Be Very Nice

Take your Bibles if you would please and turn to Ephesians chapter 4. We're at the halfway point through this wonderful epistle. I encourage you to turn to Ephesians chapter 4 and read with me verses 1 through 3 here in just a moment. The title for today's message may seem simple, but I intend to prove to you that we need God to be able to fulfill the title of this message, which I've characterized this passage as "Be Very Nice." Be very nice. That's the title of today's, and I think that we can all relate to that. Seems like some Christians are very nice all the time, but maybe some — not anybody in here — would have like this little bubble to where you can block out the Holy Spirit and not be nice. It's called a vehicle, so while you drive sometimes you're not filled with niceness. But I hope to encourage us today to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to characterize your life with the things that are found in this passage.

In this passage we'll see humility. Without humility we will treat people roughly. We'll see patience, and if we're not patient with people we will stress people out. We'll see tolerance and love, and if we are not tolerant and loving with people, they will have a sense of feeling rejected. And so we need the Holy Spirit's power to fill us for us to be able to keep the point of the passage, which is keeping unity in the church.

Before we read the passage, I'd like to say that I had a great time traveling with our men and having men's discipleship all the way up to Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to visit the Library of Charles Spurgeon and to hear Steve Lawson preaching and teaching on the gospel-centered preaching of Charles Spurgeon. It was very enriching, and so that was a wonderful trip there. I encourage you as well to carve out time to have discipleship time with people, men with men, women with women. Also last Sunday we observed the Lord's Supper, and that was so meaningful. And I thank this dear lovely church as congregation for making much of the ordinances. And we dedicate the Lord's Day when we have the Lord's Table — that entire message and entire service is wrapped around reverently observing that ordinance — and I appreciate that so much of you guys.

So today we'll see how Paul instructs the church to keep the unity through these relational characteristics, and also I'll clarify two words in the text that are being redefined and used against you in your Christian walk. Read with me in Ephesians chapter 4, the first three verses: "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you — or urge you — to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

Let's pray together. Father, thank you for Your holy Word, and as we pause and pray and ask You for Your blessings upon the preaching and the communicating and even the hearing — most certainly the hearing of Your Word — I pray that Your will would be done in the hearts and lives of those who hear. May You rebuke and correct and encourage the hearers. May we have hearts wide open to Your Word and hearts closed to the ways of the world. God, we love You, we ask You these things in Christ's name. Amen.

Today, as we find ourselves in chapter 4, there are perhaps in your life, especially mine, moments that are just simply of divine timing. As we find ourselves in chapter 4, this is unmistakably God's will for us to chew on this message today.

Let's start with the word "therefore" in your text. Chapter 4, verse 1: "therefore" means Paul is going to add to his prior objective. So the objective that was established in chapter 1 and chapter 2 is his main idea. He's building upon that. So "therefore" means that Paul is going to add to his objective the main idea, the reason for writing, his purpose, his prior argument. What is that?

And so chapter 3, verse 1 — if you'll turn back to chapter 3, verse 1 — it says, "For this reason, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles." All right, so we're getting closer to this argument. For this reason, chapter 2, verse 14 helps us to see clearly the objectives of chapter 1 and chapter 2 in one verse. Chapter 2, verse 14 says, "For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one."

Now here, Paul includes the theme of chapter 1, which is redemption, sovereign salvation. God has a bride and He will redeem. So soteriology is chapter 1, and chapter 2 is unity between the two groups of the Jews and the Gentiles. And so these two concepts found in this one verse — "For He Himself is our peace, He is our salvation, He has replaced the iniquity inside of us, that original sin has been replaced or imputed with the righteousness of Christ" — that is beautiful. I call it the filthy exchange as described in Isaiah chapter 53. And so now we are united in Christ. Both groups, Gentiles and Jews, are united, and this is something that speaks of peace. Chapter 2, verse 14 speaks of both of these arguments, both of these ideas, in this one verse.

So "Christ is our peace" means the inner hostility in us towards God has been removed and placed on Jesus on the cross. He took on that and He gives us His righteousness. We are made alive, like chapter 2, verse 5 says: "you have been made alive." Our iniquities have been replaced with His righteousness. We're children of God, and this peace is not for a particular race, not for a particular people group, or for those who have lots of money or a noble last name. The peace is for people who would humble themselves and come to Christ by faith and repentance. And so this peace is for any person — red, white, black, brown, tan, pale, albino, cream, burnt like being in the summertime, rich or poor. This salvation is for those who repent and believe.

And so for this Ephesian congregation, it is directed to both groups, the Jews and the Gentiles, which encompasses everybody. So peace in Christ is for both groups, which is to say that salvation is not exclusively for the Jews, which many of them thought, but also is equally for the Gentiles, which means that Christ tasted death for everyone. Hebrews 2:9: "By the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone."

The argument Paul is now building upon is this: salvation in Christ unifies the church. This argument in chapter 1 and chapter 2 is now being built upon at the halfway point in chapter 4. Salvation in Christ unifies both groups in the church. For this reason — "for this reason" is repeated in 3:1 and in 3:14 — and now "therefore" in chapter 4, verse 1, Paul implores the Christian community to walk worthy of this calling. Look in chapter 4, verse 1 again with me: "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called."

This walk is your daily life, your behavior, your daily conduct. That is your walk. We are to exhibit godly characteristics. We are to be dynamic disciples on display for everyone to see God's glory and then recognize that there is a God and come to Jesus and come to Christ and give Him glory. Our walk really matters.

Colossians chapter 1, verse 10: "Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." 1 Thessalonians 2:12 says, "We exhorted each of you and encouraged each of you and charged each of you to walk in a manner worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory." Philippians 1:27 says, "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or I'm absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit and one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel."

And so now this is our walk and we're to be walking worthy. To be walking worthy is the idea that we live in a way that matches our Savior's expectations as attested in His Word. We are Christians, we are united to Christ, and that's a high position. As Christians we're to live up and live our life in a worthy manner that typifies Christ, that displays Christ. We're called to this.

Turn to Romans chapter 8, verse 28. You need to see that this calling is connected to your conduct. We all who are called and have been saved are being conformed to the image of Christ. To be called is to be conformed, and if you're being conformed to the image of Christ then you've been called, you've been saved. Romans 8:28–29 attest to this. This is very important — to see the connection between the called and the conformed. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love God." It could be said this way: God does not work all things for good for all people. He works all things for good for the people who love Him. That's what the Bible says. Do you love Him?

Do you serve Him? Do you love Him with all of your heart and soul and mind and strength? Then and only then does God work all things for your good in His glory. Here it says, "To those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined." We learned that in Ephesians chapter 1, verses 4 and 5. You've been predestined to become what? Conformed to the image of His Son. And so those who are called in verse 28 are also being conformed, verse 29, conformed to the image of His Son so that He would be the firstborn among many believers. And so those who are called are being conformed, and this is the gospel call for all who would repent and believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again. For those who would repent of their sin and believe in that substitutionary atonement — that covering, that salvation that's applied to those who repent and believe — those are the ones who are called and hear God's voice, and they repent and they follow Him.

Now in this text we'll see some points. Go back to Ephesians chapter 4. We're going to see some points here like a shotgun — bang, bang, bang, bang — that just shoot out there what seems to be birdshot, but I'm telling you that it is specific. These points actually are like a rifle. They're specific, and then they build upon one another. This is like a demonstration of how we, the Christians, the church, keep unity in the church. And so these points build up to unity, to preserving unity.

So let's look at point number one: humility keeps unity. Humility keeps unity. In verse 2 it says, "with all humility." Now humility is lowliness of mind. Humility is not weakness. In the Roman world they viewed humility as a weakness, but in the Christian world humility is paradoxically a strength. So contrary to what the world would say, we are meek and mild and gentle and humble at heart. We consider others better than ourselves. We would rather give preferential treatment to even a stranger than to our own selves. This is being very nice — being very nice, being very, very nice.

And so humility will help us to see that we need to be considering others better than ourselves. This is a demonstration of self-restraint. This is a demonstration of self-denial on how Christians are to take up the cross and follow Christ. True Christians crucify the self and they give others preferential treatment, especially when you're driving. Go ahead, you can get in. Just don't hold up a mile of traffic when you're supposed to be driving. That's against the law.

So listen, being humble is very important. Acts chapter 20, verse 19: Paul says he was serving the Lord with all humility. And so as an example, humility is appreciating and listening to others in such a way as to communicate that you value that person over yourself. And this is oftentimes very difficult to do. This is intentional. The desire of your heart to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to live out this fruit of humility is difficult oftentimes to do.

One of our members noticed that when Justin Peters came here and spoke, it was difficult for him to get up these stairs. And then when he got up here, he needed to use the restroom before the preaching hour. And he asked Ken and Donovan to help him go back down the stairs and get to the restroom. And their testimony is that even while he needed to get to the restroom and was pressed for time to get back for the preaching hour, no less than 20 people from here to the bathroom stopped and wanted to talk to him. And the genuine humility that he displayed in giving preferential treatment and listening to the people was obvious to Ken and Donovan. And so humility is important. Humility before each other. The point in the text is that it keeps unity in the church.

James 4:6 says, "God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble." And James 4:10 says, "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and He will exalt you."

And so we see here that humility keeps unity in the church, but humility then is built upon with this next precept. Point number two is that gentleness keeps unity. So humility then produces gentleness. And gentleness is a disposition that resists self-exaltation or self-promotion. Gentleness is something that gives others the sense that you do not value yourself being lifted up. You don't have to make your name known. You don't need people to know that you did that. You don't have to get the glory. In fact, you're gentle with others in such a way that you put people's needs before your own. Gentleness truly is what people inwardly need.

1 Corinthians 4:21 says, "What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod or with love in the spirit of gentleness?" Even the Corinthian church needed this gentleness. Gentleness is meekness. Meekness is not weakness. It's strength under control. If you can harness yourself, if you can harness your emotions and submit and yield to these ways, I promise you, you'll come out on the other end much happier. Meekness is strength under control, and those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit are gentle. Gentleness is a fruit.

And it's easy to respond in a harsh way. You find that true? It's easy to react, right? But gentleness keeps unity in the church, and it is more difficult to do. It is more difficult to bridle that tongue, like James chapter 3 talks about. It's easier just to lash out and say what you think at the moment. But a gentle answer turns away wrath. Proverbs 15:1 says, "But a harsh word stirs up anger." And so this life and death that resides within the tongue — you can either stir anger inside of someone's soul, you can stir a lack of peace, you can rob their peace with your tongue, or you can give them a soft answer, a scriptural answer, and it will turn away wrath.

So gentleness keeps unity. Galatians 5:22 says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness and self-control." Galatians 6:1 says, "Brethren, if any of you is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness." This is something that the Apostle Paul is now using to build upon his premise of true salvation producing true unity, and now it's being lived out through humility and now gentleness to preserve unity in the local church. It's humility plus gentleness.

Point number three is patience. Patience keeps unity in the church. And so from humility and gentleness comes patience. Yeah, it's on down the line. It's hard to have patience, right? Most of us all struggle with patience. Well, there are a few things to work on that produce patience. It's humility, intentional humility, and intentional gentleness, and that skill set and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit now produces within you patience. In the Greek, patience means long-tempered.

It resists reactionary thoughts coming out of your mouth. It resists being quick to anger. In fact, slow to anger — James 1:19. And it resists self-gratification. In fact, it embraces delayed gratification. This is patience.

Have you ever walked in a downtown setting before? In my mind, I'm thinking of Hendersonville, North Carolina, and walked by this taffy shop where they're making taffy. It's a candy store. You ever seen taffy being made? It just goes and goes and goes — taffy. That should be our patience. Inside of our heart, our patience should be willing and able to be pulled and stretched and tugged forever and ever and ever. I don't know if it's the same taffy week after week after week or not, but that should be our patience. Long suffering.

James chapter 5, verses 10–11 says, "As an example, brethren, of long suffering and patience." This is hard to think about because long suffering, suffering, and patience — do very difficult things. As the example of these two characteristics, which we as believers should have, in James chapter 5, verses 10–11, the example is the prophets. The prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. "We account those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings and that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy." These are the examples for us to see in the Bible of enduring long-suffering patience — to endure the strain of a fellow church member who is doing things differently than you expect. By the way, is it your church anyway? Is there only one way to do things? Can you imagine a Jewish way of doing things being combined with the Gentile way of doing things in one place? It's going to take a lot of patience, a lot of long suffering, a lot of tolerance and love to be able to co-mingle and be unified in Christ in the same worship center.

So to endure the strain of a fellow member who is doing things differently than you, you should think about how patient God has been with you and how humble and gentle God has been with you. You may think to yourselves, "Oh, you Jews, you have been saved by grace in the Ephesian church," and having endured patience with the pagan Gentile that God has graciously saved them — be patient like God was patient with your forefathers. How long was God patient with the Israelite forefathers? It's incomprehensible how the centuries went by and how patient, how forbearing God's long-suffering patience was with idolatry and all the heinous crimes that were going on, these spiritual crimes. And so how patient was God with your forefathers who persecuted the prophets and killed the prophets?

God instructed His prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and more to preach the saving gospel of repentance and faith in the Messiah to come, the Lamb who would be slain, the final sacrifice for the sins of the world. Yet they killed the prophets and even killed Jesus. He was the prophet, the priest, and the king. And so now how enduringly patient was God with these stubborn, idolatry-driven, self-centered Israelites? And how patient has God been now with you?

James 5:7 puts it rightly: "Be patient." Very simple. And the command — the first two words — "Be patient." This is a simple command that explains how to keep unity in the church. So being patient keeps unity in the church. James 5:7 says, "Therefore be patient." James 5:10 says, "As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord."

Point number four: humility, gentleness, and patience produce tolerance and forbearing love. So point number four — tolerance keeps unity. Tolerance keeps unity in the faith. This tolerance is something that we need to understand from a biblical worldview and certainly not from a worldly worldview. Tolerance keeps unity in the church for Christians. That's the context of this passage here. So the context is saved Christians. Hence the purposes of Paul's prayer for believers are in Christ. You do not get to be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit in the inner man unless you are in Christ, unless you're saved. You don't have Christ dwelling in your heart unless you are saved. You are not rooted and grounded in Christ unless you are saved. You don't know the love of Christ unless you're saved, and you cannot be filled up with the fullness of God unless you are saved.

And so building upon the concepts from chapter 1 — true soteriology, true salvation — and the concepts of chapter 2 — unity in Christ — these concepts are for Christians in the church. This is so very important because we are now defining biblical words according to a biblical worldview and living those out. And so those who are strengthened with Christ have Christ in their heart.

This tolerance then is for Christians. This biblical word means bearing with one another. It's more than being patient until somebody leaves your presence — that's an inward matter. Tolerance is more than that. Tolerance is more than patience. Tolerance is bearing with and working with one another. It's like when somebody's doing something differently than you expect, you go along with it. You're bearing with. You give that person preferential treatment and you love and equip them because you're humble and gentle and now forbearing and loving and working with them. It's care. It's like our care ministry. We're working alongside one another, fellow image bearers who are being conformed into the image of God. These are Christians in the church who are being conformed. We are to be tolerant and caring and forbearing with them in these ways. We're to work with them.

So tolerance is not merely to tolerate. "I tolerate that person. I can't tolerate them." The heart attitude change that happens when you are truly tolerating Christians means that you are conveying a positive attitude towards them which brings you to the cross, brings you to the point of self-denial. Like, "I'm going to be humble here. I'm going to be gentle and be loving. I'm going to be kind. I'm going to be very nice" — in a genuine way, not a surface way.

It is really sad to see that somehow in Christianity, in some churches and some cultures and some circles, there has become this popular superficiality, this surface-level niceness, when inwardly they feel the opposite. And some of us can detect that. "Oh, they really don't like me. They're just paying me lip service." And so for you to be truly conformed to the image of Christ is to be able to be tolerant and loving and bearing with one another.

So tolerance then is bringing them alongside you. It's not rejecting them or being patient until they leave your presence. You actually bring them alongside you and you're working with them. And this is inwardly possible because you get over yourself and you get over your pride and you humble yourself and you consider others better than yourself. And so the key to bearing with one another is forgiving them immediately — like mid-sentence when you feel irked or whatnot. "Lord, I've done worse. Thank you for forgiving me. I forgive them right away." I'm not going to hold a grudge and not going to get all bent up inside. "I'm so grateful that You saved me and I have no right to be begrudgingly working up an attitude against someone else." And so forgive them of their foolish actions. We all act foolish. We all say things that we should not have said. So don't pin somebody on their words and take them to task on it. Be forbearing. Be tolerant. Be loving. Be kind. Forgive as you have been forgiven.

Colossians chapter 3, verses 13–14 says this: "Bearing with one another and forgiving each other, and whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you so also should you. And beyond all these things put on love, which is the unity." And so tolerance produces unity in the church.

And so be very nice, and prepare yourself. Read the Scriptures. Pray, and then proceed to be with people. Value people like Christ valued people. He died for them. He died for people. He served people. He was with people at the time. And so be very nice indeed, and be very nice in your deeds, and be very nice in your inner being. This is walking worthy of your calling. You've been called. Now you're being conformed. You've been saved. Now you're being sanctified. Psalm 133:1 says, "Behold how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity." A T-shirt said it best one day — I saw this: "Nice people are my kind of people."

So now on the flip side, let's abandon for a moment, if you will, with me the biblical worldview of tolerance and go to a worldly worldview and definition of tolerance. Tolerance is a trap. It's a cultural trap. The battle cry of secular culture is tolerance and love. But if you like to take notes and you like acronyms like I do, I made this up this morning: TRAP. Tolerance is a trap. T-R-A-P. The culture in our world intends to trap you and bring you into their redefined definition of tolerance and love.

Both of these words are in our text and both of these words are defined from a biblical worldview when you study the context. But in a world that hijacks words, they target words and they redefine the definition, and then they want you to affirm and then promote it. That's their process. It's a trap: target words, redefine it, and then they expect you to affirm it, and then they're not satisfied with you just affirming. They're trapping you. And now that they've got you, they are not satisfied until you now promote it.

TRAP: T-R-A-P. Targeted, redefined, affirming, and then promoting. And this gradual decline in your scriptural stance and your biblical stance and standing firm in the Lord — it's so subtle. DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion, being taught in all these major Fortune 500 companies. A lot of us have been subjected to having to go through this mind-warping, antichrist training just to keep your job. And by the way, God would honor you if you stepped away from your job and stood for the Lord — each to your own in those circumstances. No pressure there. But tolerance in the world is being redefined as the battle cry of the secular culture.

I want to clarify the difference between biblical tolerance and the redefined secular tolerance. Biblical tolerance lovingly stands upon scriptural truth. Hence the name of the message, "Be Very Nice." But secular tolerance hatefully allows and affirms sin.

Secular tolerance expects Christians then to affirm sin. Secular tolerance has even crept into the church. Listen to these Scriptures from the book of Jude: "Like certain persons have crept in unnoticed, and those who were long beforehand marked for condemnation, ungodly persons, who turned the grace of our Lord into lasciviousness, loose living, liberal living, sinful living, and deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ." This is denying Jesus.

Jude 1:3 says that you must contend earnestly for the faith. This faith that we have, we must contend for it, especially in the church. Jude 1:4 says that this perversion of truth came long beforehand. What is that a reference to? Well, Satan, long beforehand, twisted Scripture in the garden. Genesis chapter 3. He convinced Eve that God's Word wasn't really the standard. So secular tolerance wants Christians to tolerate immorality and the murder of little ones unborn. More so now than ever, they also want to add to tolerance the expectation for you to affirm them in their sinful living. And then once they've got that part of your life, they will push forward and ask you to celebrate and to promote that. And beyond that, it's as if churches now have embraced that as a church growth method and are going after the masses and saying that they are perhaps LGBTQ friendly or affirming.

The secular downgrade is spelled out in Psalms chapter 1, verses 1 through 3, and you just see how it goes down and down and down. And so those who would sneak this mischievous and deceitful satanic scheme into God's holy church would do so by subtle actions like removing the word repentance from the gospel invitation, removing the word sin from their preaching, ever so slowly. And Jesus would not be glorified in this because He, in His first words by way of preaching, used a specific word.

I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 4, verse 17. This is important because Jesus didn't remove this hot word from His preaching and neither should we. And that hot word is "repent." Matthew chapter 4, verse 17: "From that time Jesus began to preach and say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" And so Jesus didn't remove the word repent, neither should we remove the word repent. And John the Baptist also said it: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And Luke records that unless you repent, you shall likewise perish.

And so would it be very mean of me to preach like Jesus? Is it very mean of you to use words like repentance and sin in conjunction with true salvation? Well, hey, there's a lot of pressure out there to include and be inclusive. One of the largest churches in central Florida — we all know it well — the senior pastor has been noted for compassionate leadership and has been instrumental in fostering a welcoming environment, and yet it is simply sinful. This is the same sin the Ephesians would later make, and Jesus sternly corrects this church for leaving their first love, but also compliments them for the fact that they cannot tolerate evil men, in Revelation chapter 2, verses 1 to 7.

So this slow decline — from the time when Paul perhaps planted the church at Ephesus and raised up leadership and appointed young Timothy to preach there as a pastor among elders, and as this church would grow — let's forward to Revelation. Let's read it together, because I want this church to never have this slow decline away from fidelity in Christ, away from faithfulness in Christ.

Revelation chapter 2, verses 1 to 7 shows how the Ephesian church received a correction from Christ but also a compliment. Revelation chapter 2, verse 1: "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'The one who holds the seven stars in His right hand and the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands says this: I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance and that you cannot tolerate.'" I like that word. You cannot tolerate evil men. So within the church, there's a battle cry from secular culture to tolerate immoral men or evil men. But here, Christ offers a compliment to the Ephesian church who does not tolerate evil, especially evil men.

"And you put to the test those who call themselves apostles." Men of God should be tested. Elders have qualifications in the Scriptures — very specific; so do deacons, so do servants. And so a test is just fine. Sit them down, look at their life, compare it to the Scriptures, test them. That's what the Ephesian church did, and they were complimented because of that. "And you found them to be false." So there are false shepherds, false elders, false preachers. In Matthew chapter 24, the Bible says that there will be many false teachers. They exist, we know that.

Verse 3: "And you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen and repent and do the deeds that you did at first, or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place." You know, the Old Testament equivalent is Ichabod — where the light is removed, the presence of the Holy Spirit is removed. And how many churches are just dead as a doornail now, and they have to fabricate the presence of God through holy smoke, or through glitter coming through the AC vents, or through darkened atmospheres with emotionally charged music and pastel colors flying around, turning the church of God into a nightclub scene. Those churches have had their lampstand removed, and they — the good news is — can repent and return. Amen.

Verse 6: "Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." Now you see another hot word in today's culture. And yet the Ephesian church sees that they are to hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans — not that actual person themselves, but the fruit of their labor. May they repent and be saved and change their evil deeds.

Verse 7: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." This word continues through all of time. It's timeless, and so this is for all the churches. "To him who overcomes I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."

So there are a lot of pressures. Politically there are a lot of pressures. Commercially there are a lot of pressures. Economically there are a lot of pressures. All of our society is pressuring Christians to be inclusive. This is something that we cannot fall into. It's a trap.

And so listen, it's not popular to stand for the truth these days. In fact, Jesus warned us, "Those who are faithful — if they persecuted Me, they will persecute you." John chapter 15, verse 20. The way of the secular world now is clearly coming after Christians. Have you not heard Kamala Harris already saying — and I paraphrase — that she will not tolerate hate speech? What is she talking about? This is not just virtue signaling. It is very clear that those who preach against an immoral lifestyle or teach or hold a stance against that according to the Bible — and call it for what it is out of Romans chapter 1 — will be dubbed as ones who are haters and doing violence to those who are engaged in that lifestyle or who affirm that lifestyle. And those who tell the LGBTQ community — the same as our own children — that they must repent and believe the gospel are right with Christ. Repent and believe the gospel. Mark 1:15 says, if you don't repent and believe the gospel, you'll be eternally punished, you'll be eternally separated from God.

Good parents evangelize their children early on and they tell them the gospel. But here we live in a day where there is so much pressure to affirm and to celebrate immorality — it's all around us. It's connected with every single one of us via friendships or family, employer, job description, whatever the case might be. Somehow, some way, there is pressure pulling on you like a lasso, like bondage, trying to get you to fall into this trap.

And our political persuasion of the day is leaning towards being able to punish and persecute and even perhaps prosecute "haters" — from a cultural standpoint, haters. Now, for pastors and churches and Christians to be safe, if you value safety from the world and not be punished or persecuted or prosecuted, they must affirm and confirm and then champion these agendas. "I can't be intolerant to this." But hey, as this agenda is becoming so prevalent — especially through money from the likes of George Soros, pressuring and doing all of this pressure through maniacal means to get to Christians, to get to churches — as this is coming into churches, I'll say to you that Galatians 5:9 says, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump." I'll say it again: 1 Corinthians 5:6 also says, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump."

At this point, we must stand firm. 1 Corinthians 6:18 says, "Flee immorality. Every other sin that is committed by a man is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? And therefore glorify God in your body."

And 1 Corinthians 5:1 says, "It is actually reported that there is immorality among you." This word "among" is very important because we are a church that has membership, and those who belong are among us. They belong here. And membership means those who have said, "We believe the Bible, we believe the doctrines that are taught here, and we want to be a member of this church. We are among you." And so the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 5:1, "It is actually reported that there is immorality among you" — that is, among the church in Corinth. So Paul is calling out the immorality of the church members in Corinth.

1 Corinthians 5:12 says to judge those who are within the church. Judge them. Make a right ruling based upon their life. If you call yourself a Christian and you're a church member, then you are underneath scriptural authority. 1 Corinthians 5:13 says, "But those who are outside God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves." I find it very interesting in the New American Standard that it is in all caps: "REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES."

And so in 1 Corinthians 5:1 you have this word "among," and then in 1 Corinthians 5:13 you have this phrase "among yourselves." And so those who are among you — the church is to judge and to lead rightly to righteousness. Those who are being conformed to the image of Christ are being led by shepherds, served by deacons, and taught by Bible teachers, and they're learning and growing. And so we are to encourage them, to show them the way, the truth, and the life. We are to help them in the right direction. You can't sweep stuff like this underneath the rug, and you certainly can't affirm sin.

And so if someone is lost, you can't expect them to act like they're saved. Does that make sense? Sinners love their sin and sinners hate the light. John 3:19 says, "Men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil." If they have not yet been converted, what are you going to do? Moralize them to Christ? You can't do anything to earn salvation. You can't make them outwardly conform because their heart has not been changed.

Ezekiel chapter 36 talks about this. It's very important to be able to see that God must give them a new heart. "And then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean." This is Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 25. "And I will cleanse you from all of your filthiness and from your idols." Verse 26: "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. But I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and you will be careful to observe My ordinances." Here you see a new heart is connected to obeying God's statutes. Same as Romans chapter 8, verses 28–29: the called are also being conformed. This is very important.

And so knowing this, not only should we be very nice to church members, but we should also be very nice to the lost. And the way that you be very nice to them is you define your terms according to a biblical view and you show them the way, the truth, and the life. You show them Jesus Christ. So be very nice. The nicest thing anyone could do is to tell them the truth in love. And the most hateful thing that anyone could do is withhold the truth. Joel Osteen and Satan are nice guys on the surface, and they'll tell you what the world wants to hear for numbers and for personal gain. This is true hate, but the world labels truth as hate.

Jesus said, "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. And if you were of the world, the world would love you like its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this, the world hates you." This is the biblical definition of hate, and it has also been perverted in a cultural sense, in a worldly sense. So John chapter 15, verses 18–19 says that the world hated Christ first, and since you're a Christian and you're of Him, the world's going to hate you. Is that easy to understand?

And so we as parents prepare our children for this type of rejection. And this is a good thing. Now if you want temporal peace at the expense of eternal peace, go to an affirming church. But if you want eternal peace at the expense of temporal peace here on earth, go to a church that preaches and lives out the authority of Scripture. I'm okay with losing temporal peace. I'm okay with being rejected and having some assault come my way and rob my peace. I'm okay with the agony. It's fellowship with Christ. I'm okay with these things. I don't like suffering. I don't like it. I don't go after it. I don't seek it. But it just happens as a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Light is opposed to darkness. Light exposes darkness. When the darkness is exposed, they hate the light and they retaliate.

But you know what? Be very nice. Because when those who retaliate — in a biblical sense of hate — hate you because of the truth, and you respond in gentleness and humility and patience and long suffering, you respond in a way that is Christlike and loving and you give them the truth in love, they have to deal with that when they go home. And as they have responded in hate and anger and frustration and accusations, they have to deal with the fact that you've been nice in return. Where does that come from? Well, the Bible says to let your light so shine before men that they might glorify God. And so I'm okay with losing some temporal peace because I know I have the eternal peace.

And we all as a church have embraced these solid truths. We stand firm upon the Word of God, and we know that this life soon shall pass. Christ is coming again. And the most important thing for us is to be faithful to Christ. If you want an affirming grandpa just to stand up here and preach and teach shallow sermons and tell you long stories, you're going to have to find a different church, because I am not a shepherd for sale. We're going to continue in the Word of God. John 8:31: "So prove that we're disciples of Christ." And we're going to be very nice along the way.

Shepherds and elders — we have a plurality of eldership here. I'm not a one-man show. We do things collectively, unified, and we march together, and we are all as elders called according to Titus chapter 1, verse 9, both to exhort sound doctrine and refute those who contradict it. Is it not the nicest thing you can do to refute those who are in sin? It is. If someone had the wrath of God upon them and you knew it and you didn't tell them, and they died and went to hell, what would they think of you who had the answer? Why didn't you tell me? Sound familiar? Luke chapter 16 with Lazarus. The very nicest thing that we could possibly do is share the truth in love.

Not have an affirming person in your life who is leading you and allowing you to stay in sin. Shepherds, did you know this? The sheep belong to the Lord. They are the Lord's church. The church belongs to the Lord. You know that. The church is not for sale. It's not a place where each can have their own way. It's not a place where anything goes. Church is not up for sale. Church is according to the Word of God. And so is it right and nice for me to say that? It would be wrong and hateful for me not to call sin sin. It would be wrong and hateful for you in your personal lives not to call sin sin.

Again, Matthew chapter 3, verse 2: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," John the Baptist said. Matthew chapter 4, verse 17: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," Jesus said. Luke chapter 13, verse 3: "Repent, or you will likewise perish." So is it right to clarify heaven and hell? Oh, it's not only right. It's a calling. It's a duty. It's why we're still here.

And so I would say it's dangerous to be underneath a woke, wimpy, spineless, Scripture-less pastor who tells stories. I would say I'm not dangerous. I'm dedicated. Dedicated. I'm a dedicated disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so to stand up here collectively with you guys and be a beacon of light here at Beulah Baptist Church is something that we are all committed to. We want to see lost people come into the light of Christ and be saved and be baptized biblically and belong to the local church — whether they're here or somewhere else by the evangelism and the discipleship of our efforts is fine, wherever the Lord would lead them is fine — as long as they go to a Bible-preaching and Bible-believing church. And that they then would move forward to study the Bible themselves and go on to be Great Commission Christians to make disciples.

And so then as we start to wrap up, in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 3, all of these attributes — humility added to gentleness, added to patience, added to biblical tolerance — preserve the unity in the church. And so the unity that is to be preserved — oh, what a wonderful sense of oneness unity is! In Acts chapter 2, verse 1, the King James Version says that they were all in one accord. And I thought to myself, true believers don't drive separately, they drive in one accord. But nevertheless, to preserve the unity among the brethren, to be of one accord, is to protect the peace among the believers that's inside of us.

Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth" — peace on earth like worldwide unity. That's not what Jesus came for; that's what the Antichrist promotes. "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword." That's Matthew chapter 10, verse 34 — a sword. He came and He brought the truth, the Word of God, and does not a sword divide?

And so that is a separation between light and darkness. And so we're to protect this inner peace by wielding the sword and being very nice about it. We don't have to be hateful about it. The inner peace and tranquility that we have in Christ and with one another is to be protected by your Christlike conduct. Be very nice. Be very nice to everybody. Be very nice to the people among you in the church. Be very nice to sinners whom God brings to come to the church. Be very nice to those who are in the world who are secularists.

Those who are hating Christianity — be very nice to them and tell them the truth in love, in every way that you possibly can. Blog, write, email, testify, share. Be very nice to those who are trapped in sin and who come out from underneath the weight and the bondage of these suicidal thoughts of these... Be very nice to all three of these groups. Be very nice to them and share what is the truth. You would be surprised at how meaningful it is for people who hear the truth, who are trapped in sin and in destroying practices, coming out from underneath the weight of it — like committing abortion and being forgiven of that. People love the truth. People love coming to Christ and being forgiven.

This is our command: to be about the truth and preserve the unity inside the church, and the truth shines outside of the church to the people. So we need to be diligent in preserving the truth. The Bible says in verse 3 to be diligent, to continue to do this, to work hard at that, to have this as a regular part of your life — to be diligent, and not only promoting unity in the church through these qualities, but also being about the transformation of yourself inwardly, being diligent to be conformed to the image of Christ.

Ephesians 4:32 says to be kind. As you live out these things, it takes an inner transformation of your heart to genuinely be kind and be very nice. And I would encourage you by saying that God pays back those who are nice. He really does. In Ephesians chapter 6, verse 8: "Knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord." Isn't that good? God pays you back for being nice. In Galatians 6:7 it says, "For whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap." So being nice in the church pays dividends, and we're especially to be nice to each other. Galatians chapter 6, verse 10 says, "So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people and especially to those who are of the household of faith."

So God unifies you then when you're saved with Himself. And this unity between the Trinity and you — having unity with Him — is to be displayed and acted upon within the members of the church especially. God unifies you when you're born again. Did you know that the One who was born of a virgin, His name is Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace? Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6. This One, whom you have residing in your heart — "Christ in you, the hope of glory" — is the Prince of Peace. This unity among the brothers and sisters in Christ glorifies the Lord.

And so Jesus, He is Lord. He who was prophesied in Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14 and fulfilled in Matthew chapter 1, verse 23 — "God with us." He is Emmanuel. He's with us, and His peace He places inside of us.

And so the nicest thing, when it comes to eternal peace with Christ — the nicest thing that I could tell everyone — is to believe John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." The nicest thing that I could tell those who believe John 3:16 is to believe that verse in context, because John chapter 3, verse 36 says that those who believe the Son have eternal life. But here's a further clarification: "But the one who does not obey" — do you get that? — "the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him." It's more than just believe. James 2:19 says the demons believe.

But if you would be content as a Christian to allow people to say "I believe in Christ" and yet they're living a sinful lifestyle and not tell them the truth, that's hate. But if you, who are Christians and who know the truth, John chapter 8, verse 32 says, "The truth will set you free." If you tell them the truth and you set them free from the bondages of sin, then you are truly loving them. It sure would be nice if someone had told me of God's wrath being upon me. Can you imagine being a sinner saying, "It sure would be nice if, in hell, all those truths about God's wrath abiding upon me — it sure would have been nice for them to tell me," as they are eternally separated from God?

You know, Jesus clarified in what has been marked as the saddest words in all of the Bible. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7, verse 21, that "not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven." I have heard a compromised pastor tell me, "Well, Casey, we just require them to say 'Jesus is Lord' and we'll baptize them. Is that not enough?" Well, Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name cast out demons and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'"

This "practice" is behavior. It's not like you have lied and you're under conviction and you repent. That's not what the Bible is talking about. This word "practice" is behavior. If the characterization of your life is immorality, if it's sin separated from God, if you commit murder and abortion, if you can lie and cheat and steal and you're okay with it — then you're not a believer. You don't have the conviction of the Holy Spirit residing inside of you. You can say, "Lord, Lord," all you want, but there's never been that transformation of your heart.

So God, He doesn't cause all things to work together for everyone. He calls all things to work together for good for those who love Him. Love Him — the love according to the Bible's definition of love. "Love is love," according to what the world would say, with the hijacked rainbow symbol — but love is according to what God says love is. And it is loving to tell the truth. And so those who are called, who hear His voice in John chapter 10, verse 27, follow. You follow Christ. You come to Christ. You follow Christ. You follow His Word. You follow Christ. Hear His voice and you're called. You're converted. You're saved. And because you've been given a new heart, you desire Christ. Your desires change. And now you hate sin and love your Savior. And your life has turned from one direction to the other because there's nothing else that you could do. You've been changed, gloriously changed. So to be called is to be converted.

The called do not live or practice perversion. So the called live and walk in a way that is worthy of their calling according to Ephesians 4:1. So today, if you hear His voice — if you hear God calling, if you hear God calling His effectual calling — repent and believe. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 7 says, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts."

Pray with me if you would. Father, I pray that You would help us to be biblically nice, not nice according to the ways of the world. In fact, You have said in 1 John 2:15, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you." And I pray God that You would help us to demonstrate as dynamic disciples on display a commitment to Your truth and be very, very nice to all people.

I pray God that You would help us to tell people that John 10:9 says, "I am the door. And if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved." I pray Lord that we would be a people that invites people to come to Christ, to come to You, to be saved, to repent of their sin. I pray Lord that we would have the inner boldness and inner strength according to Paul's prayer in Ephesians chapter 3, to be strengthened by Your Holy Spirit's power inwardly to know You and to make Your love known.

I pray Father that we would have the inner boldness and strength to be able to speak with those who are trapped in sin, speak with those who are trying to entrap us into inclusiveness, and speak with those what is right and true and holy according to Your holy standard. Lord, let us be like Amos, who holds a plumb line out in front of people and says, "This is the standard. This is the measurement, and this is the way." We understand communication and words. Words matter. The definitions of words matter.

Lord, help us not to be Christians who are tossed about by every wind of doctrine. Help us to be strong in You and to be able to rightly divide Your Word and live accordingly. Help us not, Lord, not to be taken advantage of and entrapped into inclusiveness and affirming sin in whatever the sin may be. Whatever the sin may be, Lord, it's just a battle cry of today's political aim and the way of the world, and the way of unfortunately so many so-called churches, is to become inclusive. That is the reason why I'm mentioning this sin so much today.

But Father, I pray that You would help us to be true lights, to be able to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ for those who would repent and believe and be saved, sanctified, to serve in Your local church, and one day be glorified. We love You, and in Jesus' name we do pray. Amen.