
00:05:02.040 --> 00:05:03.759
and six, trying to give you kind of an outline

87
00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:05.839
and how it all fit together. I think that was

88
00:05:05.959 --> 00:05:11.319
very beneficial. And then they even acknowledged in the conference.

89
00:05:11.480 --> 00:05:16.360
They acknowledged this because if you'll notice and Ephesians four five,

90
00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:21.120
one Lord, one Faith, one baptism, one God, and this

91
00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:24.480
idea of one and so they said that this section

92
00:05:24.680 --> 00:05:29.920
really emphasizes unity. We need unity, and the body of Christ,

93
00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:33.920
we need unity, so that there's one God, there's one faith,

94
00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:37.959
there's one baptism. There needs to be unity. And I'm like, well,

95
00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:41.319
that that's great. And they even argued that this section

96
00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:44.360
was calling for unity. And I'm like, that's great because

97
00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:46.800
if you go to Ephesians chapter four and you read

98
00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:51.720
verse three endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit

99
00:05:51.800 --> 00:05:54.319
and the bond of peace, and I'm like, okay, here,

100
00:05:54.519 --> 00:05:57.279
even in a four Ephesians four three is saying there's

101
00:05:57.319 --> 00:05:59.879
something you have to do. You have to endeavor, endeavor

102
00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:03.040
to keep the unity. You have to endeavor. It's something

103
00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:06.959
we must pursue, it's something we must do. So there

104
00:06:07.079 --> 00:06:11.839
is a And again Ephesians four is the practical exposition,

105
00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:18.279
So practically you must endeavor, not endeavor endeavor, You must

106
00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:22.079
endeavor to maintain that unity. To keep the unity. It's

107
00:06:22.120 --> 00:06:27.639
not something that's natural, it's actually unnatural. So we have

108
00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:31.079
to figure out what is required for us to endeavor

109
00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:35.600
to keep the unity. Now, remember, the practical unity flows

110
00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:39.199
from the spiritual unity. What do I mean by that? Well,

111
00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:42.040
when you put your faith in Christ, right, when you

112
00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:45.399
put your faith in Christ, you are in Christ Jesus.

113
00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:49.319
So you are in Christ. I'm in Christ. Doesn't matter

114
00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:52.560
what country you came from, does not matter, your racial

115
00:06:52.600 --> 00:06:56.439
background does not matter, your gender doesn't matter anything. We

116
00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:00.160
are one in Christ spiritually. Or we could use the

117
00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:06.680
word positionally. Now that positional reality we must endeavor to

118
00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:13.079
live out practically. That's the again, that's the Christian life. Positionally,

119
00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:16.120
you are a new creature. Old things are passed away,

120
00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:19.399
all things have become new. Positionally, you're perfect and holy

121
00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:23.439
because of imputed righteousness. Positionally, you're perfectly obedient because Christ

122
00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:27.199
obedient obedience has been accredited to your account. That is

123
00:07:27.240 --> 00:07:31.079
true positionally. Now, practically we have to endeavor to live

124
00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:33.199
out even though it's not going to be anywhere close

125
00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:37.800
to perfect. We try to live out some level of

126
00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:42.560
reality of what is true positionally. So positionally we are

127
00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:47.639
one in Christ. Positionally we are unified. Practically we have

128
00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:50.519
to endeavor to keep that. Now what is required for

129
00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:53.000
us to endeavor to keep that unity? Well, I believe

130
00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:56.079
the text lays it all out. Look at Ephesians four one.

131
00:07:56.800 --> 00:08:00.279
I Paul speaking therefore the prisoner of the Lord, wanted

132
00:08:00.279 --> 00:08:01.879
to do a lot of work on the word prisoner.

133
00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:04.240
But we've never we've never gotten a chance to get

134
00:08:04.279 --> 00:08:06.399
to that. All right, But I therefore the prisoner of

135
00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:10.600
the Lord beseech you. Now, Paul's like, okay, I beseech you.

136
00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:13.959
I beg beg you. I played with you. Look at this.

137
00:08:14.279 --> 00:08:16.759
To walk worthy of the calling which you were called,

138
00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:19.959
walk worthy of the calling which you were called. We

139
00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:23.519
were called with a holy calling, with a sovereign calling,

140
00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:26.399
with an eternal calling, with a gracious calling, with a

141
00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:30.160
loving calling. And so now we that is true. Now

142
00:08:30.199 --> 00:08:32.879
we are to try to walk and practice worthy of it.

143
00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:36.240
We're never going to come close. We're only worthy in Christ.

144
00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:39.279
But practically we endeavor to do so. Then look what

145
00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:44.360
happens with all Now here's the characteristics and the attributes

146
00:08:44.600 --> 00:08:47.480
that are very important to walking worthy. When we say

147
00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:50.360
walk worthy, we immediately say, well, don't do this and

148
00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:52.879
don't watch this and dress this way. That's not what's

149
00:08:52.919 --> 00:08:58.639
given immediately. It gives us these very important characteristics and attributes. Right,

150
00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:05.200
you're ready, lowlyess, gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one

151
00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:10.639
another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity. If you

152
00:09:10.759 --> 00:09:15.159
want to keep the unity practically, what is required is

153
00:09:15.159 --> 00:09:20.200
that we maintain and have these characteristics in these attributes.

154
00:09:20.200 --> 00:09:22.879
And what are they? I told you to write them down.

155
00:09:22.919 --> 00:09:28.000
The first one is a lowliness, the second one is gentleness,

156
00:09:28.039 --> 00:09:31.080
the third is long suffering, the next is bearing with

157
00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:34.840
one another in love. Those are the attributes. And remember

158
00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:40.320
I told you to write them down and to think

159
00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:42.519
about them. I know, I know, it feels like it's

160
00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:44.559
been six months since we talked about this, but we

161
00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:47.559
needed to circle back. We need to finish this. Like

162
00:09:47.639 --> 00:09:50.639
if you're gonna do a conference on Ephesians four about

163
00:09:50.919 --> 00:09:55.320
one faith, one this, one this, and we need unity, Well,

164
00:09:55.320 --> 00:10:00.360
you can't just tell everyone have unity. Just remember there's

165
00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:05.480
one faith, one God, one baptism. That's just giving them

166
00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:09.759
the philological motivation for it. But the philological motivation for

167
00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:13.440
it flows from Ephesians one, two and three, So you

168
00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:15.240
would really have to go back to Ephesians one, two

169
00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:19.519
and three to get the philological basis for this idea

170
00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:22.960
of one God, one faith. But even if you're not

171
00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:26.519
going to do that, what you really need to do is, like, okay, guys,

172
00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:29.399
before we talk about the fact that there's one God,

173
00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:32.519
one faith, one baptism, and we need to have unity. Well,

174
00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:35.080
what to endeavor to keep this unity, to endeavor to

175
00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:39.440
maintain this unity, to endeavor to even experience this unity.

176
00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:42.840
What we must determine is we have to find a

177
00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:47.080
way for these specific attributes and characteristics to be developed

178
00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:49.679
in our life, because without it, you're never going to

179
00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:52.799
have unity. And what are they again? What are they?

180
00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:58.639
Class Number one lowliness, Number two gentleness in the New

181
00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:04.519
King James, makeness in the King James. So lowliness, gentleness,

182
00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:08.840
long suffering, and then bearing with one another in love.

183
00:11:10.919 --> 00:11:17.919
Those are the attributes that we desperately, desperately need. So

184
00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:22.120
let me quickly remind you of lowliness. Right, Remember, lowliness

185
00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:25.639
comes from a very interesting Greek word, a very interesting

186
00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:28.639
Greek word. It's this Greek word lowliness comes from this

187
00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:31.120
Greek word. Everybody, remember this one. This is worth, This

188
00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:34.080
is worth like you know, fifty dollars if you can

189
00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:35.399
remember it, remember.

190
00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:42.279
This strong g fivey twelve tapai now for rasune, tapai

191
00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:43.720
now frasune.

192
00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:47.840
Tapa noaf rasune, Tapa naff rasune. If I look at it,

193
00:11:47.879 --> 00:11:51.639
I can do pretty good. Tapa noaf rasune. That's that's

194
00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:53.960
worth fifty dollars. If you just walk around the house

195
00:11:53.960 --> 00:11:58.320
today going top tapa noof rasune, topof not rasune. Just

196
00:11:58.519 --> 00:12:00.720
keep walking around saying it. Say if you say it too,

197
00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:02.320
fashion'll mess it up. You got to go really be

198
00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:05.840
You got to be very intentional in saying it, tapa

199
00:12:05.960 --> 00:12:08.960
not rasune. Like if you say it intentionally, I think

200
00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:10.679
you can get But you need to go around today

201
00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:12.960
saying it over and over and over. But you need

202
00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:16.320
to say the word so that you remember the characteristic

203
00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:22.639
and the attribute. Remember this word tappa rasune is used

204
00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:26.600
seven times. It's translated humility three times, humbleness of mine

205
00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:29.600
one time, humility of mine one time, lowliness one time,

206
00:12:29.639 --> 00:12:35.639
and lowliness of mind. The strongest definition is humiliation of mind,

207
00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:42.480
humiliation of mind, modesty, humbleness of mind, a lowliness of mind.

208
00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:45.240
It really the outline of biblical usage is really three

209
00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:51.840
having a humble opinion of oneself, Having a humble opinion

210
00:12:52.039 --> 00:12:55.519
of oneself. If you want to endeavor to keep unity,

211
00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:59.080
if you want to walk worthy of the calling, then

212
00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:05.240
you must maintain a humble opinion of oneself. And I

213
00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:08.240
think this idea of a humble opinion of oneself is

214
00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:13.840
really deals with your spiritual understanding of yourself. See a

215
00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:16.840
humble opinion of oneself. You're not gonna be like the

216
00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:19.840
Pharisees and the Sadducees, where you say, I think the

217
00:13:20.200 --> 00:13:24.399
God that I'm not like the homosexual. I think the

218
00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:28.480
God that I'm not like the coveteousness one, the one

219
00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:31.320
who covets. I'm not like the glutton. I'm not like

220
00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:34.799
the slothful. I'm not like the sloughtful person. I'm not

221
00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.279
like the No. No, no, no, that's that's not this

222
00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:43.720
idea of loneliness. No, the idea of humble, a humble

223
00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:48.399
opinion of oneself. Here's the key. You are more aware.

224
00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:55.159
You are more bothered about your own sin, your own

225
00:13:55.240 --> 00:14:03.080
spiritual shortcomings, than you are of anyone else's. You're more

226
00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:06.720
bothered by your own. You're willing to admit your own.

227
00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:11.399
Whenever you see anyone else's failure, your first thought is

228
00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:15.440
how you can relate to said failure. When you see

229
00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:18.720
someone else's sin, you immediately think of how you can

230
00:14:18.759 --> 00:14:20.600
relate to it. You may not be able to relate

231
00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:23.480
to the practice, but you may be able to relate

232
00:14:23.559 --> 00:14:28.600
to it. Internally, you see your own, and even if

233
00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:31.159
you can't relate to their sin at all, you'll be

234
00:14:31.240 --> 00:14:35.600
quick to it. No, you've got your own. And this

235
00:14:35.639 --> 00:14:38.440
is why I get so bothered by so much preaching

236
00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:41.159
in the American Church, because the American Church loves to

237
00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:45.320
go them, they them, and it's always about those people

238
00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:48.960
though those and we are always yelling and screaming about

239
00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:52.399
those outside of the church. Inside the church, we act

240
00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:54.519
like we're all perfect. Now we say, oh no, we

241
00:14:54.519 --> 00:14:56.639
don't admit that, we admit we're sinners. Then why are

242
00:14:56.639 --> 00:14:59.240
all the sermons always about them? And they and them?

243
00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:01.720
And how about? It should be about us and you

244
00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:05.600
and I about me? It's about we. It should be

245
00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:12.600
about us. If we're going to have unity, we must

246
00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:16.440
maintain a humble opinion of one's self. Second, a deep

247
00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:23.000
sense of one's moral littleness. This Greek word that's translated

248
00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:26.279
lowliness means you will have a deep sense of your

249
00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:29.600
own moral littleness. You'll know your own littleness when it

250
00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:35.639
comes to morality. And number three modesty, humility, loneliness of mind. Now,

251
00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:39.679
we did an entire hour on that one, so that

252
00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:49.919
means today we come to the second one, gentleness or meekness. Now,

253
00:15:49.960 --> 00:15:53.120
are you ready to try to dig into this? Now?

254
00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:55.080
I know that was about a fifteen minute review, and

255
00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:57.000
I apologize for that, but I want to get us

256
00:15:57.039 --> 00:15:59.559
all back on the same page. Okay, I gotta get

257
00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:02.039
myself on the same page because I'm just gonna be

258
00:16:02.039 --> 00:16:06.039
honest with you. I haven't given him much thought. I

259
00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:07.919
kind of moved on, like I was like, Okay, we're

260
00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:10.840
working on Ephesians. We're working on Ephesians. We're working on Ephesians.

261
00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:12.320
And then I was just kind of like, all right now,

262
00:16:12.679 --> 00:16:15.120
I'm just moving on. We didn't really come close to

263
00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:22.440
finishing this. Can you imagine what your family would look like?

264
00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:24.320
Can you imagine what your church would look like if

265
00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:34.600
everyone truly had lowliness of mind, where we all had

266
00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:38.879
a humble opinion of oneself, We all had a very deep,

267
00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:43.679
deep deep sense of our own moral littleness, and we

268
00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:52.519
had modesty and humility and lowliness of mind. Now the

269
00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:55.639
next one, I'm going to go back to the anti linear.

270
00:16:56.480 --> 00:17:02.240
The next one again is translated meekness or gintness, meekness

271
00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:07.079
or gentleness. It comes from this Greek word. Are you ready?

272
00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:09.880
Here's the Greek word.

273
00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:16.759
Strong g forty two thirty six pratase, pratase.

274
00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:20.920
Pra atas, pra ATase, pra atas. Much easier to say

275
00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:24.799
pra atas, not as much fun, but much easier to

276
00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:28.039
say pra a tastes. Now this one is used nine times,

277
00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:33.359
nine times. It's translated meekness, all right, strongest definition gentleness

278
00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:41.319
by implication humility or meekness. All right, gentleness, mildness, meekness.

279
00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:45.799
Seems pretty straight forward. So let's do some work on

280
00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:48.759
this and see what we can find again. Ephesians chapter four.

281
00:17:49.079 --> 00:17:51.599
All right, these are things that are required to walk worthy.

282
00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:53.279
These are things that are required if we're going to

283
00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:56.480
keep unity. Right. We need lowliness, which we just spent

284
00:17:56.759 --> 00:18:02.160
a fifteen minutes talking about, and then we need meekness, gentleness,

285
00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:05.640
meekness or gentleness all right. The Greek word does not

286
00:18:05.720 --> 00:18:08.000
give us a lot, does not give us a lot

287
00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:09.839
to go on, So let's do a little bit of

288
00:18:09.880 --> 00:18:13.759
work here, right. Gentleness, often translated from the Greek word,

289
00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:17.079
which we've already looked at, refers to all right, here

290
00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:18.519
we go. This is kind of what it refers to,

291
00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:27.440
a quality of mildness, humility, and meekness. So clearly this,

292
00:18:28.200 --> 00:18:32.559
I think if lowliness kind of gives you that humble

293
00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:36.920
way of thinking, and I think this is kind of

294
00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:41.160
building upon it. It's kind of like lowliness to me

295
00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:48.039
in some ways lowliness should lead to meekness or gentleness. Right,

296
00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:50.480
So this is still dealing with humility, but I think

297
00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:54.720
it's dealing with with a practical impact of a humble mind,

298
00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:58.680
I think. So let's see if this if a number

299
00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:02.359
of sources agrees with this, disagrees now here. Now this

300
00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:06.680
is where it gets very practical. This meekness or gentleness

301
00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:09.680
is described, at least by one source, it is the

302
00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:19.480
ability to remain calm and composed in the face of provocation. Wow,

303
00:19:20.839 --> 00:19:26.920
the ability to remain calm and composed and the face

304
00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:37.880
of being provoked. See lowliness, Is that true? Humility, that

305
00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:41.960
true humility. You are. You are so in a sense

306
00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:46.119
almost broken and brought low because of the awareness of

307
00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:49.640
your own frail to your own sinfulness, your own ungodland.

308
00:19:49.880 --> 00:19:54.279
You're you're brought low. But from that lowliness should then

309
00:19:54.279 --> 00:19:59.519
arise a meekness and a gentleness, where this gives you

310
00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:09.119
the ability to remain calm even when being provoked. All

311
00:20:09.240 --> 00:20:13.000
right there, I just kind of want to just say, well,

312
00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:15.319
we're having some technical difficulties and we're just going to

313
00:20:15.400 --> 00:20:18.200
end this broadcast, and I think nobody really cares about

314
00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:22.640
Ephesians for maybe we should just be done, because I

315
00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:25.960
have to admit to you, I'm not very good at that. See,

316
00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:29.039
my way of thinking is in the face of provocation

317
00:20:29.960 --> 00:20:34.480
and being provoked, my way of thinking is I'm going

318
00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:38.880
to respond, not in an equal way, but I'm going

319
00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:42.359
to respond so far above and beyond that by the

320
00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:45.880
time I'm done, that person will never ever even think

321
00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:49.759
of provoking me ever, ever, ever, ever, ever again. I'm

322
00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:52.920
gonna want them to regret provoking me like they have

323
00:20:53.160 --> 00:20:56.400
never regretted it in their entire life. I'm going to

324
00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:00.279
go for total annihilation and destruction. But see that not

325
00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:03.720
show lowliness does it, and it definitely doesn't show meekness

326
00:21:03.799 --> 00:21:13.440
or gentleness. It is to be considerate and carrying towards

327
00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:28.160
others and to avoid harshness and speech and action. Now,

328
00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:31.119
the thing with the Bible, though it just looks, make

329
00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:37.759
sure this is very clear, the Bible also would allow

330
00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:42.480
at times a righteous kind of anger and a very righteous,

331
00:21:43.079 --> 00:21:46.920
very blunt response. Now, the thing is typically in men

332
00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:50.559
will go find those passages where John the Baptist is

333
00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:53.680
saying some harsh things, or Jesus is picking up a whip,

334
00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:57.880
and we utilize that to justify our We'll call it

335
00:21:58.079 --> 00:22:02.039
righteous indignation, where we're saying things that ultimately really are

336
00:22:02.119 --> 00:22:05.000
not very godly. And the reason Jesus could do that

337
00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:07.039
well because while he was the eternal son of God,

338
00:22:07.079 --> 00:22:09.839
and you know, perfect and righteous and holy and without

339
00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:13.200
a sinful nature, so obviously his way of doing that

340
00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:16.240
would be always something that we probably will never even

341
00:22:16.279 --> 00:22:19.039
come close to pulling off. John the Baptist said a

342
00:22:19.079 --> 00:22:22.759
lot of things we could we could try to justify

343
00:22:22.839 --> 00:22:24.720
our words. I think I think sometimes we try to

344
00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:28.200
justify our actions by pointing to some of these. But

345
00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:30.799
we are called whether whether we like it or not.

346
00:22:31.240 --> 00:22:35.000
We are called to be lowly, a lowliness, and gentle

347
00:22:35.160 --> 00:22:39.160
and meek, which means to be considerate and caring towards

348
00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:43.839
others and to avoid harshness and speech and actions. And

349
00:22:43.880 --> 00:22:48.839
if you've listened to this podcast, you know I'm not

350
00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:53.200
always meek or gentle, and my response because I get

351
00:22:53.319 --> 00:23:03.119
very angry and very frustrated. In Ephesians four, Paul list

352
00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:10.279
gentleness as a crucial attribute for maintaining unity within the

353
00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:14.599
body of Christ. Now, if you want unity anywhere, if

354
00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:18.720
everyone is lowly or lowliness, and everyone is gentle and meek,

355
00:23:19.240 --> 00:23:23.440
there should be a high degree of unity, you would think.

356
00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:29.440
So it is paired with humility, patience, and love, emphasizing

357
00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:31.920
the need for believers to interact with one another in

358
00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:38.599
a manner that fosters peace and cohesion. Now, some of

359
00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:43.119
the characteristics of gentleness, according to one's source self control.

360
00:23:43.559 --> 00:23:48.200
Gentleness involves exercising control over one's emotions, especially anger. It

361
00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:51.559
is the opposite of being easily provoked or reacting impulsively.

362
00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:54.079
So if we're going to be gentle or meek, it

363
00:23:54.200 --> 00:23:58.359
means that we exercise control over our own emotions. We

364
00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:04.720
control our own emotions, especially when being provoked. We do

365
00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:13.440
not react and pulsively, so there's a sense of self

366
00:24:13.480 --> 00:24:16.880
control with the idea of gentleness and meekness. Second, humility,

367
00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:20.880
a gentle person recognizes their own limitations and does not

368
00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:24.880
assert themselves over others. The humility allows them to serve

369
00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:31.960
others without seeking recognition or asserting dominance. See the gentle person.

370
00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:34.720
The meek person recognizes their own limitations. Now, this is

371
00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:38.200
why I believe the gentleness and meekness flows from the lowliness.

372
00:24:38.359 --> 00:24:42.599
If we have lowliness, that already we already more aware

373
00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:45.599
of our own sin. We're already aware of our own

374
00:24:45.640 --> 00:24:49.799
moral littleness, we already understand that, we're willing to admit that.

375
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:53.160
And now that manifests itself in a gentle and meek

376
00:24:53.400 --> 00:25:03.079
attitude where you know your own limitations. I wish many

377
00:25:03.160 --> 00:25:05.240
Christians would be willing to admit their own not only

378
00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:08.319
their own moral littleness, but their own limitations, because so

379
00:25:08.359 --> 00:25:12.079
many times Christians think that they are an expert on everything.

380
00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:16.119
If they want to talk about medical issues, they think

381
00:25:16.119 --> 00:25:18.240
they're an expert, even though they demonstrate they don't have

382
00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:20.839
a clue what they're talking about. You have Christian men

383
00:25:20.839 --> 00:25:22.960
who think that they're experts when it comes to hermoneutics

384
00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:25.839
or theology, and they don't even have any formal education.

385
00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:29.839
But then they will mimic, mock ridicule those who do

386
00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:32.680
have the education and act like that they're smarter and

387
00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:35.559
they know more there and they're the ones who have

388
00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:46.079
the understanding. Well, everyone else are just idiots. Self control

389
00:25:46.200 --> 00:25:50.920
Humility number three consideration for others. Gentleness is marked by

390
00:25:50.920 --> 00:25:53.680
a thoughtful concern for the feelings and well beings of others,

391
00:25:53.880 --> 00:25:56.440
and involves speaking and acting in a way that is

392
00:25:56.519 --> 00:26:02.480
considerate and avoids unnecessary harm. You're gentle and meek, then

393
00:26:02.519 --> 00:26:05.799
you should show that in how you consider other people,

394
00:26:06.119 --> 00:26:09.480
how you think about how you are impacting other people.

395
00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:11.759
Sometimes all we think about is ourselves. We don't think

396
00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:14.599
about well, if I do this, this is what's going

397
00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:19.799
to happen. No, I only worry about me. But see

398
00:26:19.880 --> 00:26:25.319
if your lowly lowliness, then you'll be so broken that

399
00:26:25.400 --> 00:26:29.079
whenever you consider yourself, you will see your own failures,

400
00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:32.839
your own shortcomings, your own sinfulness. But then that should

401
00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:35.160
lead to them a gentleness and meekness, and how you

402
00:26:35.240 --> 00:26:39.119
consider other people, and you are more you're considerate of

403
00:26:39.160 --> 00:26:42.119
other people, You take thought of other people, you may

404
00:26:42.119 --> 00:26:50.160
even put them before yourself. So some of the characteristics

405
00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:53.000
of gentleness is self control. Number two is humility. Number

406
00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:56.680
three is consideration for others, or you're considerate of others.

407
00:26:56.720 --> 00:27:03.880
And next calmness and conflict. A gentle person is able

408
00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:09.480
to maintain peace even in challenging situations. They respond to

409
00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:15.279
conflict with calmness rather than aggression, seeking resolution rather than escalation.

410
00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:25.599
See the gentle the meek person. It's calm and conflict

411
00:27:27.400 --> 00:27:38.079
A man or O me. How do we obtain meekness

412
00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:49.119
and gentleness? I don't know if there's any specific way

413
00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:56.480
I think. I think the key is to maintain I

414
00:27:56.480 --> 00:27:59.759
think loneliness and gentleness and meekness are very much related,

415
00:28:00.039 --> 00:28:02.799
very much connected, right, And I think the only way

416
00:28:02.839 --> 00:28:05.200
to bring us low, the only way to keep us humble,

417
00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:08.079
The only way to bring about gentleness and meekness, I

418
00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:11.680
think requires really two things, is a constant reminder of

419
00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:17.559
the greatness, sovereignty, power of God. Because the more you

420
00:28:17.640 --> 00:28:20.720
see the greatness of God, the more aware you are

421
00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:25.000
of how little and insignificant and small and broken you are.

422
00:28:25.319 --> 00:28:28.039
Right again, I know it's You've heard me say it

423
00:28:28.079 --> 00:28:31.559
a million times. It comes from Calvin's institutes. When we

424
00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:34.000
see God as he truly is, then we see ourselves

425
00:28:34.039 --> 00:28:36.799
as we truly are. We have to see God and

426
00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:40.400
his greatness, which then will demonstrate our littleness. It will,

427
00:28:40.519 --> 00:28:43.880
It will break us, hopefully and humble us. It should,

428
00:28:44.599 --> 00:28:47.400
it should, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the more we know

429
00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:49.920
about God, the more it makes us arrogant. It should

430
00:28:49.960 --> 00:28:55.000
break us. So I think we have to spend much

431
00:28:55.119 --> 00:29:00.200
time acknowledging and studying and meditating on the greatness of God.

432
00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:02.240
And I think this is important. We need to spend

433
00:29:02.359 --> 00:29:09.119
much time acknowledging the reality of us. Christianity is so

434
00:29:09.240 --> 00:29:11.759
much about putting on fig leaves and putting on robes

435
00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:19.400
of self righteousness and pretending, pretending, pretending, pretending, pretending, pretending, pretending, pretending, pretending,

436
00:29:19.680 --> 00:29:24.079
and acting shocked at everyone else's sin and acting horrified

437
00:29:24.279 --> 00:29:27.839
that other people would How dare they do this? You

438
00:29:27.920 --> 00:29:30.880
need to look at yourself. You need to see your

439
00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:37.640
own struggles, your own issues. I know we like to

440
00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:40.279
pretend that we're so great. If we could just be

441
00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:51.440
honest with ourselves. Gentleness is essential and maintaining unity in

442
00:29:51.480 --> 00:29:54.440
the church because it fosters an environment where people feel

443
00:29:54.480 --> 00:29:59.920
respected and valued. It prevents division and promotes harmonious relationships.

444
00:30:00.160 --> 00:30:03.720
Without gentleness, conflicts are more likely to arise, and unity

445
00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:07.119
is harder to maintain. Gentleness is a vital attribute for

446
00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:11.440
Christian unity, characterized by self control, humility, consideration, and calmness.

447
00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:16.400
It is cultivated through prayer, scriptural reflection, and intentional practice

448
00:30:16.519 --> 00:30:19.279
and community support. Now, I didn't go through the ways

449
00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:22.519
as they said to develop it because I'm not completely

450
00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:25.319
convinced that those ways actually develop it. I think what

451
00:30:25.400 --> 00:30:31.119
actually develops because lowliness and meekness and gentleness they're connected. Well,

452
00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:33.200
how are you going to be brought low by seeing

453
00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:37.160
how hot? Again? Isaiah, when he saw God high and

454
00:30:37.240 --> 00:30:40.039
lifted up, then he saw how little he was. Right,

455
00:30:40.079 --> 00:30:42.599
he saw what he really was. That's the When we

456
00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:44.519
see God as he truly is, we see ourselves as

457
00:30:44.599 --> 00:30:46.880
we truly are. And then if we will spend time

458
00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:50.960
actually acknowledging what we are. I don't think. I know.

459
00:30:51.480 --> 00:30:55.160
Church doesn't allow that, right, Church doesn't allow you know,

460
00:30:55.559 --> 00:30:58.480
you're sitting around in a semi circle, goes, So how

461
00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:01.799
was your wig? Well? You know, I spent six hours

462
00:31:01.839 --> 00:31:05.039
on a porn site. That's how my week is going. No,

463
00:31:05.160 --> 00:31:07.640
you can't say that, well, you know I was. I

464
00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:10.079
was thinking how my life would be so much better

465
00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:13.720
if I wasn't married to my stupid husband. No, you

466
00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:17.599
can't say that, well, I have this desire or I

467
00:31:17.680 --> 00:31:19.680
have this, or I was thinking this, or I was

468
00:31:19.720 --> 00:31:22.400
wanting this and I'm sick of this and I'm really

469
00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:25.759
irritated about God about You can't say any of that.

470
00:31:25.880 --> 00:31:29.039
You can't. So everyone puts on their nice little church

471
00:31:29.119 --> 00:31:31.599
clothes and they put on their nice little church smile,

472
00:31:31.839 --> 00:31:34.599
and everyone goes and saying, how you do it? I'm

473
00:31:34.680 --> 00:31:38.680
blessed brother, How you doing? Oh I'm doing so great, sister. Right,

474
00:31:38.759 --> 00:31:42.920
Everyone's like, oh, great, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. The sun

475
00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:47.319
comes up and there's a rainbow of skittles. Everyone's happy.

476
00:31:47.480 --> 00:31:51.720
There's unicorns, there's butterflies. Life is wonderful, life is great.

477
00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:53.200
And then you get in the car and scream and

478
00:31:53.240 --> 00:31:57.720
yell at each other all the way home. Now, I

479
00:31:57.799 --> 00:32:01.079
understand church is not necessarily the place for that honesty

480
00:32:01.119 --> 00:32:04.519
to be to be expressed. I understand that I'm not

481
00:32:04.599 --> 00:32:08.680
talking about making everyone uncomfortable. What I'm saying, though, you

482
00:32:08.920 --> 00:32:12.720
have to be aware of the reality. You've got to

483
00:32:12.839 --> 00:32:18.640
know and not become. Don't convince yourself by the game

484
00:32:18.680 --> 00:32:21.440
you play. Be willing to look in the mirror, going, man,

485
00:32:23.559 --> 00:32:26.519
if people only knew what was inside of me, if

486
00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:33.240
people only knew, and then you take what's inside of you.

487
00:32:33.319 --> 00:32:35.480
It's not necessarily you have to go tell everyone what's

488
00:32:35.480 --> 00:32:37.480
inside of you. The issue is that you are willing

489
00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:41.119
to admit it because then guess what. That brings you low,

490
00:32:43.319 --> 00:32:45.759
and then that should make you meique and gentle towards

491
00:32:45.759 --> 00:32:52.039
others because you've seen the greatness of God and you've

492
00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:55.319
seen the reality of self. The greatness of God and

493
00:32:55.359 --> 00:32:59.240
the reality of Self should bring you low lowliness, and

494
00:32:59.319 --> 00:33:05.640
hopefully from that flows a meek and gentle spirit. Not

495
00:33:05.720 --> 00:33:08.119
saying there's never a time to get upset, not saying

496
00:33:08.119 --> 00:33:10.079
there's never a time to get angry. The Bible also

497
00:33:10.119 --> 00:33:14.039
tells us to be angry and sin not. There is

498
00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:27.880
a place and time. So there's two attributes you need

499
00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:29.480
to put down. You can put rite them on your

500
00:33:29.480 --> 00:33:36.319
refrigerator today. Lowliness gentleness slash meekness don't worry about if

501
00:33:36.319 --> 00:33:40.000
anyone else in your family is maintaining having these attributes

502
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:45.000
of lowliness, meekness, slash gentleness. Worry about yourself. Don't worry

503
00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:48.440
about other people in your church having lowliness, meekness or gentleness.

504
00:33:48.839 --> 00:33:52.799
You demonstrate this is about you. It's not about them

505
00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:56.599
or they. It's about us. It's about me, it's about you,

506
00:33:56.720 --> 00:34:04.160
it's about we. We need this. Christianity locks these attributes.

507
00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:10.039
But you can't tell people, hey, there is one body,

508
00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:12.440
one spirit. Even as you're call you can't go through

509
00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:15.519
all the kind of the philological realities of the oneness

510
00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:17.719
of all these things, because those oneness of all those

511
00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:22.960
things will not matter if the individuals who are called

512
00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:25.119
to endeavor to keep the unity, if we do not

513
00:34:25.239 --> 00:34:28.920
have lowliness, meekness, long suffering for bearing one another in love.

514
00:34:30.199 --> 00:34:32.679
So you could think we need lowliness, we need meekness,

515
00:34:32.719 --> 00:34:38.960
we need long suffering, and we need love. And we're

516
00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:42.039
never going to have these perfectly and Christ see and

517
00:34:42.119 --> 00:34:46.079
Christ there's perfect unity. But we then must endeavor to

518
00:34:46.119 --> 00:34:48.360
take that positional unity and then try to make it

519
00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:57.199
practical to whatever degree that we can. Two thousand years

520
00:34:57.199 --> 00:34:59.960
of Church history shows there's not a lot of lowliness

521
00:35:00.039 --> 00:35:03.159
sometimes within Christianity, and there's not a lot of jeepness,

522
00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:13.599
gentleness and meekness, but we desperately need it now. If

523
00:35:13.599 --> 00:35:16.039
you want to continue to work on Ephesians four, we'll

524
00:35:16.079 --> 00:35:18.599
continue to go through Efusians four, reading it over and

525
00:35:18.639 --> 00:35:23.039
over and over. Remember everything in Epusians four find its counterpart,

526
00:35:23.039 --> 00:35:27.400
its connection. Chapters one through three is the philological exposition, four, five,

527
00:35:27.400 --> 00:35:30.840
and six is the practical exposition. The practical must be

528
00:35:30.840 --> 00:35:33.639
connected to the philological, and one, two and three right.

529
00:35:34.159 --> 00:35:36.800
Make sure you're listening to sermons. Remember I told you

530
00:35:36.840 --> 00:35:38.840
to listen to the Salt and Light Conference of twenty

531
00:35:38.880 --> 00:35:40.760
twenty four. Listen to all of those messages. I think

532
00:35:40.800 --> 00:35:44.239
there was thirteen. You can just look up random sermons

533
00:35:44.239 --> 00:35:46.400
for the sermon's two point oh app challenge on Ephesians

534
00:35:46.400 --> 00:35:49.199
four if you so desire. But I really want you

535
00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:52.440
to focus on these attributes lowliness, meekness, lung, suffering, and

536
00:35:52.480 --> 00:36:00.280
then love. Now I could probably say more about gentlenessess,

537
00:36:00.280 --> 00:36:02.239
I probably could do a better job, but I think

538
00:36:02.239 --> 00:36:07.079
we'll stop right there and we will try to finish

539
00:36:07.159 --> 00:36:11.760
this up. At least those attributes. At least those attributes.

540
00:36:11.800 --> 00:36:14.199
Maybe we'll do more work on Ephesians four. We will see,

541
00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:17.199
but at least want those attributes very well known. All right,

542
00:36:17.239 --> 00:36:20.320
I'll stop there. Thank you so much for listening. I

543
00:36:20.400 --> 00:36:23.039
greatly appreciate it. I hope you will continue to work

544
00:36:23.039 --> 00:36:26.880
on Ephesians for and we will see what else the

545
00:36:26.960 --> 00:36:30.840
day has for us. Tomorrow Victory Baptist Church. Primarily, I

546
00:36:30.840 --> 00:36:32.800
think it's going to be a Romans day. I think

547
00:36:32.960 --> 00:36:34.559
it's going to be looking at the word therefore in

548
00:36:34.559 --> 00:36:36.800
the Book of Romans. I know we need to finish

549
00:36:36.840 --> 00:36:39.639
up the eschatology, but I may use both hours for

550
00:36:39.719 --> 00:36:45.079
that tomorrow. That therefore I want to do. I wanted

551
00:36:45.079 --> 00:36:50.280
to do a little bit more work on scrupulosity. Scrupulosity

552
00:36:50.360 --> 00:36:53.360
I think is I think that concept is far more

553
00:36:53.400 --> 00:36:58.599
important than anyone who knows. There was very few contacts

554
00:36:58.639 --> 00:37:01.000
about it. I don't think anyone else was impressed with

555
00:37:01.039 --> 00:37:05.400
the scrupulosity discussion. I feel like it's absolutely critical. But

556
00:37:06.199 --> 00:37:09.840
we we'll see. So maybe tomorrow we'll just do at

557
00:37:09.880 --> 00:37:12.599
the church. It'll just be all Romans, and then we'll

558
00:37:12.599 --> 00:37:14.880
see where else we'll go. But I think we may

559
00:37:14.880 --> 00:37:17.360
talk about scrupulosity again, I feel like we do, and

560
00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:20.199
obviously we'll continue to work on Ephesians. You've got all

561
00:37:20.239 --> 00:37:22.880
your assignments for Romans, so I already gave you your

562
00:37:22.920 --> 00:37:25.679
assignments for Romans. Hopefull you already started on that. So

563
00:37:26.039 --> 00:37:28.559
all right, with all that said, everyone have a great Saturday,

564
00:37:29.440 --> 00:37:31.280
and may God bless you as you read and study

565
00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:32.880
his word.