Patterns That Matter (Philippians 4:9)

Introduction

I’m going to attempt something tonight that I don’t do that often, and that is to present a series of lessons that build upon one another, though a lot of the material that I’ll be presenting tonight will just be laying a very general foundation of the places that I intend to go. I want to talk for a few minutes tonight about patterns. And particularly, of course, what kind of patterns we find in Scripture that we are to follow. You know, patterns are used to show us the way and delineate something that we are. If, for example, you like to sew, and I know a lot of our guys do, they’re sewers. No, they’re not. But you use the pattern to cut out the fabric or the material so that you can accomplish the goal of making a dress or something.

I assume that’s what happens when people sew. And so we’re talking about biblical patterns and following those. And so this really relates to what we talked about this morning. Does individual behavior matter? And the things we see delineated in the New Testament, obviously that does. But I want to talk more in this series of lessons about corporate activity. That is what we do together as a group as a church. Do the patterns that we find in the New Testament are they relevant in the following areas? Should there not be a clearly defined membership of a local church? That’s one of the things that I see throughout the epistles of Paul, that there are obligations to members. It’s one another this and one another that. Well, you need to know who the one another’s are in order to fulfill the command of one another.

And when Paul writes to a church at Thessalonica or Corinth or wherever the letter is going, I mean, it is a defined membership, and I think we need to keep that in mind. And the fact that there will be holiness expectations, which really goes back to our first point, but also what we talked about this morning in regard to what churches teach about morality and the kind of standards to which they’re going to hold members and the problems that could arise and the discipline that might be necessary that we read about in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. And these patterns will also relate to how we approach him in corporate worship. How are we to come to God in an acceptable way? Did he just leave it out there for us to decide?

I think most people, even though they don’t have a lot of biblical knowledge, know that this is true. That it’s not just anything goes in worship. I was, when I was in a meeting in Florence on Monday at lunch, the elder that I was staying with wanted us to eat with an older gentleman who was a recent new convert. And so we were talking in the course of discussion, just a delightful Alabama fellow. He was talking about the church that he formerly attended. He decided he would go check out this pretty popular church in Florence. And he said, you know, there was a lot of music. And he said, I like music. And he said, there was a lot of music. And then as time went on, I mean, there was louder music and louder music.

And he started to grow a little bit uncomfortable with the nature of worship, not really knowing the scriptures that might pertain to that. But then he said, I went one Sunday and there was fog. And for some reason, when the fog came, he knew that something was amiss. And he might need to start looking somewhere else. I think people understand that we’re approaching God, that it needs to be done reverently. Did God just leave us out there to decide all of this stuff on our own? And how we do leadership. That’s another part of our corporate activity together. Who’s going to lead? How is that accomplished? And I know you all, a lot of you know things like this, elders and deacons and all of that.

That’s why we talk about all of that. That’s why we’re organized in that way. That’s that’s the pattern that we see in the New Testament. So all of that is worthy of discussion and lessons, and you hear lessons on those subjects from time to time. But you don’t hear a lot of lessons because this may be considered dry, boring stuff. And I’ll let you decide that when I get done.

I mean, the plates are past. And some of the things that we say, you know, the visitors, we’re not soliciting your funds. We’re not discouraging any visitors from giving if they want to, but it’s simply an obligation, as we say, for our members, and so we collect these funds. Is there a biblical pattern that we’re following in all of that, and something that we’re trying to accomplish in our work for the Lord? And so I don’t know how many sermons there are going to be on this subject of the pooling of our funds and how we’re to regard that as it relates to patterns. We’re going to run through the New Testament and digest that material because brethren, in my estimation, have erred greatly in this matter, in decisions that have been made, practices that they’ve undertook.

1. The Church of Our Lord Has a Head

And I believe we need to be ready to give biblical answers. I don’t think this is as clear as a lot of times people imagine that it is. Okay, so that’s that’s the brief introduction to the introduction. And so as I establish the idea of patterns, the first thing that we need to understand is that this church, the church of our Lord, has a head. Someone who is authority. And that is Jesus, of course, when he said, after his resurrection, all authority has been given to me in heaven and in earth, Matthew 28 and verse 18. He is the head over all things to the church. What does a head do? I mean, this is this is a very simple concept of a body and a head.

When you make decisions like tomorrow I’m going to get up at 6:30, 65, 5:30, go to school, go to work, and I’m going to prepare myself thusly with the proper clothing, etc. You know, the head is dictating the body’s movements. Our head, Jesus Christ, dictates, thus getting back to the concept of patterns, what takes place here. And not only does Ephesians 1 make that observation, but its parallel text in Colossians 1 and verse 18 says he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead, which suggests his right to occupy such a position, not to mention he is the creator of all things, which goes back to verse 16. He is the invisible, he is the image of the invisible God.

We read that in Hebrews 1 as well. That goes back to verse 15. And not only that, he’s been around a lot longer than you and me. He is before all things, verse 17, and in him all things hold together. And so because of that, and because of what he’s done, Paul says, so that he himself might come to have first place in everything. Okay, so we need to consider him who is the head as we consider our behavior both individually and corporately. It is his church, he is the head. So let me just make this observation. This is very generic that relates to a lot of things that we may discuss. But you can say whatever you want about being his church. And you may feel really good about how you’re doing, church, or the church that you’re associated with.

2. Submission Versus Rebellion

I like this. I like this church. I like the way it makes me feel. I like what we do. But ultimately, it is Jesus’ assessment that matters. And a lot of people who call themselves his church are not allowing him to be head as it relates to their function. Thus the questions with which we begin. An essential prerequisite to salvation, period. Whether it is our initial coming to the Lord or what we do once we’ve come to the Lord. An essential prerequisite to salvation is simply submission versus rebellion. That’s very simple. We rebelled against God. That makes us sinners. And with transgression on our account, because we’ve broken God’s law, we must submit to his will to find cleansing and salvation. It’s submission versus rebellion, and that doesn’t change just because we come to Christ.

That must continue. And we could cite the example of Saul. And really this goes back to declare what you will. When Saul comes back from defeating the Amalekites, and he sees Samuel the prophet of God in 1 Samuel 15, he says, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. He had gone and destroyed the Amalekites, but the instruction was to destroy them utterly. Everything. And he’s brought back the sheep and the best of the flocks. And oh, but it’s the sacrifice. It’s for the purpose of worship. So it’s okay. Again, that goes back to the question about patterns as it relates to worship. It’s got to be okay because it’s worship. No, it’s not okay because God said, destroy everything. It’s not okay. God doesn’t need those animals.

God doesn’t need worship for worship’s sake. Worship is more for us than for him. And so submission versus rebellion. And that’s exactly what Samuel calls it in 1 Samuel chapter 15, as they brought back the animals. He calls it rebellion. It’s as the sin of divination, he says.

So declare what you will. A submissive mind, and this again relates to much beyond our subject of what’s this subject about that we’re talking about? How are we going to use the pooled funds of the church? Okay, I know this is a very specific area, but let’s back out again with a very general concept, and that is of a submissive mind. A submissive mind must be cultivated and nurtured in order to be maintained. Just because at some point in the past we said, okay, I’m going to serve you, Lord. I’m going to forsake the path of sin. I’m going to turn to you. I confess that you are the Lord, that you are alive. You are risen from the dead. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and we make that confession, and then we’re immersed in water submissively, obediently, faithfully, because we understand that when we rise to walk out of that water, that we are rising to walk in newness of life, that’s where it all starts.

3. Jeremiah 42 and 43: Do Not Go to Egypt

But just because we possess that submissive mind on that day, does not mean we’ll possess that submissive mind the next day or the next month or the next year. And that’s why Jesus talks about those in the parable of the sower who believe for a time and then because of temptation, fall away. Or those who, over a process of time, perhaps a longer period of time, the cares and worries and the material things of this world choke out the fruitfulness of the word. So this submissive mind must be not just cultivated, but nurtured. And that’s one of the things that we do here every Sunday morning, Sunday night, is we’re nurturing that submissive mind, encouraging that submissive mind in every respect. Now, having said that, the purpose, the major purpose of this lesson is to have you come to appreciate a couple of chapters in Jeremiah that are largely overlooked, have been by me for 50 years, that I think are rather fascinating chapters.

And I want you to come. I want to put, I want you to put this on your new verses to appreciate list. And you have one of those, right? If you don’t, it’s starting right here, right now, with Jeremiah 42 and 43. And I’m going to cut to the highlights of some of this, because if I read all of chapter 42 and chapter 43, it’ll be quarter six. Okay. But here’s what the people express. We have a submissive mind. We will follow the Lord. You know, those words, they just roll off the tongue so easily. I’m going to follow the Lord. I, you know, they just they just pop right out. And they sound great. I feel good when I say them. Don’t you feel good when you say that?

I’m going to follow the Lord. Boom. That’s what he wants. I can say those words. Great. That’s exactly where this starts. Now, before I get into chapter 42, please understand the circumstances here. This is what makes it even more fascinating. This is a horrible time in the history of Israel. God has had it with them. He has had it. They have not turned to him despite pleadings from prophet after prophet after prophet after prophet. Nebuchadnezzar has come after many warnings from Jeremiah in this book. And Ezekiel over in captivity, he’s already there, prophesying, doom is coming. Doom is coming in Jerusalem. So it has come. By the time Jeremiah 42 and 43 happen, it is over. The land has been devastated. The city has been destroyed.

The temple has been burnt with fire. Jerusalem is in ruins. The leadership is gone. There’s a vacuum of leadership. The choice people have already been taken into captivity. The leadership of Israel. And so here you have this ragtag bunch of survivors trying to make their way after the Babylonian devastation, which is probably worse than a locust plague. And that’s Joel, remember? Okay. Just testing you there. You did remember that, right? Joel and Locus. Okay. So the Babylonians have come, they’ve destroyed everything. So what are we going to do? And I’m throwing this. You know, there’s always a first time for everything. And that’s a first. I’ve, you know, I’ve done it all here. I’ve fallen off the pulpit. I’ve thrown my Bible onto the floor while I was preaching.

And now I’m throwing this. Okay. What else is there? Back to Jeremiah 42. Little comic relief here in the middle. Where was I? Okay. So understand the situation. It’s horrible. So where are you going to go for direction? What are we going to do? I mean, you could just say, we’ll just live in Jerusalem. Jerusalem’s in ruins. What is life going to look like now? And so they come to Jeremiah. Here’s a prophet. They know he’s a prophet. He’s been saying doom is coming and doom has come. So he has some clout with the audience now when they hadn’t listened to him before. Now remember who it is that’s asking this stuff. Here are people who are right for judgment who have been judged. Somehow they’ve survived.

Okay. So they say to Jeremiah in chapter 42, and it still works. That’s good. Verse 5. May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which the Lord your God will send you to us. We need people with that attitude. Whatever the Lord instructs, whatever the patterns are, we’re going to do those. Whatever he wants in regard to worship, whatever he wants in regard to the pool funds of the church, whatever he wants in regard to personal righteousness, I’ll do it. The whole thing.

Why not a week? I mean, ten days. We’re waiting for a word from the Lord. And finally, it comes. Maybe we’re supposed to learn something about God working on his timetable, not ours. And to wait patiently on him. There’s a lot probably to be learned just from that. And so here’s what the Lord says after ten days. If you stay in the land, verse 10, I will build you up and not tear you down. Okay. That’s. I will plant you and not uproot you. You know, this is not this has not been a spiritually stout people, but he says, okay, if you just hunker down here, I will plant you and not uproot you. I shall relent concerning the calamity, and that’s always good when God relents of that, decides he’s not going to do that anymore.

And he says in verse 11, do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing. Why would they be afraid of him? He has just destroyed the land. Most powerful man in the world. Do not fear him. Now remember, this is on your, I’m going to start appreciating this passage list.

I will show you compassion. Just read the rest of that. We will. But if you are going to say, verse 13, we will not stay in this land, so as not to listen to the voice of the Lord your God. Now you just said you were going to listen. But if you say, you’re not going to stay, but we’re going to go to the land of Egypt. Well, because it’s going to be better there. They say in verse 10, it’s going to be better there. Now, if you say that, and don’t listen to the word of the Lord, he says that again in verse 15, if you really set your mind to enter Egypt and go in to reside there, that’s not going to go well.

Verse 18. As my anger and wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, my wrath will also be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. So the Lord has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, verse 19. Okay. Make sure you get this. Do not go to Egypt. Have you ever gotten in trouble with your parents? Let me spell this out to you. And they do one of these. Do not do this. Okay, that’s pretty clear. So this is God telling Israel, do not go to Egypt. Read my lips.

I like that. I have clearly understand the underlined in my Bible. You should clearly understand that today I have testified against you. For you have only deceived yourselves. For it is you who sent me to the Lord your God, saying, This is Jeremiah talking, pray for us to the Lord our God, and whatever the Lord our God says, tell us so, and we will do it. Therefore you should now clearly understand. Okay, it’s all been spelled out. Don’t go to Egypt. You said you’re gonna do what the Lord has told you to do. Now, let me tell you what listening to the Lord looks like. Listening to the Lord means you are not going to Egypt, you’re gonna stay put in the land, everything will be fine.

Now, we come to chapter 43. And the awful legacy of a man whose name you probably think you’ve never heard before, maybe you have, but you don’t remember it. The awful legacy of Johannon, the son of Korea. Now, Johan, the son of Korea, is like many people in our world. But he’s the unfortunate soul that is named of the survivors of Jerusalem. When he says to Jeremiah, you are telling a lie. Big mistake. Had he been lying about destruction of Jerusalem? I don’t think so. You are telling a lie. The Lord our God has not sent you to say you are not to enter Egypt to reside there. But Baruch the son of Nariah is inciting you. Remember the sermon I did on Baruch a while back?

Probably not, but I’m preaching in a meetings. People like it. I don’t know why they like that one. But I’m doing the one on Baruch in meetings, and one thing I like about this verse, I don’t know why they think Baruch is the one behind this, but he’s an influential fella. Though he’s mentioned only four chapters in the book of Jeremiah. They say, you know, Baruch puts you up to this. Now Baruch is his scribe. Remember, we found a bulla. There was a bull that was found. And has the name of Baruch on it. Okay, so he’s a real character, just like the Bible says. So Jehannon, the son of Korea, and all the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord so as to stay in the land of Judah.

And they entered the land of Egypt, verse 7, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. You know, what God told them was they wouldn’t have had to fear Nebuchadnezzar if they had stayed. But since they did not do what they said they were going to do, and that is listen to the voice of the Lord, the awful aftermath of that is told in verses 10 through 13 that now they are going to be punished by Nebuchadnezzar in Egypt. Now, appreciate this story. They’re already in the shape they’re in, because they had not listened to the voice of the prophet. And so now this prophet who has been vindicated by the fact that what he’s been saying for years has come true, he now tells them, after 10 days, don’t go to Egypt.

4. Two Lessons: God Knows Things That We Don't

If you go to Egypt, it’s going to be bad. Nebuchadnezzar is going to wreak havoc in Egypt, and you’re going to suffer and be destroyed. Just stay here. But they go anyway. So let me make two observations from that relate to our subject. Two lessons. Lesson number one. Lips may not profess what is consistent with the heart. Again, they said the right words. We want to listen to the words of the Lord. We want to do what the Lord, we want to follow the Lord. But in their heart of hearts, they really wanted to do what they wanted to do. And that really relates to what we were talking about this morning. That’s why I’m preaching this tonight. It reinforces the message from this morning.

That once we’ve talked about all the biblical principles that relate to all of those moral issues that we had up on the board, bottom line is you’ve got to decide am I going to submit to the principles, or am I going to do what I want to do? And that’s always been man’s problem. Johannon is alive and well. Many people follow him. But this second point that I want to make really relates to our subject tonight, and that is God knows things that we don’t know. You see, that’s sort of the moral of the story in chapter 42 and 43. God says, I know things that you don’t. You’re looking at this saying, we gotta get out of here. This land is a mess, it’s been devastated, things are better in Egypt.

Now remember what happened to you the last time you were in Egypt, but okay, well, we’re gonna go to Egypt, and things are gonna be better there. And God says, No, I see things, I know things, and it’s not gonna be better there. Now here’s the moral of this. That the reason why I’m spending so much time here is I want you to get this.

And I may be of a mind to do this or that, and in my mind that might spice it up a little, like the fog.

Okay, I can I can make this a little more entertaining and exciting, but maybe that’s not what God wants. And in regard to the treasury, I think we even have a greater problem than in relation to worship. I think a lot of folks could be content with simple acts of worship that the New Testament are describing for us that we’ve been engaged in today. But in regard to the treasury, it’s like we have bigger ideas, we have bigger plans. And if God hasn’t established some kind of pattern, you tell me what the limits are. If there’s not some kind of pattern to follow, you can just decide to do anything you want. If you deem it good, and we’ll talk more about that as we go along in this.

But have I harped on this long enough? I don’t know. But I want you to see lesson number two. God knows things that we don’t. And so when you look at the patterns of the New Testament and you look at how he wants the pool funds to be used, or how he wants worship, God has specified in his eternal wisdom, compared to my very finite and short-lived wisdom. Remember, Jesus was around before all things. God knows things that we don’t. And so let’s follow his patterns and not worry about what we think could be better. God’s patterns are his patterns for a reason. And we need to be diligent students to go to the book and see the patterns and be content with submission and compliance.

5. Paul Talks About Patterns

And let God work in the ways that he does in our world to accomplish his purposes. And so a few thoughts, and we’ll conclude tonight about patterns. Paul talks about patterns in Philippians 4 and verse 9. He says, The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, these things do. Now, Paul hasn’t been here today. And it would be great if I could meet the Apostle Paul, as the church at Philippi did. But there are many passages we could go to show that what the apostles left for us in the New Testament would be a representation of the things that these brethren had learned and received and heard and seen in him. And he says, you know, once you’ve seen that, do whatever you want.

That’s not how the passage reads. He says, practice these things. The things that have come from me, an apostle that you’ve learned from me, New Testament, the things that you have learned from me and received and heard and seen in me, things that I have emulated and imitated, like we talked about this morning, living the message, practice these things, and the God of peace shall be with you. And that’s what you want. You don’t want to just embark on whatever endeavor that you think might be good and hope God’s okay with it. Another whole lesson on that from Judges 17, but don’t have time for that tonight. And this is a familiar refrain. Paul tells the church in Thessalonica in regard to withdrawing from the brother who walks disorderly, says, not according to the tradition which you have received from us.

That says pattern. That has pattern written all over it. You withdraw from this brother because he’s not following the patterns that have come from me, an apostle of Jesus Christ. He says, For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. And he’s specifically talking about working and being diligent with one’s hands to make a living. And if one doesn’t do that, he is worse than an infidel, he would tell Timothy in 1 Timothy 5. But in 1 Timothy chapter 6, again, the same principle. Teach and preach these principles. If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus, and with the doctrine conforming to Godliness, following apostolic patterns. The written instruction of the New Testament acknowledges God’s sovereignty.

Acknowledges what is true that God is overall and acknowledges his wisdom and displays submission. And so, following God’s arrangement.

The initial point in the study. Following God’s arrangement will yield the results that he desires. Whether I ever grasp, even closely the wisdom of God in regard to the arrangement.

6. The Treasury: Laid at the Apostles' Feet

What matters is my submissiveness and understanding that when I follow the patterns, the results are yielded. Now let’s talk about the treasury and we’ll be done tonight. Acts chapter 5. Acts chapter 5. This is a clearest place, I think, to go. The story of Ananias and Sapphira, we tend to look at them rather than the principles we’re going to be talking about here. But what we see earlier in chapter 4 is that the congregation was of one heart and one soul, and they were sharing as anyone had need. And if people had material wherewithal, they would come and they would lay it at the apostles’ feet. That is, they would surrender it so that the apostles then could distribute to meet the needs of any needy Christian.

And there were great needs at that time in regard to just providing the sustenance of life. And so one of the persons who gave very liberally was Barnabas, the son of encouragement. He had a tract of land and he sold it, and he laid the funds at the apostles’ feet to help out. And then Anonis and Fira, apparently building on that example, thought, you know, we might be able to be regarded like someone like Barnabas. And they sold a piece of property too. And that’s where chapter 5 begins. But they didn’t give all of the proceeds like Barnabas had done. They kept back part of the price. And both of them were in on it. It says in verse 2, Sapphira knew fully well what Ananias had done.

So they brought a portion of it and they laid it at the apostles’ feet. And Peter says, Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? Now don’t conclude from that Peter was saying, now you were supposed to have given it all. And you didn’t. You should have given it all. Which kept back part of the price. Now that’s not what he says.

It was yours. And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Even after it was sold, it was still yours. It was just in financial, it was in cash form rather than a piece of land. What? And he says, why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied. You have not lied to men but to God. That’s, oh, young people, that’s a figure of speech there. That’s that’s an ellipsis. You have not lied to men only. Because they have lied to men. That’s how you know it’s a figure of speech, because they have lied to men. But it’s it’s emphasizing the second part. You’ve not just lied to men, but even more you have lied to God.

Remember, it’s God’s assessment that matters ultimately. Yes, you have lied. You’ve been a terrible example to men, therefore they’re going to be struck dead. But furthermore, you have lied to God. The problem was not that they kept back part of the price, because he said, Well, even after it was sold, it remained your own. It was under your control. But you have lied to God. There’s pretense here. You have given the pretense that you have given it all, like Barnabas did when he sold his tract of land. You wanted the accolades that come with giving it all, and because there was pretense here, God says, not good. Lying. Okay. That’s the story of Anastasia Spyra. But the point about the treasury is this. The funds that they received from selling the tract of land was theirs until they surrendered it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Once that happens, then it is now control that they have relinquished from those funds. That’s the point that I want you to get. It’s the point about it being under control. Money laid at the apostles’ feet was then dedicated to God’s special purposes. While it was still in your possession, it was your own when it was a tract of land, when it was the proceeds from the sale. But when you laid it at the apostles’ feet, it is therefore not your own. It has thus been dedicated to God’s special purposes. This treasury that we see an illustration of in Acts chapter 5 that we’ll talk more about as the New Testament unfolds. This treasury is designed to accomplish his supreme purposes. And I want to conclude with these thoughts about that.

Why does that matter? You know, the giving, the way we do it, there’s a number of ways we could do it. We wouldn’t have to use these gold trays. We could put a box in the back. There’s a lot of ways, you know. You could, I bet you could even pay by PayPal. Wait a minute, we do that too. I’ve never done it, but I know we can do it. I still like putting the check in, you know. That’s and plus it’s going by. Wouldn’t you feel bad if the plate goes by and you don’t put anything in? But it’s still getting into the treasury if you go PayPal. So there’s a lot of ways of doing it. But as that’s happening, I want you to think about what’s going on with that.

We’re doing a work that no one else is doing. We’re doing a work in supporting the message that saves people’s souls by what we pool together. If we’re using this treasury as is designed by the purposes and patterns that God has given us, we are accomplishing supreme purposes, and no one else is doing what we’re doing with these funds to the glory of our God. We are carrying God’s saving message to the world. But we’re doing even more than that. We are helping his people. We are helping his people through life. More on that in this study. But most of our funds are probably spent in this time, perhaps differently from the first century when there was a lot more financial need among the members, a lot more destitution, as we read about in the book of Acts.

Especially as the widows in Acts 6 unfolds. I mean, I we’re not having to establish a few deacons to take care of the widows of our group. We live in very different financial times in the first century. So a lot of our funds are not spent on the financially destitute members that we see very commonly in the New Testament. But we spend a lot more money on edification and the strengthening of those already in Christ. And I’ll tell you that’s significant too. And again, we’re the only ones doing that. Because as we strengthen this group, think about if we don’t do that, if we don’t provide for the equipping and strengthening of the members of the body of Christ, what do people do?

They fall away. And when they fall away, what do you lose? Resources. They are no longer intent on the importance of this supreme work that we’re doing. That’s no longer their focus. They’re not even serving the Lord. And because we’re not edifying and equipping them properly, they fall away, and we lose resources, all kinds of resources. Teaching and contribution. And so we need in this time to make sure that we’re equipping and encouraging and keeping people sound and the way they think, submissive to the Lord. We spend a lot of money in that area so that we can continue to pull these funds to accomplish the Lord’s work in our time. So there’s going to be more to be said about God’s pattern. But what has been the theme of tonight’s lesson?

Conclusion

Submission. Submission versus rebellion. Be intent in your life on submitting to the will of God, and the rewards will be worth it all. If you’re subject to the imitation of our Lord, come now as we stand and say.