The Apostle Paul's conduct among the Thessalonians, as detailed in 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, serves as a model for Christian living and ministry, demonstrating that The passage's code of conduct is the same as that for all believers. Paul refutes accusations of deceit, impurity, and covetousness by highlighting his faithful stewardship of the gospel, his gentle and sacrificial care for the believers like a nursing mother, and his responsible guidance as a father who lived holily, justly, and unblameably. The sermon concludes by urging listeners to adopt this same high standard of conduct, acting as faithful stewards, nurturing mothers, and responsible fathers in their own lives to walk worthy of God.
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It's indeed a pleasure to be with you today. And I would not dare embarrass anybody by asking if everyone that read First of all, Romans chapter two, verses one through twelve, would raise your hand. I'm not going to ask that because I might embarrass some of you, but I trust that you have read this little epistle through a number of times since we were with you last. And For next Lord's Day, Lord Willing, we will look at verses thirteen through verse twenty in chapter two of first Thessalonians. Today we want to look at first Thessalonians chapter two, verses one through twelve.
Just a brief word of review about the last time, what we've covered thus far. You remember the last time we were together, we looked at the first chapter. And we noted that Paul went into the city of Thessalonica on his second missionary journey, and he preached the gospel there. And as was so often the case, Paul was run out of town. Seems like every town that Paul went to, all he did was preach. And every time they would run him out of town. He and Timothy left town, and later Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica, and he observed what was going on. He ministers... Minister to the Christians there.
And he came back to Paul and he brought Paul a report about the situation there in Thessalonica. And based on that report, Paul writes this little epistle and sends it back to the church at Thessalonica. We also commented that the city of Thessalonica is a city in Greece. The name of that city today is Thessalonica. At the time Paul went there, it had a population of about two hundred thousand. Today the population in Ceronica, Greece, is between three hundred and fifty and four hundred thousand people. The driving city is the seaport city. It's probably just as wicked, if not more so today as it was in the days of Paul.
We noted in the first chapter that Paul points out that in verse seven of chapter one, so that ye were an example. Now this is the only church that Paul hold up as an example to other churches. This is an example of what a local assembly ought to be like. Now that makes this little epistle even more important. We also pointed out that in all probability this little epistle was the first epistle or the first part of the New Testament committed to writing. This was the first thing that the Spirit of God had committed to writing.
And it's a very important little epistle. It's an extremely informative epistle. We noted last time that Paul set forth the reason for them being held up as an example is threefold. Number one, they were willing to listen to the gospel. He said, you listen to the gospel. Secondly, they received the gospel. And we pointed out how it transformed their lives. Their outlook on life was changed. Their outlook was changed. They were radically changed. Now, if the Bible teaches anything, it teaches that when an individual is brought to the end of themselves and they repent of their sins from hearing the gospel and they receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and their Savior, their life is radically and forever changed.
Now, the change is more rapid in some people than it is in others, but there will always be a change. And this, I think, is what's missing in much of New Testament preaching today. We do not inform men and women that to trust Christ is to have our life changed. We don't have anything to do with it. God does it. As we pointed out last time, Paul says that you turn to God from idols to serve the living and the true God and to wait and watch for his son from heaven. Now, in the second chapter they will want to look at this morning, let's look at verse one.
For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you that it was not in vain, but even after we had suffered before and were shamelessly treated, as you know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention, for our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile. But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, who tested our hearts. For neither at any time use me flattering word, as you know it, nor a coat of covetousness god is witness nor men sought with glory neither of you nor yet of others when we might have been burdensome as the apostles of christ but we were gentle among you even as a nurse cherished her children so being affectionately desirous of you we were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of god only but also our own soul because ye were dear to us.
For you remember, brethren, our labor and travail, for laboring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God. Ye are witnesses, and God also, how wholly and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe, as you know how we exhort and encourage and charged every one of you as a father, thus his children, that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and his glory. As was the case almost without exception, everywhere that the Apostle Paul wins, the Pharisees would send what we would turned to date a two-squad right behind him.
Everywhere he went, as soon as he left, detractors would come into the midst of those that Paul had ministered to and stir up trouble. Such was the case in Thessalonica. When Timothy returned to Paul and gave him his report, no doubt he said, Now Paul, as you have found everywhere we have gone. There have been those who went into the church, the assembly there in Thessalonica, and they had some bad things to say about you. They have cast dispersions upon you. They have said that your motives and your methods were wrong.
And you need to write them and set this thing straight. And in this second chapter, verses one through twelve, I think we have what we could call the classic code of conduct for a preacher. Now, just because I say it's a code of conduct for a preacher, don't shut your ears and say, well, he's going to talk about what preachers ought to do, what preachers ought to be, so it's not of any value to me. That's not so. And I say that because of this. We make a tragic mistake when we say that there is a sort of code of conduct for the preacher, that's different for the code of conduct for me.
We make a real tragic mistake when we say that the preacher's wife and the preacher's children ought to act thus and so, and my wife and my children don't have to act thus and so. Nowhere in the Bible is that ever thought. That is contrary, that is foreign to the New Testament, regardless of what tradition says. Regardless of what we say, the Bible does not teach that. So we have here not only the classic code of conduct for a preacher, but we have a code of conduct for all Christians. Now I would be the first to admit that there are certain things that preachers have to do that other people don't have to do by nature of the gift that God gives to the preacher.
But be that as it may, all Christians are exhorted to maintain the same code of conduct, whether they are preachers or what have you. To be a Christian is to come under a high standard of living. And you can search the Scriptures all you want to, and you will not find one code of conduct for this group and another code of conduct for that group is just not in there. But Paul answers these people's criticisms of him by asking the Christians in this assembly to think about his life.
He says, now, I know what they've been saying about me. And in order for me to answer those criticisms, I just ask that you think of what I did. from the time I came into the city of Thessalonica, how I conducted myself from the day I entered unto the day I left. And he set his conduct forth for observation and judgment under three metaphors. He set himself forth under the metaphor of a steward. He said, I want you to consider my life as one who was a steward of the gospel.
The second metaphor that he uses is that of a nursing mother. The third metaphor that he uses to describe his conduct is that of a concerned father. Let's think about this code of conduct using those three metaphors. Note it, first of all, the metaphor of a steward. Paul discusses that in verses one through six. And when you think of the metaphor of a steward, you think of faithfulness. Paul says in verse four that his stewardship came from God.
Notice what it says. But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel. Paul says my stewardship or my responsibility for the gospel came from God. Paul sets that book very clear. Paul says, I have been appointed by God, I have been tested by God, and I have been approved by God. And he makes that very clear, that his stewardship came from God, and he sought to please God alone.
In other words, Paul says, now, I'm seeking to please God. And if by pleasing God, I please you, all well and good. But Paul discovered very early in his ministry, you cannot please God and man. You must choose to please God. And he says, my stewardship came from God. Secondly, he says, my stewardship kept me going. Notice verse two. But even after we had suffered before and were shamelessly treated, as you know at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.
In other words, Paul said, I would not quit this stewardship, even though I suffered terribly. And I don't suppose any human being ever suffered for the cause of Christ, like the Apostle Paul, suffers. He speaks here of the fact that he suffered terribly. In verse two he speaks of the physical suffering that he endured. And Paul was beaten almost everywhere he went. He was beaten and left or dead in Philippi. He said that I suffered physically at Philippi.
But he says something else there in verse two, but even after we had suffered before and were shamefully treated. Now, in Philippi, Paul was stripped. Some theologians, some scholars believe, that he was stripped naked. As they beat Paul, and you can read about this in the book of Acts, chapter sixteen, verses twenty-two through twenty-four, It seems to indicate that Paul was stripped naked, and Paul was an extremely sensitive and godly man, and Paul was shamed greatly. And this, in all probability, really affected this man's emotion.
Paul said, I suffered, and I was treated shamefully. But his stewardship kept him going. Paul could never get away from the fact. there in verse four but as we were allowed of God to be put in trust God sought out Paul God chose Paul God commissioned Paul God gifted Paul and Paul says I know that my stewardship came from God and it's the stewardship that kept me going but not only was his stewardship from God not only did his stewardship keep him going but his stewardship kept him straight and you see that in verses three through six now in verses three through six i think paul deals with one of the charges that were made against him the first charge that paul probably saw in the report that timothy brought back to him they probably as so often the case was charge paul with being in the ministry being a gospel preacher just for the money.
And nothing could be further from the truth. The Apostle Paul had a chair of theology in the University of Jerusalem, as we would say today. The Apostle Paul was set for life the day he met Christ on the Damascus Road. The day that he fell on his face in the dust before Jesus Christ, Paul had a position that would pay him hastily for the rest of his life. But Paul, when he got up off his face, out of the dust, was converted, changed man forever. And from that day to the day his head fell in a basket in Rome, the burning desire of his life was to preach the gospel.
And he preached it. But he seeks to refute this charge that he was after money in verses three through six. He says, in response to this charge, you don't consider my message. Consider that the source of my message, Paul says in verse three, was true. Notice what it says. For our exhortation was not of deceit. Now that word deceit carries with it the thought of error. In other words, he says, I did not water down my message. I did not let any form of error whatsoever creep into it, as we would say today, he called a spade a spade.
Paul preached that men were sinners by birth, men were sinners by choice, and if men did not repent of their sins and trust Christ, they would die in their sins and forever be separated from God to burn in hell. Now Paul says, you know good and well. If I had been out to people's money, I wouldn't preach like that. That's what he means there. And he says, you consider my message. The source of it was true. And that's what that word, deceit means. For our exhortation was not of deceit. The source of it message was true. the motive of his message was pure.
For our exhortation in verse three was not of deceit nor of uncleanness. Now that word in its essential means has to do with sensuality, but in the context it has to do with a desire for money. And Paul says the motive of my message was absolutely pure. Number three. The method of his message was straight forward. And that's what that word, Gile, means in verse three. For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor of Gile.
The method of his message was straight forward. Now that word Gile is the same word. The meaning of that word is like you would bake a book. You know, you take a fish hook and you put bait on that hook and you tie it on to a lure and you put it in the water and the glitter of a lure and the smell of the bait draws the fish to it. Now, the fish think he's coming to get something that will help him and do him good, but what he's doing is he's been brought to his house. Paul said, when I came into your midst and I preached, the method of my message was straight forward. I told it just like it was.
And any thinking human being would have to come to the conclusion that a man that would come into our midst like Paul did and preach like Paul did, he wasn't preaching for money. Because he'd never read the book by Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Paul knew. that to preach the gospel was to divide men and women. And if you want a person's goodwill or after their money, you don't preach like Paul preached. And Paul is refuting this charge that he was after money, and he says, you just consider my methods. The source of it was truth. The motive of it was pure. The method of it was straightforward.
Now, the second charge that he refutes in verses... five and six is this undoubtedly they had said of Paul he's just like all the other religious hopsters and there were religious hopsters all around in that day just like they're around today they said Paul is just another religious hopster Paul says in refuting that charge not consider my message but he says you consider my conduct And he says, I never ever tried to flatter anybody. Look at verse five.
For neither at any time use we flattering words. Can you imagine the Apostle Paul flattering anybody? When he makes the charge in his letter to the church in Rome, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous. There is none good. There is none that seek the after God. Paul says, you just think about my life as I lived it there in front of you. Think about my conduct. If you think I was just another religious huckster, consider my conduct. I never tried to flatter anybody. And in verse five, he says, I never pretended to be friends to get anyone's money.
Look at it again in verse five. So neither at any time, usually flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness, God is my witness. Paul says, I take God's account as my witness. I never tried to flatter anybody. I never, never, ever tried. to be a religious huffster. I never pretended to be what I was not in order to get friends. Number three, I never sought a position of prestige. Verse six, nor of men sought we glory, neither of you nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ.
What Paul is saying is, I never sought a position of prestige in your midst. I've said it before, I might not have said it here, but I'll say it again. The vast majority of the preachers across the world today, right now, if you took their position away from them, if you took their turnaround collar away from them, If you took their title away from them, if you took their money away from them, they would never open their mouth to preach the longest day they lived.
You know that, and I know that. It's the truth. Paul knew that, and Paul said, you know, when I came into your midst, I did not seek a position of prestige. and authority and the power. Now, as Paul taught the Word of God, he could have claimed a position, rightly so. He was an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a minister of the gospel. He had every right to do that, but he did not do it. And in refuting these charges, that he was just another religious huckster, Paul says, you know, And I say, God is my witness.
I did not seek a position of prestige and power in your midst. And you know that. And Paul does a masterful job of putting to silence those who would detract from him. Now listen. Every Christian is a steward of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every one of us. Every one of us has been put in trust with this unspeakably valuable message of the gospel. And every one of us should conduct ourselves in the same manner that the Apostle Paul conducted each day.
The first metaphor that Paul uses in this code of conduct is the metaphor of a steward. and a steward must be found faithful. The Apostle Paul said, you know. And you'll notice how many times Paul called on God to be his witness. He said, you know, and God knows. Now a man better be right when he makes that statement today. And Paul was right. And Paul says, I was a steward put in charge of the gospel. Now the second metaphor that Paul uses in this code of conduct to describe the way he lived in their midst.
And he was just there a few weeks. But the second metaphor is that of a mother. And he discusses that in verses seven through nine. And if the characteristic of faithfulness goes with the metaphor of stewardship, then the characteristic of gentleness goes with the metaphor of a mother. And Paul says, when I came into your midst, I loved you, I dealt with you in gentleness as a mother. And he points out several things that a mother would do to indicate how he did in their midst.
Verse seven, He says that a mother nurses her children. Notice what he says. But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherishes her children. Think of that. Paul says, I loved you, and I brought you to my breast as a mother would a nursing child. And as that mother would hold that child to nurse it, he says, that's the way I loved you. He said, I was gentle among you as a nursing mother. Think of that. What a beautiful picture he uses. And then he uses the word cherish. Cherish.
That word cherish means to warm someone. The only other place in the New Testament that word is used in Ephesians five. When in Iowa says, for no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it. Even as the Lord of the Church, Paul said, I came into your midst, and I loved you just like a mother loved his child. And I will take you to my breast as a nursing mother will take you, and love you, and cherish you, and hold you close, and dearly, and warm you. What tender words for a man to utter, and only a man who's been changed by the Spirit of God, can look on people and love people that way.
What a code of conduct Paul is laying down for all of us. Paul says a mother nurses her children. A mother cherishes her children. Secondly, he says a mother gives everything that she has. That's what he means in verse eight. So being affectionately desirous of you. we were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God only but also our own soul think of that our own soul because you were dear unto us Paul says a mother gives everything that she has that's what that word affectionately desires means it's an extremely rare term it carries with it this thought the thought of total abandonment for someone else.
That's what it means. Notice that what it says. So being affectionately desirous of you, Paul says, I totally abandon myself to you. What a rare term that is. How rare that is in the, quote, ministry today. How rare that is in Christian circles today. But that's the code of conduct that Paul is saying, before those folks and before us. And he's bold enough to do this because he had actually done it. He says, and you know it, God in heaven is my witness. I did that. I conducted myself that way in your midst.
A total abandonment of self for others. He goes on to say in that same verse, we were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God only, but also our own soul because you were dear. Unto us. Paul says, like that mother who's not satisfied just to nurse her child, that mother wants to be totally involved in all of that child's life to its good. Paul said, that's the way I conducted myself in your midst. I want it to be totally involved in everything that involves your spiritual welfare. Number three, in verse nine, Paul says a mother of works.
Notice what he says. For you remember, brethren, our labor and travail, for laboring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you. We preached unto you the gospel of God. Paul says, a mother works. Verse nine, he says, a mother works hard. That's what that word labor means. That word labor carries. This is a thought of working until all of my strength is gone. There is nothing left. And that word, travail, carries with it the thought of fatigue and hardship that is the result of the labor.
When's the last time you saw a picture that worked that hard? Well, you remember, brethren, our labor and travail. A mother works. A mother works hard. Secondly, a mother works long, hard hours, verse nine, for laboring night and day. Man works from son to son, but mother's work is never done. Oh, I see all of you smiling. I know, yeah. That's true. That's what Paul is saying. Paul is saying, I didn't punch the clock at five. Can you imagine a mother telling a little daughter at eight o'clock, I'm sorry, honey, but I quit at five.
You'll just have to come back tomorrow morning at eight o'clock when I punch back in. No, no. Paul said, just like a mother, a mother works hard and a mother works long. You see, the Christian ministry is not from eight to five. If somebody needs help at nine o'clock at night and calls you on the phone and says, I need somebody to talk to you, or I need dust and stuff, you're not going to say, well, look, I'm good at five. You don't do it. The Christian life is not an eight to five proposition. Paul said, just like a mother, a mother works, I work. The mother works hard. The mother works long hours. Number three, look what he said.
A mother works for nothing. for nothing. That's what he's talking about. Just read that verse with me. So you remember, brethren, our labor and travail for laboring night and day because we would not be chargeable unto any of you. We preach unto you the gospel of God. When is the last time you wrote out a bill to your child and said, you owe me such and such amount of money because I did just and such today? Oh, no. Now, listen. Paul most of the time preached for nothing.
Now, that does not mean... Now, the Bible, let me hasten to add. The Bible makes provision for those whom God calls and sets themselves aside to study the Word of God. The Bible makes provision for they to be ministered to and to be ministered to right. Every preacher of the Word of God... should be taken care of and should be taken well care of. But every preacher of the gospel should be willing to do it for nothing. That's right. Should be willing to do it for nothing. I say that again. Every preacher should be paid for his labor.
He should be taken care of just as much as anyone else. But He should be willing to do it for nothing. Paul said, our mother works, I work. Our mother works long and hard hours. I work long, hard hours. Our mother works for nothing. Paul said, when I came into your midst, I didn't take a climb down. I went down and I got me a job on the economy and I worked during the day. to pay my bill and I came and I preached and I did it for nothing. Oh, what a code of tongue does fall set forth for preachers.
I'm supposed to speak to a group of preachers later on this month. I might preach this. I don't know. I wouldn't do that. They would tar and feather me. All right. God expects all Christians to be gentle, to be warm-hearted and concerned and willing to sacrifice for other Christians with that motherly instinct. What a challenge that is. But then Paul uses another metaphor, and that's the metaphor of a father. And that carries with it the thought of responsibility. And he uses that metaphor in verses ten through twelve.
Paul says, as a father, I set an example for you to follow. And I want us to think about those three words there in verse ten. Holily, justly, and unblameably. Notice what it says in verse ten. Ye are witnesses and God also. Now I'll tell you that strong words. God also. How holily and justly and unflameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe. Now that word holily in verse ten carries with it the thought that Paul is saying, I discharged my duties toward God.
In other words, Paul said, I didn't say now you ought to be in church on Sunday morning and then I didn't show up. Paul said, I didn't say you ought to read your Bible and then I didn't read my Bible. I didn't say you ought to give to the work of the Lord, and then I didn't give to the work of the Lord. Elder Paul said, I practiced what I preached. He discharged his duties toward God. That's what that word wholly means. Paul said, you remember, and God knows that when I came into your midst, I dealt with you, and I was holy in your presence. He discharged his duties toward God. He lived the holy life before us. Number two, he speaks of justly.
Look at it again. Verse ten, you are witnesses and God also how holily and justly. Now that word justly has to do with my conduct before man. Holily has to do with my conduct before God. Justly has to do with my conduct before man. Paul says, I dealt with my fellow man in a way that was right. We would say today, I paid my bills on time. I was thoughtful. I dealt with my neighbors in a right way. To live holily is to discharge my duties toward God.
To live justly is to discharge my duties toward man. When I have done those two things, then the third can be said about me as it was said about all. Your witnesses and God also how holily and justly and unblameably we behave. If you are holy and just, you are unblameable. By that I mean this, and Paul meant this. If you live holily before God and justly before man, charges can be made against you, but they will not sit. You see, you're unblameable.
That doesn't mean you won't be charged, but the charge will come and it'll hit and it'll fall because you can't stay. Paul says, as a father, I set an example before you to follow. Paul says, number two, as a father, I have a duty to influence you to live right and not to bring shame to Christ. And to discharge that duty, he says, I did three things. there in verse eleven. As you know, we exhort it and encourage and charge every one of you.
Notice that. Paul said, we exhort it in verse eleven. Now that word exhort it comes from the same word, paracleo, which is the word for the Holy Spirit. And you will find that spoken off very clearly in John sixteen, verses seven through eleven, where it says that the Spirit of God was convinced of sin and of righteousness and of justice. Paul says, I came alongside to convict you and to convince you as to what you ought to do. As a father, I came into your midst and I came alongside, as it were, and I sat down. and I tried to explain the gospel, and I tried to convict you, to convince you what you should do.
That's what that word, exhorted means. Number two, he says, I encouraged you, or that word means comforted you. Verse eleven, I tried to persuade you what you ought to do. I tried to show you how you ought to live holily and justly and thus be unblameable in the sight of man. He said, As a father, I have a duty to influence, and I discharge that duty as I exhorted you. Number two, as I comforted you. Number three, as I charged you. Verse eleven, notice what it says.
As you know how we exhorted and encouraged and charged you, Now, that word charge is a strong, viral, masculine term. Now, every father tries to tell his children what they ought to do, tries to set an example to encourage them to do it, but in the telling and the setting of the example, there must be time when the father says, now, if you don't do thus and such, the payment will be thus and such. What Paul is saying is this, I told you what you ought to do.
I set an example to show you how you ought to do it. But I said, now listen, you cannot believe that it makes no difference the kind of life that you live. Paul over and over warns Christians, we have the right to do what we want to. But God says, I retain the right to establish the consequences for what you do. whether it be for good or for bad. And that's what Paul is trying to get across to them. He said, I charge you. Someone that says that the average literal sermon is to mild-mannered men, before a mild-mannered man is from a mild-mannered man to a mild-mannered group, urging them to be more mild-mannered.
That wasn't what Paul did. That wasn't the way Paul preached and taught. That was not the way he set himself forth as an example for men as to how they ought to live. But Paul said, as a father, I set an example for you to follow. As the Father, I have a duty to influence you on how you ought to live. And Paul says, in and out of it all, I have an end in you. Verse twenty. That ye would walk worthy of God who has called you unto his kingdom and glory. Paul says, all the walk when I dealt with you I had an end in you when I came into your midst and preached the gospel to you as I tried to live before you I had an end in you to lead you to Christ and then to teach you how to live so that you would walk honorably and thought rightly in a crooked and a perverse generation and in doing so you would be the light of the world.
You will become the source of the earth. And I'll tell you one thing. You will never find in any literature in all of the world, you will never find any code of conduct set down anywhere in any book that will even begin to match the code of conduct of First Thessalonians chapter two. Verses one through twelve. Paul said, I was a steward. The God of heaven charged me with the responsibility of preaching the gospel. But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak.
He said, and that stewardship kept me going. That stewardship kept me straight. He said, when I came into your midst, I came as a student. He said, when I came into your midst, I came as a mother, a mother who would hold you close, nurse you and cherish you, a mother who would work for you, work long, work hard, and it need be worked for nothing. When I came into your midst, I came as a father. And I tried the very best I knew how to set an example before you.
I tried the very best I knew how to teach you how to live before God. I tried to teach you how to live before man because I knew that when you did those two, you would be unblameable and of privilege and a perverse generation. He said, I came into your midst and I tried my best to influence you as I exhorted you and encouraged you and charged you. And in and out of all of this, the end that I have induced was that when you walk out of that assembly, out into the world, you would go as a shining light and a world that's quickly going dark.
My Christian friend this morning, I honestly believe with all of my heart that this is the code of conduct that God would have every Christian to adopt for our own. And I would be the first to admit that I do not do all of these things. I have never met a man that does all of these things. I've never met a woman that met all of these things. But I say it again. God does not give any imperfect standards. All of God's standards are perfect. God said, now that's what I want you to be. And you'll live your life You'll live it out and you'll never be able to say, I have arrived. We'll always say like Paul, I have not apprehended, that's the way I have apprehended.
But I press on, you see. So the thing we want to do this morning is to ask our heart, what kind of code of conduct have I selected the order of my life by? It might be a good idea of all of us to start saying, I want to be a good steward. I want to act like a mother when it comes to dealing with other people in the Christian life. I want to conduct myself as a father, realizing the solemn responsibility and the great privilege that is mine as a Christian. That the Spirit of God speaks throughout.