This morning, for our text, we turn again to Philippians chapter 2 and consider verses 14 through 18. Philippians 2, verses 14 through 18. Once you have found that, please turn back to Psalm 106. Psalm 106, which we will read in connection with this text this morning. Philippians 2 and Psalm 106. Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever. Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare His praise? Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right. Remember me, O Lord, when You show favor to Your people. Come to my aid when You save them, that I may enjoy the prosperity of Your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of Your nation and join Your inheritance in giving praise. We have sinned even as our fathers did. We have done wrong and acted wickedly. When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to Your miracles. They did not remember Your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea. Yet He saved them for His name's sake to make His mighty power known. He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up. He led them through the depths as through a desert. He saved them from the hand of the foe, from the hand of the enemy. He redeemed them. The waters covered their adversaries. Not one of them survived. Then they believed His promises and sang His praise. But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel. In the desert they gave in to their craving. In the wasteland they put God to the test. So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them. In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord. The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan, and it buried the company of Abiram. Fire blazed among their followers, a flame consumed the wicked. At Horeb they made a calf and worshipped an idol cast from metal. They exchanged their glory for an image of a bull which eats grass. They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, miracles in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. So He said He would destroy them had not Moses, His chosen ones, stood in the breach before Him to keep His wrath from destroying them. Then they despised the pleasant land. They did not believe His promise. They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the Lord. So He swore to them with uplifted hand that He would make them fall in the desert, make their descendants fall among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands. They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods. They provoked the Lord to anger by their wicked deeds and a plague broke out among them. But Phinehas stood up and intervened and the plague was checked. It was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come. By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord and trouble came to Moses because of them For they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' lips. They did not destroy the peoples as the Lord had commanded them, but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs. They worshipped their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. And the land was desecrated by their blood. They defiled themselves by what they did, by their deeds. they prostituted themselves. Therefore, the Lord was angry with His people and abhorred His inheritance. He handed them over to the nations and their foes ruled over them. Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power. Many times He delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin. But He took note of their distress when He heard their cry. For their sake, He remembered His covenant and out of His great love, He relented. He caused them to be pitied by all who held them captive. Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from the nations that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting, that all the people say, Amen. Praise the Lord. Philippians chapter 2, again, verses 14 through 18, but let me begin by reading the text from last week, verse 12. Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe, as You hold out the Word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing, but even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from Your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of You. So You too should be glad and rejoice with Me. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, when I was a young boy growing up in northwest Iowa, whenever I would meet somebody from California or even talked to my own cousins from California, I couldn't help but ask, do you know any movie stars? Do you see them walking down the street? Do you live next to any movie stars? Didn't realize how large California is and really how small Hollywood is. And I don't know where the title movie stars came from, whether it was simply because these people were good at what they did or simply because they were in the public eye, they were visible. But let's be honest, who among us hasn't at least a little bit fantasized about enjoying the popularity and the applause and the benefits and the fame of certain movie stars, TV stars, or even athletic stars? Who of us hasn't thought about that at least a little bit? They seem to have it so good. Well, guess what? If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have been saved by the blood of Jesus, if you have the comfort of the salvation which He alone brings, then you are a star. You are a star. Paul says you shine like stars or like lights. It's also translated. You shine like stars in the universe. The word there is used often for moon or stars. But very simply, the Christian in the world. The Christian in the world is similar to the moon and stars. shining bright in a dark night. Boys and girls, you know what that means. You've seen it, I trust, when you've had the opportunity to be in the black of night, maybe without the hindrance of streetlights, and you've seen this cloudless sky at nighttime, and the moon shining bright, and the thousands of stars that you can't even begin to count. They're there. They're visible. They're clear for all to see. And that is the Christian in the world. The Christian is to be visible, clear for all to see. And there's something about the Christian that is to be clear for all to see. Oh, we won't have the same impact or influence on the world as movie stars or as athletic stars have, yet true Christians cannot be missed because they are salvation's shining stars. Now this text, verses 14 through 18, really is the second bracket, if you will, of a section that begins, the first bracket starts, chapter 1, verse 27, which we've been considering over these last number of weeks. And that verse begins, Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. That's the first bracket, we might say. And now this text is the last bracket, bracketing this entire section. Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. And we have considered together many times what that means. That that conduct that is worthy of the Gospel of Christ includes that God's people, brothers and sisters in Christ, are to be united in the face of opposition and suffering. But also that with regard to one another, they are to exercise that spirit of humility and selflessness with each other. And the pattern is to be Christ. Christ is to be our pattern for humility and selflessness, especially as He too faced opposition and suffering. Last week, we considered Paul's words when he said, Work out your salvation. Live out your salvation, what you have in Christ Jesus. Live like saved people. And now, Paul, as it were, gives specific instructions on how to do that. How to work out, how to live out your salvation. Salvation's shining stars reveal gospel conduct. They illumine the gospel message. They demonstrate gospel joy. Notice, it all has to do with what is to be visible in the heart, in the life of the child of God. This morning, we only have time for the first point. We're only going to consider point one. Salvation's shining stars reveal gospel conduct. And for those of you who take notes, you can write down these three sub-points. That salvation's shining stars reveal gospel conduct as children of God. They do so as those who are content in God. And they do so as those who are different in God. As children of God, content in God, and different in God. Paul begins the text, verses 14 and 15, Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault, in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe. The context in which we live is a crooked and depraved generation. That's where God's church on this earth is placed. If you believe in Jesus Christ, if you claim to be a Christian, then very simply, beloved, it matters how you and I live. It matters how you and I live. You cannot separate what you believe from how you live. We will, as Christians, will take great care to live as children of God. Now, Paul is not saying here that we will become children of God because we already are as believers. He calls the Philippian believers saints early on. He rejoices in their partnership in the Gospel. We already are, as believers, children of God. But these verses before us give a glimpse of a part of what takes place in sanctification. Do everything without complaining and arguing, that you may become blameless and pure children of God. And to be a child of God is something that is true only of Christians. And you and I might say, well, of course that's the way it is. It's true only of Christians. But there have been those who have taught about the fatherhood of God, that God is the Father indiscriminately of all of mankind. And we might say, He is the Father of all mankind. In the creative sense, he has created all, but he is not the Father of all mankind in the redemptive sense. It's true only of Christians, as the Bible makes clear. In John 1.12, we read, Yet to all who received him, that is, Jesus Christ, the light who came into the world, to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. And in contrast to that, in John 8.44, Jesus says to those who were challenging him, who rejected him, You belong to your father, the devil, who is the father of lies, he says. Those who believe in Jesus have God as their father. They are children of God. Those who do not are children of the devil. Only Christians are children of God. And this is true of you and me by adoption. That beautiful adoption. Indeed, because of our sin and misery, we were outside of God's family. We were unwanted, we were unloved, we were unlovable, unworthy. But for Jesus' sake, because of His perfect work by which our sins are all paid for and through which we have been given the righteousness of Christ, because of that we might say that God the Father legally and rightfully brings us into His family. Peter says in 1 Peter 2, verse 10, Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. And Paul says in Romans 8 that in Christ we have received the Spirit of Sonship, and by Him we cry, Abba, Father. We have been adopted, brought from outside to inside, and given all the rights and privileges of children of God. And the benefits of being a child of God include being the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, those in whom the Holy Spirit takes up residence. He lives in His people. And He is going about that work of recreating you and me in the image of God in true knowledge and true righteousness and true holiness. Those benefits include being the special object of God's care and favor. Just as parents love and care for and protect their children and would never do anything intentionally, To harm their children, but instead desire to do what is for the good of their children. And in the perfect way, we are the special objects of God's care and favor and protection. He will never, ever do anything to harm you and me, but only what is for our good. In Him, as His children, we enjoy a privileged position. We have been separated, called out from, set apart from the crooked and depraved generation of this world. Even though we are in the world, we are not of the world. We are separated from, and our God says to you and me as He does in Isaiah 43, You are mine. And that means, beloved, that the Christian, the child of God, is to be entirely different from the person who is not a Christian. Because in God's sight, He is entirely different. And we are to be entirely different. You can say that you're a Christian all you want, but the proof is in the pudding as the saying goes. As gospel conduct reveals that children of God are content in God. They find contentment in God. Now, this is interesting because Paul says it negatively. He says, do everything without complaining or arguing. He's talking about contentment there. Do everything without complaining or arguing. You see, this calls for trust in God. This without complaining or arguing describes the character of God's children. It's a call for you and me to fight against the natural tendencies of sin, which includes complaining and arguing. As we work out, as we live out our salvation, we are called to do everything, everything, in whatever situation God places us, whatever comes our way, to do it without complaining or arguing, or as another translation says, grumbling or questioning. Complaining here means grumbling. It means murmuring under one's breath. Muttering under one's breath. Maybe you've done that, boys and girls or young people. If you've been upset at your parents or if you've been angry at a teacher or any of us at a boss, an employer, you've turned around and muttered under your breath. And what the word means here, it has the idea, it is an expression of dissatisfaction. Not being satisfied with the way things are. Arguing here has the idea of questioning, criticizing in a skeptical fashion, An expression of disagreement. And both of these, you see, point to rebellion against God. A lack of satisfaction with God. Not being satisfied with Him and what He is doing. Beginning to criticize Him, to argue with Him, to question His ways. Someone has said that complaining has with it a lack of love. It points to a lack of love for God. And arguing points to a lack of faith in God. Simply forgetting who He is and what He has done. And Paul, clearly, it is agreed, had Israel in mind when he says do everything without complaining or arguing. Psalm 106, if you notice, is a history lesson of Israel. And in particular, a history lesson of her grumbling, her murmuring, her complaining, her arguing against God. Israel was a grumbling, complaining people. They grumbled because they were in Egypt. And then they grumbled because they were out of Egypt. They didn't have all the good things of Egypt anymore. They grumbled because they had nothing to eat. Then when God gave them manna, they grumbled because they didn't have any meat. They grumbled because of their leadership. Even in the Promised Land, they grumbled, they grumbled, they grumbled. They forgot God in all of His wonderful ways so often. One commentator says, The complaining or arguing spirit is an expression of ingratitude to God's providence and of lovelessness and pride towards others. It is a denial of grace. It is working against salvation rather than working salvation out into every aspect of our lives. I never thought about that. Maybe you hadn't either, that when I grumble and I complain, and I do, That it is an expression of ingratitude, ungratefulness to God's providence. What He has given to me. What He has placed in my way. What He has done for me. And when we argue and grumble and complain against one another, it is an expression of lovelessness and pride toward each other. It is a denial of grace. We are to be content in God. Gospel conduct will be content in God. trusts in God, and accepts God's providence. You see, the Philippian believers, they were suffering opposition. We know that. And like all true believers, they were guaranteed that they would also suffer for the faith. As Paul says, whoever desires to live righteous in Christ, they will suffer persecution. And they and you and I along with them were being called to be careful not to fall into the evil ways of the Israelites. Again, beloved, we live in the context of a crooked and depraved generation. This life is a pilgrimage. This life is not our home. We don't rightly belong here. It's not suited for us. And God will at times put us in places that we don't like very much, like Paul in prison. There will be days, as it were, where there's not enough water to quench our thirst and our food is unsatisfying. I'm not talking about literal water and food, you know that. There are going to be times when we're simply not satisfied with the things in this life and what we have and what we don't have. Our enemies will confront us. We will ask, why? Why am I not getting better? Why am I not getting stronger? Why has this bad thing happened to me? I didn't do anything to deserve it. Why? Why? Why? We will be tempted to grumble and to argue with God. But you see, gospel conduct is content in God, trusts Him, accepts God's provision. And in those times, beloved, we must remember that even in those times, God is working in you to will and to act according to His good purpose, even when you are faced with the difficulties and the sadness and the hardships of this life. You and I are to remember that God is holy and absolutely righteous, that He is the Father who loves and cares for you. He has sent His only Son to the cruel death on the cross for you while you and I were still enemies. We must remember, beloved, that you and I have absolutely no reason to complain because we have everything in Christ Jesus. Oh, we may not have all the glitz and the glamour and the gold of this world, but we have everything in Christ Jesus for eternity, the riches of glory. We have no reason to complain while the world has every reason to complain. They have nothing. Even if they have all that this world affords, they have nothing. We need to remember that God has not promised us all good things. But He did promise that all things will work for our good. Contentment in God trusts in Him. It accepts God's providence and understands sanctification. Gospel conduct understands that sanctification is God's chief concern for you and me. That's His chief concern. His chief concern is not that you and I have a good time in this life. It's not that we have happy and successful lives here on this earth as some would say. Oh, God wants you to have everything your heart desires. God wants you to be happy, healthy, wealthy, and wise. And if you don't have all that, well, you simply don't have enough faith. You're simply not doing something right. That's not true. God's first concern is not that you and I be happy with every detail of this life. But His first concern is that one day we be perfect as Christ is. His chief concern is our soul. And He will do whatever it takes in your life and mine to care for His chief concern, to care for that soul. And we don't always understand God's ways with us, but we are called to be content that He makes no mistakes, that His way is perfect. Gospel conduct is content in God. If you are a child of God, then other things have to go. Things that would destroy us. And He will see to that as He holds on and works in each one of us and makes sure that we arrive one day in the perfect state of glory. And until that day, we are called to follow Christ's example again. We are simply commanded to do what Jesus Christ Himself did. He did not grumble or argue when he was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days without food by the devil. He did not grumble and argue when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane and his sweat was wringing from him as great drops of blood. He did not argue and complain and grumble against God as he was taking the curse of your sin and mine on the cross. As shining stars, beloved children of God, reveal conduct worthy of the gospel, filled with contentment in God, and also show that we are different in God. We show that contentment, and in the same way show that we are different in God. Verses 14 and 15 again, Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe. Now, we know that sanctification includes it's putting off more and more the old man of sin with its complaining and arguing, and it involves putting on more and more the new man of righteousness, which as Paul says, is blameless and pure and without fault. That is the character of the Christian. Blameless, pure, without fault. And blameless here is talking about being blameless in our observable conduct, that which is seen, that which can be observed. There is to be nothing to blame in or about us. There is to be nothing for the world to have for which they could point a finger at Christians and say, hey, what are you doing? That doesn't fit. We are to live so that those who are around us, those who look at and observe us, are never able to see or find anything to charge against us. Well, you say this, but you do that. They should be able to find nothing except that we are faithful, that we live what we profess to believe. And again, the idea there is not so much the inward nature, but the outward appearance. And that's easy, right? We're all blameless, right? Not one of us ever gives the world a reason to point that finger and say, ha, ha, ha. Right? Wrong. Sadly, each one of us is filled with blame. But to see, beloved, we must care about what others think of us. Not talking about the fear of man as junior high boys and girls you heard the other night from Mr. Godfrey. Not talking about peer pressure and fear to the point of giving in to the pressure to change how we dress or our language or the activities we participate in, but we must care about what others think when it comes to Christian conduct. That complaining and arguing that Paul says don't do anymore, That complaining and arguing against God becomes manifest as we do it with each other. As we complain and argue with each other. The Philippian believers struggled here. It hadn't torn up the church yet, but it was there. It was inside, as we know. And Paul is telling them to get rid of it so they would be blameless. You see, beloved, when we argue against God, when our co-workers hear us complain about our jobs or we're not happy with our car or we're not happy with this aspect of our life, we complain and grumble and grumble and complain, that sends a contradictory message to the world. It doesn't fit. And when we argue and complain as God's people, that too sends a contradictory message. The world says that that's the family of God. Things are supposed to be good there. They're supposed to get along. Well, that doesn't look so special. We send a contradictory message, beloved, and that reflects on God, that reflects on the name Christian. And therefore, in all places, in all circumstances, whatever they might be, there is to be no evidence of sin or failure in our lives. That's what Paul is saying. And the pattern, again, is to be Jesus Christ. In John 8, verse 46, again, to those who rejected him, he says, Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? And, of course, the answer was no. No one could. In our conduct, as we reveal gospel conduct, beloved, As we live before the eyes of the world, we are to remember every moment to whom we belong. To our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. Paul also says pure, blameless and pure. The idea there is innocent, unmixed, unadulterated. Boys and girls, I've used this illustration before, but if I put one drop of poison in this water, this water we might say is fairly pure right now. But if I put one drop of poison in it and stir it up, it becomes mixed. That pure water is mixed with poison. It becomes adulterated, as it were. It's no longer pure. We are to be innocent, unmixed with sin. It's talking about our inward character, what I am on the inside, that which is not visible to the eyes of others. And that inside, then, is demonstrated in being blameless. See, Paul is talking about a consistency here with the inside, with the outside. Our lives are not to be hypocritical. We're not to live two-faced lives. We are to live what we claim to believe. Even as Jesus explained, it's not enough to keep from physically committing adultery or murder. We must not lust. We must not hate in the heart. And then Paul summarizes blameless and pure as children of God without fault. Also translated, without rebuke. Very simply, there is to be nothing in the Christian, inside or outside, that stains the child of God. Is this impossible? For us, yes. For us, yes, but not for God. See, this is sanctification. The Holy Spirit making us to actually and really fit with the way that God sees us in Christ Jesus. He sees us as perfectly righteous and holy for the sake of Jesus Christ. And part of that work of sanctification is that this is to be our desire, our goal, that for which we strive, all because of Jesus Christ. And we know that the Spirit of God won't be done in us until glory, but He will finish that work, it's guaranteed. Jude in Jude 24 speaks of the One who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault. And Paul in Ephesians 5, talking about the church, the bride of Christ, says that He will present her to Himself without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. This is the character of the Christian, blameless, pure, without fault. And Paul contrasts that with the world. Again, the Christian is entirely different from the person who is not the Christian. Paul makes it clear there is an antithesis. There are complete opposites as he speaks of a crooked and depraved generation. Crooked with regard to actions and attitudes and behaviors. The truth is straight, but the lie is crooked. It goes off in all directions. And those who turn away from the truth of God are not God's children. They are not to be trusted. Crooked here is the very opposite of blameless. Because this generation is also depraved, perverse in mind and heart. There it's talking, as you can imagine, about a distorted inward nature. The opposite of pure. Notice what Paul does. as God's people live in the world and are not to be of the world, we are totally opposite of the world by virtue of Christ Jesus. Truly, beloved, we have nothing in common. There's nothing in common between the believer and the unbeliever. And we must stop acting as if there is. We must stop trying to find things that we have in common with the world. Even if it doesn't look like it, because of God's restraining hand, He restrains the evil of the world. And therefore, sometimes it doesn't look so bad to us, yet it is dark, it is black, it is sinful, it is dangerous, it is deadly. And God's people, salvation's shining stars, as they reveal Gospel conduct, then uncover that darkness. The darkness of this generation among whom the children of God shine like stars. You see, beloved, salvation's shining stars can't help but to be seen. They will be seen. They must be seen as different. Salvation shining stars are to be in the world what light is to darkness. Boys and girls, you know what that is. Go into a dark room, turn on a light, what happens? All of a sudden, what was in that dark room is exposed. You can see it for what it is. Our holiness, our being set apart in Christ Jesus is to stand out in unmistakable contrast to the darkness and the night of sin and evil in this world in which we live. And on a practical note, that means, boys and girls and young people, that if you believe in Jesus, you should never ever have to worry about hiding or covering up things from your parents. You should never ever have to question yourself, should I or shouldn't I, if you're going to have to hide it or cover it up from your parents. Because believers do not seek darkness. But believers expose the darkness. That's the function of light, isn't it? Again, to expose darkness, to expose the hideousness of sin in the sense of the believer, but also to illumine, to cast light upon the proper path, the way of safety and hope. And that's what we hope to consider next week, the Lord willing. The salvation shining stars illumine the gospel message and demonstrate gospel joy because it's not simply enough to expose the sin of the world. But yet, that is a function of salvation shining stars. to expose, to show the world its sin and shame. How? By holy living. By holy living. Again, that's what the dark does. Ephesians 5, 13, Paul says, everything exposed by the light becomes visible. The truth is we're often scared to offend the world. We're scared of how the world might react because we're afraid, we have fear of man. But the Gospel is offensive. The Gospel is the light, it is the truth. And it points out what is wrong. And gospel conduct will offend also because by its very nature, gospel conduct will tell the world and sinful conduct that it's wrong and people don't like to be told they're wrong. But we must not fear man, beloved. We are to fear God whose grace is greater than all of our fears. Our task as salvation shining stars is to make the world see the kind of life they are living by living a life exactly opposite of theirs. We do so in appearance. We are to give the appearance of humility and selflessness versus the arrogance and the selfishness of the world. You know, that arrogance is seen in that emblem, no fear. You've seen the no fear on t-shirts and on bumper stickers and that kind of thing. That emblem is unbiblical. That saying is unbiblical, no fear. Because that is used for taking dangerous chances and risks with our bodies, with our very lives. But God considers our life as precious and we are to have reverence for our body that God has given us, the life God has given it to us, and not needlessly put ourselves in danger. We are to have fear. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. We are to have fear of sinning, fear of offending God. A reverent fear for God that we don't want to sin or offend Him. And our appearance, even in our clothing. Now, someone might say, oh, come on, let's talk about clothing again. But think about it. The world dresses for the purpose of turning heads and of producing thoughts that are not pure, to show enough skin, to show the world how sexy I am. But when we dress, whether it's to come to church or whether in daily life, That is to be the furthest thought from our minds. Instead, in everything, in our appearance too, we are to be concerned of what God thinks. We are to live exactly opposite of the world in our speech. We are to offer pure language. No swearing, no cussing, no cursing. But speech filled with truth and honesty, even in our responses to one another. As the writer of Proverbs 15, 1 says, A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. We are to speak the truth in love. But also we are to be opposite in attitude. Our attitude toward work. May it never be that your co-workers or your boss would see you complaining about your work. That you see it as only a necessary evil, but instead that you see it as a gift from God. That you are working for Him, first of all. That in all things, you strive to do it to His glory. Because complaining about it, again, sends a contradictory message that you're not satisfied with God's providential care. Our attitudes toward marriage. That we recognize that marriage is a reflection of the marriage of Christ and His church. It is lasting. And it is beautiful. Our attitude toward family. That we see the family as the church in miniature where parents desire to train their children in the fear and knowledge of the Lord and children honor their fathers and mothers. And even again, how we respond and treat each other within the family in love. with kind words, boys and girls, along with your brothers and sisters. Kind words. Again, that we might not send a contradictory message that the world would not be able to point that finger and say. But also our attitude, and this is timely for this morning, our attitude toward catechism in Sunday school. I got this one from home. It's our privilege to start catechism in Sunday school this morning. Boys and girls, young people, how do you feel about it? Are you excited about it? Are you grateful for it? For the opportunity that God gives you to grow spiritually in your life? Because that's what it's all about. Do you love catechism? Beloved, shining, salvations, shining, stars. Reveal, gospel, conduct. And again, as we hope to consider next week, it's far beyond that. But our conduct is to be seen. It is to be shining. Sparkling, if you will. And it's clear that it is impossible to be yoked together with unbelievers. We have nothing in common with them. Oh, we have a purpose with them. And we'll see that, the Lord willing. But we have nothing in common with them. And may we stop looking for things that we have in common with them. Unbelievers hate what believers love and love what believers hate. God has set us apart in Jesus Christ. He has rescued us from this crooked and depraved generation, why would you ever want to return? The world will hate us. The world will despise the light that we shed by the Holy Spirit as we work out our salvation. But those who find themselves safe in the abiding love of God won't be bothered by the world's hate. They won't desire the world's applause. Oh, the stars of this life, they work for, they crave, they live by the applause and the following of men. But that will not last. It will come to an end and their starlight will fade, it will die. But those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are salvation's shining stars whose light is the very reflection of the glory of the Lord of righteousness. And their light will never fade, it will never go out as they will live forever in the glorious presence of the Lord of glory. Amen.