1 00:00:00,030 --> 00:00:04,580 Please open your Bibles to First Corinthians, First Corinthians chapter five, 2 00:00:04,580 --> 00:00:10,349 beginning in verse nine. Paul writes, "I wrote you in my letter not to associate with 3 00:00:10,349 --> 00:00:17,100 "immoral people. I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world or 4 00:00:17,100 --> 00:00:22,230 "with the covetous and swindlers or with idolaters, for then you would have to go 5 00:00:22,230 --> 00:00:27,090 "out of this world. But actually I wrote to you not to associate with any 6 00:00:27,090 --> 00:00:33,090 "so-called brother if he is an immoral person or covetous or an idolater or a 7 00:00:33,090 --> 00:00:40,739 "reviler or a drunkard or a swindler. Not even to eat with such a one." One of the 8 00:00:40,739 --> 00:00:45,180 greatest dilemmas faced by every Christian and one that probably causes 9 00:00:45,180 --> 00:00:51,930 the most stress in a Christian's life is the problem of living a holy and a pure 10 00:00:51,930 --> 00:01:01,109 life in a world that is unholy and impure. The problem, as Dave Knutson, a 11 00:01:01,109 --> 00:01:05,580 Bible professor at Great Lakes Bible College says, is the following, and I 12 00:01:05,580 --> 00:01:12,150 quote, "Surrounded by the world, living in the world, and participating fully in the 13 00:01:12,150 --> 00:01:19,950 "human experience, how can we avoid becoming worldly?" Good question. The 14 00:01:19,950 --> 00:01:24,840 answer to this problem is provided by Paul the Apostle in his epistle to the 15 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:31,079 Corinthians, especially chapter five, verses nine to 13. We have to understand that Paul 16 00:01:31,079 --> 00:01:37,500 was writing to a church located in a very immoral and worldly city, the city 17 00:01:37,500 --> 00:01:44,700 of Corinth, located in Greece, filled with idolatry and sexual immorality. For 18 00:01:44,700 --> 00:01:50,880 example, to Corinthianize something meant to pollute it or to debase it. So 19 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:55,979 evil was the reputation of this city that if somebody wanted to make an 20 00:01:55,979 --> 00:01:59,850 expression that something was bass and ugly, they would say, oh you've Corinthianized 21 00:01:59,850 --> 00:02:08,190 that thing, so much was their negative reputation in 22 00:02:08,190 --> 00:02:12,090 the world. So Paul deals with the very real problem 23 00:02:12,090 --> 00:02:16,620 of Christians trying to live holy lives, especially Christians who 24 00:02:16,620 --> 00:02:22,290 were living in this terrible city of Corinthian. To live holy lives surrounded 25 00:02:22,290 --> 00:02:28,950 by an unholy and wicked environment, not easy to do. His answer to this dilemma is 26 00:02:28,950 --> 00:02:35,280 that those who desire to live a holy life have to actually confront the 27 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:41,459 wickedness and the worldliness around them. In other words, Paul would be saying 28 00:02:41,459 --> 00:02:49,230 in today's jargon, the best defense is offense. In biblical terms there are 29 00:02:49,230 --> 00:02:54,239 three ways to confront and thus separate ourselves from the world and its 30 00:02:54,239 --> 00:02:59,970 immorality and evil, its disbelief and wickedness, or whatever you want to call 31 00:02:59,970 --> 00:03:06,989 it. Three ways to separate yourself from the world. Way number one, confront the 32 00:03:06,989 --> 00:03:14,069 world in judgment. Confront the world in judgment. I go back to our passage in First 33 00:03:14,069 --> 00:03:19,410 Corinthians five, and read verse 12, he says, "For what have I to do with judging 34 00:03:19,410 --> 00:03:23,430 "outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within 35 00:03:23,430 --> 00:03:30,930 "the church? But those who are outside, God judges." We sometimes think that 36 00:03:30,930 --> 00:03:36,299 this is some kind of passive stance, that Paul is proposing here. We think 37 00:03:36,299 --> 00:03:40,410 that he is advocating that we should ignore the world's evil and injustice 38 00:03:40,410 --> 00:03:47,069 and create some kind of fortress church of Christ. We think that 39 00:03:47,069 --> 00:03:51,750 the world can do what it does and so long as we're safely locked into our 40 00:03:51,750 --> 00:03:58,519 comfortable religious routines, we're safe. God's going to judge them, we're safe. 41 00:03:58,519 --> 00:04:03,888 And we do everything that we need to do. We're here. Shut the doors. 42 00:04:03,888 --> 00:04:09,810 Turn out the lights. We're safe. After all, we're not of 43 00:04:09,810 --> 00:04:16,919 the world. God will judge them later on. All we need to do is carry on with our 44 00:04:16,919 --> 00:04:22,710 brotherhood concerns and God will work it out in the end. Well this kind of 45 00:04:22,710 --> 00:04:27,360 attitude is why we have so little impact on the world at large. 46 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:33,240 This is why we, and I say, in the churches of Christ, we have not produced a single 47 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:39,449 voice since Alexander Campbell, who has had credibility on a national stage, let 48 00:04:39,449 --> 00:04:44,759 alone a world stage of opinion. This is why every other religious group around 49 00:04:44,759 --> 00:04:50,009 us continues to expand and grow, while we dwindle. Because we do not recognize 50 00:04:50,009 --> 00:04:56,159 the fact that part of not being of the world includes a denunciation of that 51 00:04:56,159 --> 00:05:04,620 world in no uncertain terms. So when Paul says, God will judge, or what do I have to 52 00:05:04,620 --> 00:05:10,169 do with judging outsiders. He's not abandoning his duty to call on men to 53 00:05:10,169 --> 00:05:16,560 receive Christ or be lost. He's not forsaking his call to preach against the 54 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,759 rulers and the powers and the world forces of this darkness, which have 55 00:05:20,759 --> 00:05:25,469 their root in the spiritual realm, but they're very concrete expression in the 56 00:05:25,469 --> 00:05:30,810 physical world. In other words, the evil in this world is manipulated by the evil 57 00:05:30,810 --> 00:05:36,000 that's in the spiritual world. He's not backing away from calling on kings to 58 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:41,639 repent and pagans to abandon their idols. He's acknowledging the fact that his 59 00:05:41,639 --> 00:05:48,930 task is not to judge the world, his task is to warn the world that it will be 60 00:05:48,930 --> 00:05:55,379 judged by God. That's his task. In the last 50 years or so we've retreated so 61 00:05:55,379 --> 00:06:01,830 far into ourselves for fear of offending or seeming intolerant or judgmental, that 62 00:06:01,830 --> 00:06:07,319 we've tolerated just about anything without comment or complaint. In Canada 63 00:06:07,319 --> 00:06:12,240 and the United States it's easy to avoid exposing the injustice and the 64 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:17,639 immorality and the ungodliness of the world, because we ourselves as Christians, 65 00:06:17,639 --> 00:06:26,789 we're rich. Marty mentioned that this morning. Great wealth seduces the church 66 00:06:26,789 --> 00:06:31,860 into ignoring the corruption around it, because we secretly crave our place in 67 00:06:31,860 --> 00:06:37,110 peace and quiet here in the world. The danger is that if we don't speak up to 68 00:06:37,110 --> 00:06:40,720 reveal the judgment of God when this is an unpopular message 69 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:45,850 during a time of prosperity, we will have no credibility to preach the same 70 00:06:45,850 --> 00:06:51,220 message at another time when, because of national calamity or trouble, people will 71 00:06:51,220 --> 00:06:58,390 be more disposed to hearing it. So the first step in not being of the world 72 00:06:58,390 --> 00:07:06,850 that we live in, is to act as its conscience. Just as our conscience is in 73 00:07:06,850 --> 00:07:12,520 our bodies, but not of our bodies at times. As Paul says in Romans 74 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:19,060 2:15, "The conscience bearing witness accusing or defending." Our conscience is 75 00:07:19,060 --> 00:07:25,930 inside of us, but is not part of us. Bearing witness to the world that God 76 00:07:25,930 --> 00:07:31,510 will judge it through Christ is the act that continually separates us from the 77 00:07:31,510 --> 00:07:37,330 world, while we live in the world. Confronting the world by exposing it's 78 00:07:37,330 --> 00:07:42,310 sure judgment through our public preaching and teaching, through our holy 79 00:07:42,310 --> 00:07:46,870 conduct, through our faithful service, through our loving attitude, through our 80 00:07:46,870 --> 00:07:52,870 warning of the consequences of sin and disbelief. This will not only identify 81 00:07:52,870 --> 00:08:01,930 who we are in the world, it will also inoculate us against the world. A second 82 00:08:01,930 --> 00:08:10,450 way to confront the world is to confront the world in the church. Paul says, "Remove 83 00:08:10,450 --> 00:08:17,260 "the wicked man from among yourselves." We talk a lot about sin in the 84 00:08:17,260 --> 00:08:24,250 world, but not about sin in the church. And we do even less about the sin that 85 00:08:24,250 --> 00:08:30,010 exists in the church. Note that in this passage Paul was clearly encouraging 86 00:08:30,010 --> 00:08:35,469 these brethren in Corinth to take action against worldliness that was existing 87 00:08:35,469 --> 00:08:43,120 inside the church. There are many such admonitions in the New Testament, Matthew 88 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:48,910 18, verse 15 and forward is the most familiar one in dealing with a one on 89 00:08:48,910 --> 00:08:53,020 one issue of sinfulness and personal offenses. When Jesus says, "If your 90 00:08:53,020 --> 00:08:55,090 "brother offends you, go to your brother. And if he 91 00:08:55,090 --> 00:09:00,010 "doesn't accept you, bring others with you." There's an example of dealing with 92 00:09:00,010 --> 00:09:07,480 sinfulness in the church. Romans 16, verse 17, Paul instructs the church to expose 93 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:13,210 and turn away from those who cause division and roadblocks to faith. There's 94 00:09:13,210 --> 00:09:18,820 an example of dealing with sin inside the church. First Corinthians 15, 95 00:09:18,820 --> 00:09:23,350 First Corinthians five, rather, verses one to eight are Paul's instructions on dealing with 96 00:09:23,350 --> 00:09:30,430 sexually immoral conduct in the church at Corinth. Galatians 6:1 provides 97 00:09:30,430 --> 00:09:36,960 instructions on the process of restoring a fallen brother to spiritual health and 98 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:42,850 healing. Why? Because a brother was acting sinfully in the church. Second 99 00:09:42,850 --> 00:09:47,410 Thessalonians 3:6 there is the command to withdraw from those who are 100 00:09:47,410 --> 00:09:52,210 disobedient to the teachings of Christ and to admonish such people. Which people? 101 00:09:52,210 --> 00:09:58,090 Those people in the church. First Timothy five, verses one to 20 provides Timothy with 102 00:09:58,090 --> 00:10:03,070 instructions on how to deal with unruly members of all ages, including elders. 103 00:10:03,070 --> 00:10:10,420 Where? In the church. In Titus chapter three, verse 10, Paul advises Titus to deal 104 00:10:10,420 --> 00:10:17,170 sharply with false teachers. False teachers who were teaching where? In the 105 00:10:17,170 --> 00:10:23,100 church. Even the Apostle John provides a warning to members of the church in 106 00:10:23,100 --> 00:10:28,300 protecting themselves and their households from heretics, Second John verse 10. 107 00:10:28,300 --> 00:10:33,100 So why have I gone to the trouble to make reference to all of these 108 00:10:33,100 --> 00:10:42,700 scriptures? Well, I've done that in order to drive home two important points: first 109 00:10:42,700 --> 00:10:48,700 of all, the New Testament recognizes that there are all kinds of situations that 110 00:10:48,700 --> 00:10:56,110 require discipline in the church, this includes personal conflicts, immoral 111 00:10:56,110 --> 00:11:03,120 behavior, false teaching, divisiveness, personal faithlessness, and the list goes on and on. 112 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:09,200 Not every solution and every response is the same. For example, 113 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:14,600 the way to deal with a false teacher is different than the way to deal with a 114 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:21,260 brother who has personally offended you, not the same process. But there are times 115 00:11:21,260 --> 00:11:26,060 when discipline is needed and the Bible provides instruction for each different 116 00:11:26,060 --> 00:11:32,840 situations. The key is to identify the true and correct problem and use the 117 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:39,500 proper New Testament teaching to apply discipline. Apply discipline, where? In the 118 00:11:39,500 --> 00:11:45,200 church. The second point about discipline that I'm wanting to make is, that 119 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:50,050 once you've identified the need for discipline, you have to follow through. 120 00:11:50,050 --> 00:11:54,680 Not enough to sit there and wrangle about oh so-and-so brother, why, how could 121 00:11:54,680 --> 00:11:58,280 he have done that? He left his wife, he's living with his other one, he 122 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:05,660 even comes to church sometimes. That does no good. Once you've identified the 123 00:12:05,660 --> 00:12:11,600 actual need for discipline, there's got to be follow-through. A child will be 124 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:17,960 spoiled without proper discipline and so will a church. As a parent, a large 125 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:23,330 portion of any parenting duty involves the meeting out of discipline that is 126 00:12:23,330 --> 00:12:30,680 fair and that is loving. I mean, it gets tiring at times, right moms? You wish they 127 00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:37,400 would just grow up. You might be tempted to slack off on the youngest child, but 128 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:41,570 good parents are active in discipline, because they love their children, all of 129 00:12:41,570 --> 00:12:48,230 them. Why hasn't this concept been transferred over into the church? The 130 00:12:48,230 --> 00:12:52,520 responsibility for this lack of discipline may lie with two groups in 131 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:55,850 the church at large. I'm not saying, here, necessarily, but 132 00:12:55,850 --> 00:13:00,080 usually there are two groups who are responsible for the discipline or for 133 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:04,790 the lack of discipline are, of course, preachers who may fail to preach and 134 00:13:04,790 --> 00:13:09,440 carefully teach on this subject; and the other times it may be elders, who are 135 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:14,840 afraid of disturbing the status quo in the local congregation. If we cannot 136 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:19,980 define our other worldliness by our conduct in the church, 137 00:13:19,980 --> 00:13:26,610 what witness do we have for those who are in the darkness without Christ? If we 138 00:13:26,610 --> 00:13:31,290 cannot even denounce and correct those who have confessed Jesus, but they live 139 00:13:31,290 --> 00:13:37,500 outside of Christ, what possible use are we to God in announcing His judgement 140 00:13:37,500 --> 00:13:42,210 about the world? How can we preach the judgment is coming, repent, prepare. When 141 00:13:42,210 --> 00:13:48,030 we do not announce those things to ourselves. Our only defense against the 142 00:13:48,030 --> 00:13:53,370 world gaining a foothold within the church is too vigorously confront it at 143 00:13:53,370 --> 00:13:59,910 every turn. It's a painful and difficult process, but it is also the manner in 144 00:13:59,910 --> 00:14:08,690 which the spirit continually purifies the Bride of Christ. And then a final way 145 00:14:08,690 --> 00:14:14,160 to confront the world in order to maintain our separateness from it: 146 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:20,550 confront it in the world; confront it in the church; and finally, confront it in 147 00:14:20,550 --> 00:14:26,130 yourself. Paul does not talk about this in this particular passage, but the idea 148 00:14:26,130 --> 00:14:31,080 runs throughout the book. The title for this lesson is quite in line with the 149 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:37,380 true experience of each Christian. Yes, we live in this world and we have to deal 150 00:14:37,380 --> 00:14:43,730 with all of the issues of normal living that others face, others without Christ. 151 00:14:43,730 --> 00:14:50,760 We have to earn a living, we have babies, we amass goods, we enjoy pleasure, we also 152 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:55,680 feel the pain of burying our loved ones. Christians have the same earthly 153 00:14:55,680 --> 00:15:00,540 experience as non-christians, these things are the substance of our 154 00:15:00,540 --> 00:15:06,690 outer experience in this world. But the experience of our inner man, this is very 155 00:15:06,690 --> 00:15:13,230 different. This is very much not of the world. Paul talks about this unique 156 00:15:13,230 --> 00:15:18,570 Christian experience, which is not of this world, in Romans chapter seven, where he 157 00:15:18,570 --> 00:15:25,050 actually explains what he only alludes to in First Corinthians. In Romans seven, Paul 158 00:15:25,050 --> 00:15:30,720 gives us a glimpse into the daily battle that rages within himself, as he pursues 159 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:38,880 the perfection of Christ while still trapped in the imperfect body of his flesh. He 160 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:44,340 gives us a kind of microcosmic view of the constant struggle to maintain the 161 00:15:44,340 --> 00:15:51,330 spiritual, while still firmly held in the material world. Some have entitled 162 00:15:51,330 --> 00:15:59,940 chapter seven of Romans, Saved Yet Struggling. Yes, we are saved. Yes, we are no longer 163 00:15:59,940 --> 00:16:06,030 judged by the system of law, but we are still subject to the effects of the sin 164 00:16:06,030 --> 00:16:13,590 that lingers in our flesh. Yes, Christ is Lord. And yes, the Holy Spirit leads us in 165 00:16:13,590 --> 00:16:21,180 our walk, but the problem is that this regenerated spirit still lives within a 166 00:16:21,180 --> 00:16:29,130 sinful nature. Sin no longer dominates, but it continually challenges the 167 00:16:29,130 --> 00:16:36,180 supremacy of the Spirit of Christ within us. Yes, we are not of the world, but the 168 00:16:36,180 --> 00:16:44,040 world still affects us, because we are in it still for a time. The answer to this 169 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:50,550 dilemma is threefold. One, recognize that the struggle is normal and ongoing for 170 00:16:50,550 --> 00:16:56,130 every Christian. Do not be discouraged that there is sin around you and at 171 00:16:56,130 --> 00:17:02,810 times it affects you and it tempts you. Satan's most useful weapon is 172 00:17:02,810 --> 00:17:08,280 discouragement. Seeing the enormity of the world and the smallness of our 173 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:14,400 personal strength can lead some people to be discouraged and to quit. Secondly, 174 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:20,610 confront personal sin without hesitation. Paul says that it is a struggle because 175 00:17:20,610 --> 00:17:26,430 there's an effort involved. The constant challenge of Satan to dominate 176 00:17:26,430 --> 00:17:32,100 and to overwhelm us must be met with the equally constant faith and reliance on 177 00:17:32,100 --> 00:17:40,020 Jesus Christ who saves us every single day, while we struggle in this world. 178 00:17:40,020 --> 00:17:45,240 Salvation was paid for long ago on the cross of Calvary, but it is renewed 179 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:50,030 every single day through our constant faith in Jesus Christ. Our 180 00:17:50,030 --> 00:17:56,160 constant faith that is constantly challenged by Satan. I've sat in 181 00:17:56,160 --> 00:18:00,120 the pew waiting to get up here and preach and what thought do I get? 182 00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:06,150 Well, some sin that I committed this week, something I should have said that I 183 00:18:06,150 --> 00:18:09,600 didn't say, something I should have not said that I went and said, and this is 184 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:15,090 not 35 seconds before I get up and preach and use God's Word. Who do you 185 00:18:15,090 --> 00:18:28,080 think is doing that to me? We need to accept the fact that we really are in 186 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:36,540 this world and sin is a real thing and it affects everybody. The struggle to 187 00:18:36,540 --> 00:18:41,850 confront the world in ourselves is sometimes painful, but it's easier to 188 00:18:41,850 --> 00:18:48,090 deal with once we understand and accept it for what it really is. The place for 189 00:18:48,090 --> 00:19:02,970 personal and community sinlessness is heaven, but we're not there yet. We are still in this world and 190 00:19:02,970 --> 00:19:10,530 this is not always easy for a spiritual person to deal with. There's a 191 00:19:10,530 --> 00:19:15,270 saying that goes something like this: when you have found your place in the 192 00:19:15,270 --> 00:19:23,700 world, it may simply mean that the world has found its place in you. Confronting 193 00:19:23,700 --> 00:19:29,390 the world in judgment, confronting it when it crops up in the church, 194 00:19:29,390 --> 00:19:35,520 confronting it when it aspires to dominate your spirit personally, this is 195 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:42,330 the aggressive posture needed to remain separate from the world while we live 196 00:19:42,330 --> 00:19:48,300 and breathe in it. So as I close up tonight I want to remind us as we 197 00:19:48,300 --> 00:19:54,270 struggle with this duality of experience, this in the world, not of the world 198 00:19:54,270 --> 00:20:00,420 challenge, that we're not only talking about, but we actually live out each day. 199 00:20:00,420 --> 00:20:08,460 Some practical things that may help. If you recognize at all the experience that 200 00:20:08,460 --> 00:20:12,690 I'm talking about, here's some practical things that may 201 00:20:12,690 --> 00:20:19,920 help. Number one, remember that this is every Christian's struggle. Don't think 202 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:24,690 Paul was unique when he cried out, "Wretched man that I am, who will save me 203 00:20:24,690 --> 00:20:31,860 from this body of death," in Romans 7:14. What he describes and agonizes over is 204 00:20:31,860 --> 00:20:36,930 the struggle of every Christian as we strive to serve Christ in the midst of a 205 00:20:36,930 --> 00:20:44,550 sinful world and with the burden of a weakened flesh. I know exactly what I 206 00:20:44,550 --> 00:20:55,170 want to be. I see exactly the goal that I want to reach. I am aware exactly of the 207 00:20:55,170 --> 00:21:04,850 way that I want to conduct myself in every situation, I just can't get there, 208 00:21:04,850 --> 00:21:14,670 the way I want to get there. This is not an excuse for lukewarmness, but it does 209 00:21:14,670 --> 00:21:19,710 help us to understand why even knowing and wanting to do our very best for 210 00:21:19,710 --> 00:21:30,660 Christ does not always guarantee the results that we desire. So remember this 211 00:21:30,660 --> 00:21:36,810 is every Christian struggle. Number two, remember that the struggle is 212 00:21:36,810 --> 00:21:46,920 really a sign of spiritual life. Don't be discouraged if what you see in Christ is 213 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:53,490 not always what you accomplish in the world. The fact that you see that there 214 00:21:53,490 --> 00:21:58,890 is a difference, that you desire to be separate from the world, the fact that 215 00:21:58,890 --> 00:22:06,630 for you there is a tension between the two, this is proof that Christ is in you 216 00:22:06,630 --> 00:22:14,340 and leads you and not the world. The unregenerate person, 217 00:22:14,340 --> 00:22:20,700 whether he is an unbeliever or he claims some affiliation with Christ, the 218 00:22:20,700 --> 00:22:29,549 unregenerate person is always easy to spot because he has no struggle, he has 219 00:22:29,549 --> 00:22:38,400 found a way to be comfortable in this world. And then finally, always remember, 220 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:44,789 that God will provide. Paul knew that God did and would provide for his daily 221 00:22:44,789 --> 00:22:50,340 struggle through Jesus Christ. He says so in Romans 7:25 when he answers his own 222 00:22:50,340 --> 00:22:55,020 question about who will save him from his dilemma. And what does he say? 223 00:22:55,020 --> 00:22:59,899 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 224 00:22:59,899 --> 00:23:06,179 Paul had hope because through Christ he had help and encouragement to 225 00:23:06,179 --> 00:23:13,169 deal with the struggle in his life, so he could aspire to the next life. Jesus 226 00:23:13,169 --> 00:23:20,610 Christ judges the world. Jesus Christ purifies the church. And Jesus Christ 227 00:23:20,610 --> 00:23:27,809 guarantees that one day our struggle will be over. So be happy, therefore, 228 00:23:27,809 --> 00:23:33,029 brethren. Rejoice in the constant battle against the world, because it is your 229 00:23:33,029 --> 00:23:36,809 witness to this world and to the world to come 230 00:23:36,809 --> 00:23:44,880 that you do belong to Christ, you do belong to His kingdom. And His kingdom is 231 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:51,330 within you forevermore, amen. If you need to become a disciple of Christ by 232 00:23:51,330 --> 00:23:56,190 repenting of your sins and being baptized in His name or perhaps you need 233 00:23:56,190 --> 00:24:01,529 help and prayer for the daily struggle to remain faithful, then we encourage you 234 00:24:01,529 --> 00:24:08,360 to come now for ministry as we stand and as we sing our song of encouragement.