2 Tim 2:24-26 And the Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. 
In our last consideration, we looked mainly at the witness of Jesus Christ that we are to present to those outside the Body of Christ. I think that all of us would agree, that we are to show forth lives that would strive to attract others to our Lord. Accordingly, it is our responsibility to be kind and patient with those who do not know Christ. I also think, that most of us would agree that we should be kind and gentle with one another in the Body of Christ. These are not grand statements of some great new truths that are just now being revealed to us. However, as is often the case, what we know and agree with is not necessarily characteristic of our behavior.
Sadly, even though we want to treat others in such a Godly manner, we often find ourselves losing patience, especially when we have gone over the same things day after day, week after week, and year after year. We sometimes look at others with envy and with jealousy. We might hold ourselves up with a supposed sense of superiority. We may regard other Christians as somehow inferior, lacking in spirituality, and very fortunate to be in our presence, much less the Lord’s. I am exaggerating this to make a point, yet, with grave concern; I wonder how much it is truly exaggerated in our minds and thoughts. How many of us are caught up in a sense of being better than another in some form or fashion? As well, how many of us are deeply set in a sense that we are inferior to others in our family of Christ? Either one of these attitudes displeases God because we become the focal point, rather than Jesus Christ. As members of His Body, it is imperative that we keep our heart and our mind focused singly upon that which He has done in order to bring us into His Body. The only true reason that we are gathered together is because He chose us, in His infinite grace and mercy to be partakers, together of His so great salvation. With this at the forefront of our thoughts, let us see how we are to respond to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in oneness in Jesus Christ.  
Look at the heart of the Apostle Paul as he expressed it in 1 Thess 2:5-8. For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed —  God is witness — nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. Notice the loving manner in which the believers are to be treated within the body. We should be gentle, filled with the same love as a mother who tenderly cares for her children. This does not mean that we do not reprove or discipline or point out those elements of spiritual harm, as so directed by the Word of God and His Holy Spirit. God forbid that we would so allow each other to wallow in sin and spiritual disobedience. That would be no way in which to truly love someone and express that love. Rather, when discipline is required, once again, it is with that same gentle love of a parent for his or her child, with firmness and consistency in the love of Jesus Christ. We need to learn to treat each other with such a fond affection, that we will become very dear to one another. We need to learn to encourage one another in Christ. There should be a true commitment of love to be in one another’s presence, in Christ. There should be that heart which rejoices in every opportunity to be together. There should be a visible outreach across ages and generations which finds delight in one another. This is so because we share together in all the love of Jesus Christ’s Gospel.
Listen to the description that should be in place within those who belong to Jesus Christ. Rom 12:10-13, Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. There is a common devotion that is to be in place. As Christians, we desire to commit ourselves to being dedicated to God. We like to try to show Him that there is commitment in our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ in the manner in which we read His Word and pray regularly. That devotion is, as well, required in honoring the Lord as we deal with the members of His Body, with one another. We should be characterized by sincerity in our dealings with each member of the Beloved. That earnestness is to be set in the fact that we are thankful to God for being included in His Body of Believers. It must be such full thanksgiving, that it exudes in our service to the needs of our fellow believers. We should show forth complete satisfaction in all that God has done in our lives, individually and corporately. 
As such, within the body, there are some very important characteristics and patterns of behavior that are to be engrained and inherent with regard to those given duties of service unto the Church. 1 Tim 3:2+3 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money. Notice, the Lord expects very much from those given responsibility within the service of His people. There is established a perfect pattern of behavior and a divine concern of the heart. It is the very heart of Christ which is demanded, yes very forcefully demanded in the treatment of Christ’s beloved brethren. This is not a call to be taken lightly, with any idea of self-glory or status. It is one which inherently carries the sentence of death to self in utter and unrewarded service to the people of God’s election. It echoes our morning’s text quite vigorously … And the Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition. 
One of the very saddest elements in today’s church is the fact that there are quarrels and contentiousness evidenced, on display, so to speak, of the fact that we are just like any other organization of man. Because we have our ideas and our thoughts of what should and should not be, we try to win others over. We try to bring to bear public opinion within the church and majority rule in place of the sovereignty of Christ in His Church. We think that if we can get enough backing for our position on this item or that aspect of thinking, that we can force others to acquiesce to our thoughts and ideas. It is the depravity of self rule that brings forth contentiousness and quarrelsomeness and bitterness and anger and frustration and unforgiveness. It is the wrong position of human thinking within the structure of the church. It serves only to show forth contempt for others and ridicule of their ideas and their behavior. These are all things that the world does, and does with great astuteness. This age is very adept at looking for differences and exploiting weakness and flaws. It uses these to elevate itself above the perceived station and the inadequacy of others. Too often, churches are so infiltrated with the human regard for spiritual truth, that they lose the heavenly perspective of what is really and truly taking place. That is why the Lord is so very demanding on those in service to the Body. We are to be constantly and rigorously on guard against those things which would serve to detract and distract from His Lordship within His church.
And this stand of Christ is not limited to those in the chosen service of ministry to the flock, as we read in Titus 2:2-8 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored. Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, in order that the opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. There is great responsibility set on every member of the flock to abide by the life and the character that is now ours in Jesus Christ. Notice that we have a service to render unto each other, no matter what the age, no matter what the ability level, no matter what our level of spiritual growth. We are all teaching and learning together and sharing together in the grace and the mercy and the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are to treat each other with kindness and with sincerity in the faith by which we live and have been so blessed in Christ. 
Pay attention to the key words of this passage. We are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound, reverent, pure, loving, an example, and beyond reproach. While we know that we cannot accomplish this of our own accord, we do fully recognize that we are given the grace and the power to be such truthful and righteous examples of Christ’s love. It is through manifest and steady obedience to His Word under the direct guidance and strength and wisdom of the Holy Spirit. It is in Him that we learn to desire to be such faithful and willing witnesses of Our Lord. 
There is a key in this that is often overlooked and even deliberately ignored. It is the fact that we should desire to be such witnesses; that there should well up within our hearts the absolute need to so please our Heavenly Father in the manner in which we present the testimony of His Only Begotten Son on this earth. That is the trouble for most of us, after all. We do not want to live the life that we have been given in Christ. We want to live our own lives in the way that we deem fit to live them. We want to live in accordance to our understanding of what it means to live. We are willing to accept suggestions and listen to directions to a point, but we want to make the decisions and to choose our path and our manner of living. We do not want everything that is part and parcel of completely living unto the Lord. We want to pick and to choose, like in a cafeteria, those things of this world that we like and those things of the Lord that we like. We want to disregard and avoid all those things that we dislike and do not want to face.
Let it be very clearly understood that it is that very spirit of human independence and self-centered consideration that is at the root of our sinful nature. Whether we like hearing it or not, whether we choose to accept it or not makes no difference. We are not given any leeway in our choosing to live by Jesus Christ. If we decide to ignore the guidance of the Holy Spirit, if we choose to set aside or minimize the precepts of the Word of God, we are merely dabbling in the realm of spirituality, but not fully partakers of it. We will find ourselves in the most precarious of dilemmas, facing spiritual realities by means of human endeavor. In that horrid predicament, we will always fail. We will never find true satisfaction within our Christian life. We will never be able to partake of Christ’s rest and joy and wisdom and understanding. There will never be the sustaining reality of Christ in us, the hope of glory. We will ever be caught in a web of knowing what we should do, but never able to enjoy the full certainty of the Lordship and the majesty of Jesus Christ. He will be our eternal salvation, but not our blessing of life today, this very moment.
This is the picture that is laid before us by the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 1:5-11. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. 
It is with diligence and complete self-denial that we come into the fullness of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is with an unquenchable desire for the glory of God to be seen in the lives that we live on this earth that His majesty will pour over our spirits and flood our souls and hearts. It is with heart-felt seeking and obedience that we will come into the true relationship as the brethren of our Lord Jesus Christ. And, it is with hearts that cry out unto Him to make us that which brings glory to His name, that we will find our lives useful for His purpose and His plan of love and salvation on this earth. We are His ambassadors, His representatives of eternal life in Jesus Christ, both within and outside the church. Let it be that we live in full accordance with that tremendous and eternally vital call, for the sake of one another, for the sake of our loved ones, for the sake of our friends and associates, but most especially for the sake of His name in all of creation. So be it!
And the Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. Amen

This morning’s benediction is  Ps 47 O Clap your hands, all peoples; Shout to God with the voice of joy. For the Lord Most High is to be feared, A great King over all the earth. He subdues peoples under us, And nations under our feet. He chooses our inheritance for us, The glory of Jacob whom He loves. Selah. God has ascended with a shout, The Lord, with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises; Sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with a skillful psalm. God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne. The princes of the people have assembled themselves as the people of the God of Abraham; For the shields of the earth belong to God; He is highly exalted. Amen