The Internal Systems, Part 2 B

People say, oh if I had a better job, I had a better wife, I had a better husband, I had a better wife. John MacArthur answers those questions today as he continues his study, The Anatomy of a Church. And now, here's John. We're talking about internal systems, muscles, and flesh. And so is a church that is the body of Christ. We said that there are some things that frame and form the church without which it would be a shapeless blob. Now secondly, we talked about internal systems. The body has to have internal systems. You can't just have a skeleton and muscles, flesh, you wouldn't have life.

You can't just affirm solid doctrinal foundations. There has to be a life flow. And I believe that life flow is proper attitudes. And foremost attitude that needs to be cultivated is the attitude of obedience. The second attitude we talked about was humility. Humility. Thirdly, we talked about the attitude of love. And love is humility in action.

And then fourthly, we talked about unity. Let's call the fifth one willingness to serve. Willingness to serve. Because it flows right out of what we've just said about love and humility and so forth. And really is another way to say the same thing.

Willingness to serve. I want to just introduce you to two favorite people of mine that are a little bit obscure. Colossians 4.12. This man's name is Epaphras.

Listen to this. I like this so much. It says, Epaphras, who is one of you.

Isn't that good? Who is he? Ph.D., D.D., L.L.D., M.D., seminary grad, Phi Beta Kappa, no, no, no, no. Ordained, no, no. Epaphras, who is one of you. Folks.

Just folks. Bless him. He's a servant of whom? Christ. Isn't that beautiful?

I mean, I thought of that years back. I thought that would be a wonderful thing to put on somebody's tombstone who was just a beloved, wonderful Christian. Just say his name, one of us, a servant of Christ.

Just one of us. It's a very high calling. He greets you. Oh, what was his ministry? Great preacher, great...no, no, no. What was his ministry? Oh, he's always laboring to the point of exhaustion fervently for you in prayer.

Isn't that good? God, give us some of Epaphras. Is this one of you? He says to the Colossians, just one of you guys. And he always fervently prays. So what's he praying for?

He's praying that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. Here is a guy who carries on his heart the burden of everybody's spiritual development. I believe this is the gift of faith. The gift of faith is linked to prayer. Here's a guy with the gift of faith, and I don't know what other gifts were mingled in, but man, he just exercised it to the hilt.

He didn't need an organized program. He just got on his knees and stayed there. Prayed, prayed. There's another fellow in Philippians chapter 2, verse 25. Name's even close. Paphroditus, my brother and companion in labor and fellow soldier. But your messenger, in other words, you sent him to me, and what is his thing? What does he do? Oh, he ministered to my need.

What was he? He was a companion. You know how valuable it is to have a companion? You know what it means to have somebody along when you're in the battle? Just to be a loved friend? Somebody to take up the sword and fight with you?

Lots of folks need that. And he ministered to my need. He longed after you all. He was full of heaviness because you heard that he was sick.

I mean, this is unbelievable. The guy is upset. He's full of a heavy heart.

Why? Because he knows that his church found out he's sick. He thinks they'll be sad about it. And he's so sad that they're sad about him being sick. He's not sad that he's sick. He's sad that they're sad that he's sick. What a guy! He's not riding back from the field saying, pray for me, I have a hangnail.

You know? He's sad because they're sad that he's sick. What a loving relationship those folks must have had, huh? And he was sick. Verse 27, he was so sick he nearly died. He was so sick he nearly died.

He said, well, how did he get sick? Oh, verse 30. For the work of Christ, he nearly died. He was so busy trying to supply your service to me.

I don't know. I think when we get to heaven, people like this are going to stick out and we're going to have to look hard to find some of the ones we knew better. Bless his heart. So in verse 29, he says, receive him. I'm sending him to you.

Just receive him and hold him in high reputation. Well, what has he done? Well, he was a companion.

He was a helper. See, folks, it's a matter of spontaneity. It's a matter of what's inside. If you just have a willingness to serve, it's just going to come out. I mean, if you're always standing next to me, well, I don't want to get involved in that deal.

I don't know if they'll accept me or I don't know if I like working with them. I mean, you can play those games all you want or you can just serve. Just serve. Let me give you another one. Joy. Joy.

That's a sixth internal spiritual attitude. What do we mean by joy? Well, joy is sort of an outward exuberance. It's sort of a...it's the response of the heart, the soul, the mind, the body, the whole person to the relationship to Jesus Christ. And one of the things we have endeavored to cultivate in this church is joy. There's a seriousness in the Word of God, oh yes. There's a seriousness in dealing with the infinitely holy and all-wise God, sovereign God with whom we have to do.

There's a great seriousness in struggling through the terrible pressures and anxieties of life and death and all that humanness brings to bear upon us. There are lots of things that pain us, but at the same time we are filled with joy and that is a deep soul enthusiasm that all is well and ultimately all will be glorious. I believe that joy comes out of the Word of God. I believe as we study the Word of God, as we obey the Word of God, joy is ours. These things write unto you, 1 John 1 says, that your joy may be what?

Full. And the kingdom of God, it says in Romans, is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that He came to give us joy. Paul says, Rejoice always again, I say rejoice. And I'm convinced that joy is linked to this whole matter of a willingness to serve. I see people getting involved in the things of the Lord and doing things and using their gifts and there is joy.

Why? Because the joy comes in giving yourself away. People who are introspective, well they're trying to collect it all and meet their own needs and solve their own problems and satisfy all their own wants become inwardly, ingrown, self-contemplating, miserable human beings. It's the people who throw their lives away that are filled with joy. And we want a church that's filled with joy. I mean, I get excited about things. And I don't let things steal my joy. I fight to maintain my joy. Some people try to take my joy.

They do. They come up and say, John, we've got a real problem over here. Very serious.

Very serious. I say, well, what is it? And they tell me some little thing, you know, a little nothing thing. And I just say, well, we'll just see if the Lord won't solve that problem.

We do what we can. And sometimes they'll come and have a problem. It's a problem.

It's a big problem. And I've just cultivated in my own heart, just a cultivating thing, that whenever I have a real big problem, I instantly react by saying, that is really exciting. Boy, that's terrific.

Thank you so much. I'm so excited about that problem. Some of you who've been around me know that's what I've been saying.

Boy, I'm so glad to know that. What a terrific problem. They look at me, you know, like my elevator doesn't go to the top floor. But you see, if I know what the problem is, I'm ahead of the game, right? Because I know the problem solver. But if I don't know what the problems are, then I am really in trouble.

I don't have any trouble if I know where the problems are. I have joy because I know the one who solves the problems. You can lose your joy.

You can start looking for the manure pile in every meadow if you want. You can live your life that way. I mean, you can just go. It's a choice. It's a choice you make. I choose to be joyful. I choose to be happy. I choose to be enthusiastic. I choose to be excited about what God's doing.

And I don't care what you tell me, you're not going to affect that if I can help it in the strength of the Spirit of God. Because I believe the Bible commands me to rejoice always. And again, I say rejoice.

And so I say to my spirit, rejoice, MacArthur, rejoice. Rejoice in the God who redeemed you and loves you in spite of yourself. Rejoice that some of you are going to heaven. Sure you have problems, but some day you're going to get to heaven and you're going to have a whole congregation of perfect people.

And they're going to have a perfect preacher and you won't even need each other so you can dismiss church and all go home. Listen, don't let anybody take your joy. And if you don't have the joy of the Lord, it's because you're looking at the wrong stuff. Joy is available. All things work together for good, therefore whatever comes is a source of joy. I never saw people any happier than when they know they've solved a problem.

And you can't get that happy if you don't have one to start with. Let me talk about a sixth attitude. Peace. Peace.

That's a beautiful word, isn't it? Peace. My peace I leave with you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be what?

Troubled? Neither let it be afraid. Jesus gave us his peace. 1 Corinthians 7.15 says, God has called us to peace. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, Philippians 4 says. Live in peace, 2 Corinthians 13.11. Be at peace among yourselves, 1 Thessalonians 5.13. Peace if joy is the outward exuberance, peace is the inward contentment. And when you see people who come to the Lord and they talk about joy and peace, don't they? The joy of the Lord and this deep, settled peace. In other words, that's the inward contentment that says everything is under control. Everything is under control. And that's not true if there's sin in your life, but where you're dealing with sin and you're walking in the Spirit, no matter what happens, peace.

We should never allow anyone to take our peace. Through the years of ministry here, we have tried to cultivate in the heart an attitude of peace, an attitude of rest, an attitude of confidence in God. No reason to be troubled, no reason to be anxious. That's why Paul says be anxious for what? Nothing.

Nothing. Let the peace of God rule your soul. All of us are tested at that point, sure. And we don't perfectly live in peace. But that's an attitude we must have, an attitude of peace.

Let me give you a corollary, and this is what I really want to emphasize. We could say a lot about peace itself. In Matthew chapter 5, our Lord said, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. Christians should be peacemakers.

Beloved, you couldn't do anything more wonderful for the kingdom of God, the church of Jesus Christ, than to be a peacemaker. What a wonderful thing. Human nature tends toward conflict, doesn't it? Just as Job says, Man is born into trouble as the sparks fly upward. I mean, life just sparks as people rub against each other. Conflict, it just happens. It happens in personalities. It happens just continually. And the thing that we could do that would be just marvelous is to be peacemakers. Don't foment the anxiety.

Soothe it. I mean, I hear things, somebody will say, Well, you know, if something's wrong at Grace Church, boy, and then they get this little thing going here, and somebody else hears, and somebody else, and all of a sudden this tidal wave comes, you know, in over me. I say, Wait, I think this is a little out of proportion, folks. And instead of somebody along the line being a peacemaker, we are sort of piling up of people who, rather than making peace, made trouble. And I've been part of that, too, sometimes.

We all fall into that. Somewhere in our hearts has to be that commitment to that attitude that says, I am at peace. All is well. God is in control. He's still on His throne. I'll be a peacemaker.

Oh, what a beautiful thing. Be a peacemaker. Be a peacemaker. Every time you give an opportunity to come into a conflict, make peace. Bring two parties together so that they can embrace each other. Be a peacemaker.

Don't take a side over here against this person over here. Try to find what's good about this person, good about this person. Eliminate the things that are bad, and on the basis of what you can see that's right about that thing, cultivate proper relationships and be a peacemaker.

Start in your own family. You know, there are some things, men, that you can say that will send your wife into orbit, and you know it. Don't say those things.

Why would you do that? You know, there are some times in our family when I'm right. My wife thinks I'm wrong sometimes, but I'm right. Sometimes I'm wrong, but sometimes I'm right. And there are some times when she thinks I'm wrong and I am right, and God and I may be the only two that know.

But I'm right. But I'm not going to assert that, because it doesn't make peace. I'm not going to compromise conviction, but I'm certainly not going to defend my rights if they don't make peace. Because peace is more important to me than my own will and my own way.

It's not more important to me than God's way, and that's why I do fight some battles continually against those who deny the truth of God, but make peace with those who are in His family. We must be peacemakers. Oh, if you could just understand these things, how simple life can become.

One more. Thankfulness. And these are so obvious, and this is just simple review.

Just basic things. In everything give thanks, 1 Thessalonians 5, 18. In everything give thanks, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God concerning you. People say, oh, if I had a better job, I had a better wife, I had a better husband, I had a better family, I had a better situation, better car, better this, better that, didn't have all these problems. Be thankful. Thanksgiving is the most powerful thing, I'm telling you, in your life. If you can ever cultivate a thankful heart, you can solve so many problems.

All you have to do is just keep offering God thanks and praise, and it'll eliminate all your problems. You just don't see Him anymore. I mean, that's what the psalmist did. He'd get in a problem, he'd be hiding somewhere under a rock because he was afraid Absalom was going to kill him.

I mean, this is David, right? He's got nobody to defend him. He's out in the desert all by himself. Absalom's trying to take the throne away from him, he's chasing him out in the wilderness, and he's sitting under a rock and he's crying, oh God, oh God, why did the wicked prosper? And what are you doing this, how long, oh Lord, am I going to be here? Why don't you go in there and destroy them and on and on and on, and then finally he'll start to think about what God's done. He'll start to recite everything God did. Oh, Lord, you did this, oh, Lord, you did this, oh, you're so high, oh, you're so mighty, oh, you're so glorious, oh, I thank you for this, I thank you for this, I thank you for this. And when you get to the end of the psalm, whoa, he's terrific, he's just completely freed.

He's under the same rock, Absalom's doing the same deal, he's just cultivated a whole different perspective. And if you've got trouble and you're grumbling and griping all the time, it has nothing to do with your circumstances. It has to do with your inability to be thankful for the things God's doing that are positive. Cultivate thankfulness. Let your lips be filled with praise. In Psalm 30, verse 4, it says we ought to be thankful for the remembrance of God's holiness. In Psalm 106, 1, we ought to be thankful for the goodness and mercy that He gives us. In 2 Corinthians 9, 15, we ought to be thankful for the gift of Christ. In Revelation 11, 17, we ought to be thankful for Christ's power and coming kingdom. In 1 Thessalonians 2, 13, we ought to be thankful for the reception and effectual working of the Word of God. In Romans 7, 23 to 25, we ought to be thankful for the fact that Christ has delivered us from the power of indwelling sin. In 1 Corinthians 15, 57, we ought to be filled with thanksgiving that we have been promised victory over death and resurrection.

In Daniel 2, 23, Daniel was thankful for wisdom and strength. In 2 Corinthians 2, 14, we should be thankful for the triumph of the gospel. In Romans 6, 17, we ought to be thankful for the conversion of other people. In Romans 1, 8, we ought to be thankful for the faith exhibited by others as Paul was. And in 2 Thessalonians 1, 3, he was thankful for the love that he saw in other believers for their hard work for the kingdom's sake. In 1 Corinthians 1, 4, he was thankful for grace bestowed on others.

He was thankful in 2 Corinthians 8, 16, for the zeal for Christ that he saw in the lives of others. I mean, you just cultivate and cultivate thankfulness. Instead of going around moaning about how bad things are, you say, Well, I'm not thankful, but my circumstance... No, it's not your circumstance. See, the reason you're not thankful is very simple. The reason you're not thankful is you don't think you're getting what you deserve.

That's right. And if you got what you deserve, you'd be in hell. So eliminate that. You don't want what you deserve. You don't even want what you want unless you know God wants it for you. Be thankful. So many things. Cultivate thankfulness.

It'll take all the sourness out of your life. These are simple things, aren't they? Thankfulness, peace, joy, willingness to serve, unity, love, humility, obedience. Listen carefully. What I'm going to say may sound like heresy, but it isn't.

Here's eight things I gave you. Now, listen. You could take any one of them.

Just any one of them. And if that one thing were reigning supreme in your life, all the rest would be there, too. Just take obedience. You have an attitude of obedience?

Take care of everything. Take humility. You humble? Truly humble?

Selfless? Then you're going to love. And then you're going to find unity. And if you love like that, you're going to serve. And out of that service is going to come joy. And out of that service and that love, a deep sense of peace. And when you have a deep sense of peace and a deep sense of joy, and your life is filled with meaningful service, you're going to offer God what?

Take thanks. Take love. If your life was totally dominated by love, what's going to happen? Well, in the first place, if you love me, you keep my what? Commandment. So if you just love God, you'll obey everything. And if you just love God, you're going to be humble. And you're going to find unity. And out of that great love will come service and joy and peace and thanksgiving. Because you're going to thank the one you love.

Isn't that true? And you're going to be joyful and you're going to have a peace in your heart in that contented love relationship you have. Or you could just take the unity. I mean, if you really sought to be one heart, one soul, knit together with every other believer, boy, I'll tell you, to do that you'd have to express love and humility and obedience. It doesn't matter. It's almost like the Lord is saying, Look, I'm giving you about 8,000 ways to approach this deal. Just pick any one. It's like when in Galatians 5 it says, But the fruit of the Spirit, not fruits, but fruit is love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control.

You get all or none. You can't say, Well, my life is full of love, true love of God, love generated by the Holy Spirit. It's just that I'm miserable, wretched. I have no joy in my life.

No, no. Life filled with love is going to be joy and peace and gentleness and goodness. I mean, it all just comes, see. Well, let's say you just decided you're going to be joyful. You're just going to cultivate joy out of your joy is going to come thanks and peace and service. I mean, you see what I'm saying?

Jump in any place. That's John MacArthur on Grace to You. Along with his ministry on radio, John is chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary. His lesson today is part of his current series, The Anatomy of a Church. Well, an important point from today's lesson is this.

Joy comes in giving yourself away to others, sacrificing for the sake of the gospel. And John, I know you'd say that describes some dear friends of this ministry, people who you've never met, but people, in a sense, that you know very well. There are plenty such folks scattered all over this country and even in other parts of the world.

I know who you're talking about. You're talking about the folks that support our ministry. What can we say? We are at the mercy of God, laying upon the hearts of faithful, loving, gracious people to give to grace to you. That's how we do what we do.

And we're so careful and frugal. I just continue to thank the Lord for the folks who are serving, who are surrounding me even today as I'm making these broadcasts, who are faithful, sacrificial, who don't take advantage of the resources that are provided, who care about the outreach, care about the folks that listen, care about the folks that write, care about extending the ministry for the glory of the Lord. They're responsible. They're sacrificial. They're humble. They're gracious. This is an amazing core of people who, more than any that I've seen in other places, see the stewardship of this ministry for what it is. Month after month, folks like you, that the Lord moves, faithfully give to sustain the teaching of God's word through grace to you around the world, and these people who are part of grace to you get that stewardship.

They understand that stewardship. Much of this ministry actually is really carried by volunteers. They come in each week and give sacrificially to make this ministry possible all over the world.

And they do it with joy. It's a delight for me to go in when the volunteers are all here working and just express my gratitude and hear the way they respond to this wonderful opportunity. What you hear on the radio every day, what you might see on Grace to You television, or what you might receive in books, MP3s, the website, all of this you make possible.

That's right, you make possible, and you're the only ones who can make it possible. And by the way, special thanks to our Grace partners. They step up their giving, do it regularly. On behalf of all the folks who benefit, thank you for your support. Yes, friend, thank you for supporting and praying for grace to you as we continue to provide people around the world with verse-by-verse teaching from God's Word. To partner with us in ministry that changes lives, contact us today. You can mail your tax-deductible donation to Grace to You, Box 4000, Panorama City, California, 91412.

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That number translates to 800-5547223. And thank you for supporting our verse-by-verse Bible teaching, especially through your prayers. That's really your most significant ministry to us. Pray for John MacArthur, our ministry team, and for all of those who are learning to rely on biblical truth more and more every day through our audio, video, and written resources. And now for John MacArthur and our entire staff, I'm Phil Johnson, inviting you back tomorrow for another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time, here on Grace to You.