Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Alright, please grab your hymnals. Let's start with hymn number 244 please.
244 Amazing Grace.
244. And when you have found it, can you please stand.
244 Amazing Grace.
Let's sing it up to the Lord.
Alright, let's sing to the Lord.
Amazing Grace,
how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost,
but now am found.
Was blind,
but now I see.
Twas grace that taught
my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved.
How gracious did
that grace appear.
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers,
toils and snares,
I have already come.
Tis grace that brought
me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.
When we've been there
ten thousand years,
bright shining as the sun,
we've no less days
to sing God's grace
than when we first begun.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much
for the amazing grace that you've given us, Lord,
that we can be saved by your grace through faith
and a lot of works.
And Lord, that you've made it just so straightforward
for us, Lord, to know our place in heaven, Lord,
to be made a child of God,
and to receive the promises, Lord,
that you've given us through your word.
So, Lord, we come to your house tonight
to bless you, to praise you,
to worship you, Lord,
to lift you up, not to lift up a man, Lord.
We come to lift you up, Lord,
so we just ask that your Holy Spirit
will work in our lives,
will teach us and direct us,
and that, Lord, we will come out of church tonight,
Lord, a little challenge,
and, Lord, a desire to make necessary changes
to be more like our Lord Jesus Christ.
We pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen. You may be seated.
All right, 227.
227, saved by the blood.
227.
Saved by the blood of the crucified one,
now ransomed from sin and a new word begun.
Sing praise to the Father,
and praise to the Son.
I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one.
Glory, I'm saved.
My sins are all pardoned.
My guilt is all gone.
Glory, I'm saved.
I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one.
Saved by the blood of the crucified one.
The angels rejoicing because it is done.
A child of the Father joined him with the Son.
I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one.
Saved, saved.
My sins are all pardoned.
My guilt is all gone.
Saved, saved.
I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one.
Saved by the blood of the crucified one.
The Father is faithful and His will is well done.
Great prize of my pardon, His own precious Son.
I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one.
Saved, saved.
My sins are all pardoned.
My guilt is all gone.
Saved, saved.
I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one.
Saved by the blood of the crucified one.
All hail to the Father.
All hail to the Son.
All hail to the Spirit.
The Great Three in One.
I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one.
Glory I'm saved.
My sins are all pardoned.
My guilt is all gone.
Glory I'm saved.
I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one.
One hundred and forty-five and then we'll have our Bible reading. Great singing.
One hundred and forty-five.
It is well with my soul. One, four, five.
So before we play the music Rams, we've got that two part there.
It is well and then it is well.
So we've got a lot of ladies. So you're doing that first part.
I'll help you out. I'll help the ladies out at the first part.
And then the men, you've got to do the follow up.
So let's break it up like that. One, four, five. It is well with my soul.
So girls, you do the first part.
When peace like a river attendeth my way.
When sorrows like sea billows roll.
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say.
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffer, though trials should come,
Let his blessed shoulders control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And have shed his own blood for my soul.
It is well, it is well with my soul.
My sin of the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sympathetic heart like a hole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.
It is well, it is well with my soul.
And Lord, praise the day when my fame shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as I scroll,
The drop shall resound, and the Lord shall descend.
Even so, it is well with my soul.
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Who was it? It was an accident, wasn't it?
Thank you, brother Tim. Thank you, brother Tim.
You're not here tonight, but it's probably brother Tim.
Matthew chapter 20, and brother Rob's coming up for the reading.
Matthew chapter 20, thank you.
Just a tough t-shirt. Oh, it's beautiful.
For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder,
which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day,
he sent them into his vineyard.
He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
and said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard,
and whatsoever is right I'll give you.
And there he went their way.
Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle,
and said unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us.
He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard,
and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward,
Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
And when they came, that were hired about the eleventh hour,
they received every man a penny.
And when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more,
and they likewise received every man a penny.
And when they had received it, they murmured against the good men of the house,
saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us,
which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong.
Didst thou not agree with me for a penny? Take that is thine, and go thy way.
I'll give unto this last, even as unto thee.
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?
Is this I evil, because I am good?
So the last shall be first, and the first last, for many may be called, but few chosen.
And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart in the way,
and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes,
and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock,
and to scourge, and to crucify him, and the third day he shall rise again.
Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons,
worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.
And he said unto her, What wilt thou?
She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit,
the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask.
Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of,
and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
They say unto him, We are able.
And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup,
and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with,
but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give,
but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.
But Jesus called them unto him and said,
Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them,
and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
But it shall not be so among you, but whosoever will be great among you,
let him be your minister, and whosoever will be chief among you,
let him be your servant, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.
And behold, two blind men sitting by the wayside,
when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying,
Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.
And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace.
But they cried them more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.
And Jesus stood still and called them, and said,
What will ye that I should do unto you?
And they say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.
So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes,
and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.
Dear Heavenly Father, I just pray that you would fill the pastor with your Holy Spirit
when he preaches this great chapter, and in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Thanks, Rock. Great reading.
Alright, there, Matthew chapter 20, verse number 23.
Now, it's been a little while since I preached to you,
because we were at the conference last week.
But you may recall that I've been going through the Perfect Man series,
and what was the last thing I left?
Knowing your station. That was the last sermon, wasn't it?
Knowing your station, knowing where you belong in society,
in different places, whether it's church, work, or family,
where you belong, and appreciating and being content in the places where God has set you.
And we ended with Matthew chapter 20, verse 23, and this sermon is a continuation.
In fact, this is almost like a trilogy of sermons within this Perfect Man series.
And so this is kind of the second one. It follows on there.
And I'm going to read it again, verse number 23.
And he saith unto them, You shall drink indeed of my cup,
and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with,
but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give,
but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
And so he said, look, Jesus Christ knows this station.
Jesus Christ knows that.
I mean, you think if anybody can tell where these two should sit,
or who's going to sit on his right hand and left hand,
surely it's Jesus. But Jesus Christ knows this station.
He goes, no, that's not for mine to give. That's up to the Father.
And so the title for this sermon is Everything in Its Proper Place.
Jesus Christ says it's not my place to give this. It's not my decision.
Everything belongs in its proper place.
The one that makes this decision is the Father,
and we need to learn how everything falls in its proper place.
This is a very important sermon. It really is.
It touches on a lot of principles that are key to you living a peaceful and fulfilled life.
If you pick up the principles that we learned in this sermon,
you're going to have less conflicts.
You'll always have conflicts in life, no matter what you do.
If you live for Christ Jesus, you're going to have persecution.
There's always conflicts, but you're going to face a lot of unnecessary conflicts
if you don't learn this lesson.
Everything in its proper place, everything belongs in its proper place.
And it's such an important lesson.
This is what I'm teaching today is really one of my life lessons,
that I've learned in life, sometimes the hard way,
but I've learned it and I've seen, hey, the Bible is consistent with this learning that I've had.
Everything belongs in its proper place.
And one of the littlest examples that I'll give you now, of course,
is we all have car keys, at least for now.
And in my house, my parents taught me that when you've got your car keys
and you've got your house keys, always go, when you come back home,
put those car keys, put those keys in its right place.
Hang them up wherever they need to be hung,
so that when you go and you need to access those keys,
if you need to go for a drive, you know exactly where they belong.
They belong in its proper place.
One thing that you learn in life is if you come home one day and you're just tired,
who cares, and you just throw the keys maybe on the bed,
you might throw the keys on the dining table.
Well, at least if you live in a household like mine, there's a lot of little hands.
There's a lot of wandering eyes.
And when they see something like keys, you don't know,
it could end up at the bottom of the toilet bowl.
You don't know because those keys were not put in its proper place.
It's such a minor thing, okay, but you're seeing that this has such an impact in life.
You say, who cares if I put the keys in its proper place?
Well, when you're rushing to get to work on time and you can't find your keys,
you're going to be stressed out.
You're going to be worried and stressed, I've got to go to church.
Where are the keys? Who's in the keys?
And there they are maybe stuck in the toilet bowl and you can't flush the toilet.
It creates problems.
And that's something very minor.
You see, you need to put everything that you do in life in its proper place.
And when you understand this principle in life, I'm telling you,
it gives you so much, what's the word I'm looking for?
Influence. It gives you so much power.
It gives you so much authority.
Just something so minor as knowing its proper place.
Jesus Christ says, hey, the decision who's going to sit on my right hand and my left hand is not mine.
It's for the Father to decide.
Jesus Christ knows the proper place.
So when you put things in its proper place, you're not wasting time.
And you're relieving yourself of stress.
A lot of conflicts in church.
Are there conflicts in church?
Always. Always conflicts in church.
I don't care. People say to me, oh, the church I went to never had conflicts.
The conflicts you don't know about. That's why.
Most churches just brush it under like, that's only one, right?
And you kind of go, you don't even realise there are conflicts.
There are conflicts. There are always conflicts in church.
And one thing I've always seen with conflicts is that things are not in its proper place.
Someone takes something that doesn't belong in the right place and wants to put it somewhere else.
They want to step on other people's toes.
They want to tell you how to live your life.
People in church are very critical.
They say, why is that?
Because we know the Bible. We've got God's word.
We have great instruction. We've got great knowledge.
But then we see someone in church not living how we think they ought to be living.
And we want to give them their two cents.
They need to hear my opinion because my opinion matters.
Is it the right place though?
Is your opinion in its right place?
Does it belong where you're sharing your opinion too?
See, I come behind the pulpit here and my proper place right now is to preach whatever there is in the word of God.
You know, when I come to preach, I'm not concerned if I'm going to offend you.
Because I'm expecting that you're coming to church maybe to get offended.
I expect the reason you're in church is to hear the whole word of God.
Whether you like it, whether you don't like it, you know whenever you need to change, it's uncomfortable.
You're going to hear something that you won't like.
But that's my expectation.
That's what you come to church for, so I better deliver something like that.
And he might offend you.
But that's the proper place.
Is it my proper place after church to go to your house and tell you how to run your life?
That'll cause offense as well.
But you know what? I'll be stepping on your toes and guess what it's going to create?
Conflict.
Most conflicts, at least within churches, in fact I would say most conflicts even across the whole world, is that things are not in its proper place.
One nation will come into another nation and draw from its resources that nature's not in its proper place.
And it creates conflicts.
It creates other countries getting involved.
How dare this country come and steal the resources out of another country.
And before you know it, you've got world wars.
Because countries, politicians, do not respect the boundaries that other countries have.
All wars, all conflicts come from this thought that things are not in its proper place.
The life lesson that I learnt here is that I was working for an electronic company and I was working a very entry level job.
Just the most entry level job that you'll find just punching in data on a computer.
Like literally for my 8 hours, I'm just standing on a computer punching in data.
Making sure the data's accurate, etc, etc.
Very low level, entry level job, anybody, any trained monkey can learn how to do my job.
And so I'm doing the job, at least it's paying the bills.
It's doing something, right?
And after about a year of doing that job, I was kind of like, I know my role, I know what I'm supposed to do for the company, but I don't understand the rest of the company.
How does that department over there affect me?
How does those employees over there affect me?
How does my work affect those people over there?
And I was really curious how this company operated from end to end.
From the time the customer rings to place an order, to the time the customer receives their order, how does it all work?
And how does my role play in the bigger picture?
So about a year it goes into it and I said to my boss, I said, look, do you mind if I just, just for one day, just one day, I just want to go around the whole company.
You know, the company maybe had 150 employees, you know, maybe seven or eight departments, for example.
And I just want to sit there and I just want to watch and I just want to ask questions.
I kind of want to understand how it all works.
My manager was very impressed by that question.
And they said, look, have three days if you need three days.
You know, go there and sit down and I made appointments with different managers and I'd sit there in the finance department.
I've never worked in finance before and I was, oh yeah, I see how, and you know what, I'd listen to what they have to say and I realized, you know what?
There are things that I can be doing in my job that will make your life easier.
Just thoughts in my head.
And I go sit down in the sales department and I'm listening to what they have to say and I'm thinking, you know what?
If I wasn't doing this part but you were doing that part, you'd actually be more effective in your job.
I'm starting to think this, like how it all kind of works and I'd sit there, I'd go to different departments, I'd start to form relationships and in that process I knew where everything belongs.
If something was not operating in the company, I knew which department it belonged to.
I knew which manager was responsible for that, okay?
And I just wanted to know how I plugged into the bigger picture, okay?
I wanted to know where everything belonged in its proper place.
If an issue came up, is it my responsibility?
Is it someone else's responsibility?
And as time went on, you know, people started to realize that I knew the company really well from end to end because I knew where everything belonged.
And I would have people come up to me and say, Kevin, you know, here's some work that you need to get done and I'd look at that work and I'd go, you know what?
That doesn't belong.
Giving it to me is not the proper place.
This stuff that you need to get done belongs to that department over there, that belongs to that manager, go and talk to them over there.
And as time would go on, people would come up to me, hey, there's this issue, there's that issue, does this belong here, does that belong there?
That's yep, that's mine, no, that's not mine, that belongs over there, belongs over there, belongs over there.
And before you know it, like everyone's kind of coming to, as an entry level, okay, entry level, train monkey kind of job, everyone's coming to me asking how does the company run?
Because I'm the only one that knew where everything belonged in this proper place.
And I realized, wow, there's power.
And because I knew that, I got my first taste, I was promoted, I got my first taste of authority.
I was made an auditor, I was made a process auditor and I would travel not just, you know, we had at Smithfield was the location here.
But I would have to go to Melbourne and Perth and Auckland and Brisbane and I'd go and see these places and I'd look at the departments and I'd see how things operated end to end.
Alright, I'd sit down with one department, let's say the sales department for example, and I'd look at the documents, hey, your documents say you do this, this, this, this, okay.
Now let me watch you, I'd sit there for a whole day watching the sales department and I would find the inconsistencies with their documentation and with the work that they were doing.
And I'd find the inconsistencies so I'd go to the manager of that sales department for example and say, hey, look, I found these inconsistencies, you need to fix this up, either your documents are out of date or your employees are not doing what the documents say they're meant to be doing.
And you need to get this fixed.
And you know, I started to have what? Authority. I started to have influence just because I knew where things belonged.
It's amazing.
It's like, I realized, wow, this is pretty cool.
But again, when you start doing that, what happens? How do you think the manager is going to feel being told, hey, you're running things inconsistently by some data entry, you know.
They're not going to like it. They're going to get offended by such things.
And you know, I have people say to me, hey, who are you to tell me how we are to operate our department?
And I say, you're exactly right. I'm not the person telling you how to operate your department.
You're the one telling me that you're doing things inconsistently because your documents say this and your employees are doing this.
I'm not telling you anything. You're telling me that you're doing things inconsistently.
So you better fix it before the main auditors come and they penalize our company.
I started to realize, wow, there's power when you know where things belong.
Because most people don't care. Most people don't want to know.
Most people are so lazy, they just want to know their part of the thing and that's it, just my part.
And they forget about everything else.
You see, this was a life lesson. I realized when you just know some basic things, you know where the keys are.
Then someone's going to go to you, hey, where are the keys? The keys are over there.
And what do you find? You're influential. You start to build authority.
You start to build respectability just for something very basic, knowing its proper place.
You know, as a pastor, if you said to me, pastor, I know there's a story in the Bible, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And I'm like, oh, yeah, that's found in, you know, Philemon or something, right?
If I know where it would be like, yeah, yeah, that's over there. Doesn't that demonstrate that, hey, I know the Bible really well?
Isn't that kind of impressive? Like, oh, man, yeah, you know, my pastor is able to teach me and direct me in these areas.
If someone came up to me, hey, pastor, you know that story in the Bible? I'm like, oh, which one is that?
You know, pastor, you're meant to be reading the Bible, right? Cover to cover.
I don't think I've ever read that story, actually. Like, what does that represent to you, right?
That's like this guy doesn't know what he's doing, doesn't know what he's saying.
It's like you're going to lose respect and trust on whether that pastor even can teach the Bible.
And so it goes a long way understanding these things.
You know, something else that needs to be done in this proper place is that, you know, within family, okay?
When there are issues within the family, who's responsible?
Dad. Dads are responsible, okay?
You know, one thing that I found when I became a pastor for the first time is that there were many family issues.
And I'm not trying to attack any families or anything like that.
And, you know, if you ask me a question, I'm not, say, having a go at you.
That I would have sometimes wives come up to me and say,
Pastor, can you talk to my husband?
You know? Or husband, or father's coming up to me and saying, hey, you know, the husband's, hey, my wife is doing this.
What do you reckon?
I realize, you know what, I don't want to be this kind of pastor.
Like, I don't see this kind of pastor in the Bible.
Where they get in between husbands and wives and yet so many pastors are doing such a thing.
One thing that I learned is, well, you know, I got married when I was 22.
And I knew what the Bible said. I knew that I was the head of my house.
I knew that I'm responsible.
That if I'm going to take Christina as my wife, then I'm going to be her head.
I've got to protect her. I've got to provide for her, okay?
And then when we have children, it's my responsibility to make sure that our family runs properly.
It's my place. It's my responsibility.
What I found when I decided to get married, that people on the job, right,
they're like, well, I've been divorced twice.
You know, are you sure you want to get married? You're too young.
You know, you need to travel the world first.
You need to experience life and before you tie yourself down to marriage.
It's not there. I don't care about your opinion.
Everyone's got an opinion. Hey, do they mean well, though?
They mean well. They're trying to look out for my good.
Because they think, man, I stuffed it up. Maybe you're going to stuff it up, too.
But not only outside in the outside world, but I come to church and people are like,
hey, you know, you're going to be a father. You're going to be a husband soon.
So here's a book on fatherhood. Read this book.
Oh, here's a book on mother. Oh, I'm being a wife, a godly wife and a godly mother.
Read this book.
I'm the head of my family. I'm the head of my wife.
Look, the book that I'm going to read is this book right here.
And I've been reading this book my whole life.
I think I know what God is telling me.
And I want to make sure that if I receive instruction from someone, it's going to be the Lord God.
Because if I receive bad opinions and bad instruction or bad advice, and it fails,
I can't go around and blame in the book.
I can blame myself because I'm the head of my family.
But I know that God's word will never fail.
If I do it God's way, it's going to work out. It's going to succeed.
And so those books collect the dust.
When we started, you know, when Christina got pregnant, we were given a book, How to Raise Up Children.
I opened page number one. I forget what it's called.
And it said, to raise up children, you've got to break their will the way people break the will of a horse.
A wild horse so you can ride on it.
I was like, I don't want to break my child's will.
Look, I want them to learn how to submit their will to their father's will,
and then learn how to submit their will to God's will.
I don't want to break their will because they don't have a broken person.
I read page number one and I threw it in the bin.
This is a Christian book.
I said, no way.
Everything in its proper place.
And it's kind of scary at the same time.
The reason a lot of people want opinions and advice is so when things go wrong,
they can blame the one that gave them the opinion, the one that gave them the advice.
You see, if you say, I'm the head, I'm in charge of my family, and things go wrong,
guess what, you can't blame anyone but yourself.
Most people want to blame someone else.
It's their fault, it's their fault.
Everything in its proper place.
And if you do well as a family, husbands, and I preach a lot to the men
because we live in a society where you can barely find men out there.
Masculinity.
I'm not talking about having huge muscles.
I'm talking about being someone of strong character.
Someone of a godly character.
Someone that is trying to raise their family in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
That's what I see as a strong man.
And I preach to men, and I think a lot of you guys are great men,
but man, our society is really letting this down.
I don't even know what they are anymore.
They're being run over by their wives.
Their children are spoiled and they're running around chasing their children.
Instead of the children submitting their will to their parents' will,
parents are submitting their wills to their children's will.
It's a strange world that we live in.
So I target the men because you've got responsibility over your family.
Things belong in its proper place.
If something's not working in your family, it's on you, men.
It's on you.
And I'm going to read to you very quickly from 1 Corinthians.
Can we meet 1 Corinthians, actually?
1 Corinthians 4, verse number 3.
You see, Paul was being attacked by...
We're looking at the Corinthian church,
and there were some false brethren in the Corinthian church.
There were some false prophets within that church.
And they were very opinionated.
They were saying, well, Paul, we don't think he's a legitimate apostle.
And it was Paul that actually started the church, if you don't know that.
And they're like, we don't think he's legitimate,
and they're trying to take over the church.
And this is what Paul has to say about these opinionated people.
In 1 Corinthians 4, verse 3, he goes,
But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you.
He goes, your opinion to me is something very small.
Your opinion of me is something so insignificant, it means nothing.
That's what Paul is saying to them.
Your two cents does not matter.
It's a very small thing that I should be judged of you.
Or of man's judgment, yea, I judge not mine own self.
For I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified.
But he that judgeth me is the Lord.
See, Paul was expressing his authority in its proper place.
He started this church.
He's an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He has authority in this regard.
And he's coming in and he's trying to fix up this church,
and he's got people within the church trying to fight him.
He goes, listen, you don't even know your station, number one,
and it is my proper place to express my authority in the house of the Lord.
See, Paul takes it.
And the reason this is important is, like Paul,
you need to learn that people's opinions are a very small thing
if it's not in its proper place.
People come in and say things about your life and your family and your children.
Or you should be doing this, or you should be doing that.
You know what, you should be something so insignificant.
It will help you grow thicker skin as well when you understand this doctrine.
I'm telling you, it's just going to make life a lot easier.
You won't get yourself interfering with other people causing potential problems.
And when someone tries to interfere into your problems,
you won't get so easily offended, you'll have the thicker skin go,
who cares, that's a small thing to me.
So Paul has this attitude.
He goes, look, I know what I'm doing is right.
I know I have the authority.
The Lord sees what I'm doing with the authority that I have.
I'm trying to fix this church because I've got a clear conscience before God.
It's God that's going to judge me.
And again, this brings us to the reminder that God is over all men.
God is over all men.
And to the wives, to the ladies, you know what,
if your husband is not being a godly spouse,
if he's not leading the home, if he's not raising, nurturing and taking care of the family,
don't come to me because I don't have authority in your family.
Who's the head of your husband?
Who's the head of the man?
Christ. Christ.
You take your prayers and your concerns and your worries about your husband,
you take it to its proper place, which is Christ.
You say, Lord Jesus, he is your servant.
Lord, you've asked me to be submissive to my husband,
but my husband is not doing, not fulfilling his role.
So, Lord, can you sort him out?
Can you fix him?
Okay?
If you came up to me, ladies, to fix your husband, I'll be like Jesus Christ said earlier.
For me to fix your husband is not mine to give.
It's Jesus Christ that you've got to go to.
I can pray.
People are having family problems.
Hey, pastor, we're having some family difficulties.
Do you mind praying for me?
Of course I'll pray for you.
Of course I will.
I'm commanded to do so as a pastor.
But I don't need to know every single detail of your life.
I don't need to know your opinion on who's right or wrong.
God knows, so let's take it to God and God can fix it, if you believe God can fix it.
God can fix your family.
God can fix the relationships, okay, but everything in its proper place.
Can we move me to Luke chapter 12?
Luke chapter 12.
Another advantage to knowing where everything belongs.
I started to realize that there were some people in the workplace that are just lazy, slothful employees.
And so they've got work to do.
There's something that needs to be accomplished.
And what do they want to do with that?
Oh, see if someone else can get it done.
Oh, maybe I can get some other...
Oh, that Kevin, he seems really helpful.
We'll go and talk to Kevin.
Hey, Kevin, there's this work, there's this project that needs to get done.
Can you take care of it?
And I look at it.
Okay, hold on, this belongs to you.
Okay, this is not mine.
You can't take it...
Look, when you know where things belong, you cannot be taken advantage of either.
You say, this is not my responsibility.
This is your responsibility.
And you hand it over.
Look what happens here with Jesus Christ in this story.
Luke chapter 12, this is so interesting.
Luke chapter 12, verse number 13.
And one of the companies said unto him, Master, speak to my brother
that he divide the inheritance with me.
So two brothers, they received an inheritance.
One of the brothers goes to Jesus.
He goes, Jesus, look, speak to my brother.
You know, I don't know exactly what the issue is,
but my brother maybe got a greater share of the inheritance.
Maybe my brother got the whole inheritance and I've got nothing.
So I'm going to go to Jesus because Jesus is a helper.
Jesus has Christ as wisdom, so I'm going to go to Jesus and ask him for his help.
Surely, he's going to step in and sort it out.
I mean, he's God, isn't he?
Look at Jesus Christ's response, verse number 14.
And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?
What is he saying?
I am not the judge over your family affairs.
I've not been appointed to this position.
Why are you bringing this family problem, this family arguments to me?
You see, Jesus Christ made sure that everything was found in its proper place.
This is a family issue.
It belongs within that family and wherever the head of that family is.
You know what?
If the parents decided whether you find that fair or unfair is insignificant,
but if the parents decided this brother is going to receive more than that one,
then that's their authority.
It's up to them to give what they want to give to their children.
It couldn't be unfair.
Maybe it is unfair, but it is not Jesus' place to come and rectify that issue.
But I tell you, if someone like this came into our church,
Brethren, please speak to my brother.
You know, the inheritance has not been split fairly.
I guarantee you right now some of you guys will be like,
Yeah, I'm going to go and speak to him right now.
I'm going to give him a word.
I'm going to throw in my, not my two cents, I'm going to throw in my ten cents,
and he's going to hear what I have to say.
I guarantee you right now some of you will be feeling that way.
No, you follow the steps of Jesus Christ.
It's not your issue.
It's not your problem.
Let it go.
Put it in its right place.
Know your station.
It's the same thing.
It's the same concept, just attacking it from a different direction.
I mean, look, if Jesus Christ is like this,
He says, It's not mine.
This is not my issue.
Are you more righteous than Jesus?
Why do you make it your issue?
Why do you make other families and other things about other churches
that have nothing to do with our church or whatever it is,
why do you make it your issue?
The only way you can be so is you think you're more righteous than Jesus.
You see, we need to know our station, but we also need to know
where we can call the shots,
when our opinion matters.
We've got to balance knowledge.
This is a church that has a lot of biblical knowledge.
But don't forget, knowledge puffeth up.
Knowledge makes you prideful.
Knowledge makes me prideful.
Okay?
We need the charity.
We need the love.
We need the humility.
Okay?
To balance the knowledge.
You know what?
Or you're just going to be an idiot.
Okay?
You're just going to be a loud mouth moron that no one likes.
Okay?
You might have great wisdom, but no one's going to care what you have to say
because no one likes you.
The love, the appreciation.
Okay?
Understanding, hey, yeah, I think this is not fair, but you know what?
It's not mine.
It belongs over there.
You know?
And if I care for Brother so-and-so with the family inheritance issues,
Lord, please help them.
Please help them figure things out.
But Lord, it's not my place to go and sort it out.
Everything belongs in its proper place.
Come with me to 1 Corinthians 11.
1 Corinthians 11, verse number 3.
Just as a reminder, I kind of skipped ahead in my notes preaching a bit earlier,
but just again, when it comes to family issues, okay?
1 Corinthians 11, verse 3.
Dads, don't tell me, you know, when your kids go into the world,
I hope it doesn't happen.
I really hope it doesn't happen.
Okay?
But don't tell me, well, it's the new generation.
What are you going to do about it?
Well, you raise them.
You know, I understand that we live in a strange generation, okay?
But you're a believer.
You've got God's Word.
You've got the knowledge of God.
You've got the Spirit of God within you.
God's given you direction to raise your children,
to be different from this world.
And look, if your children go wayward, they go wayward.
What are you going to do?
But don't turn around and say, well, you know,
nothing that I could do about it, Pastor.
It's just a generation.
Remember, 1 Corinthians 11, verse 3.
But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ,
and the head of the woman is the man,
and the head of Christ is God.
Men, please do not come to me complaining about your wife.
Please.
All you're showing me is that you're a lousy leader,
that you're a lousy husband.
Oh, my wife.
You're the head of your wife.
You're the leader.
You're in charge.
It's not a dictatorship, but if you're a leader,
you've got to prove that you're worthy to be followed
with love and care and sacrificial giving.
Jesus Christ gave himself for the church.
You're to give yourself to your wife.
You're there to serve your wife.
Don't forget, in order for you to have authority,
you must first become a servant.
You're in charge.
Pastor, my wife.
I'm like, what you're really saying to me, Pastor,
I'm a bad leader.
And look, we can all be bad leaders.
I don't think I'm this perfect leader.
I don't think I'm this perfect husband.
I don't think I'm this perfect pastor.
But I hope you can see within me, within at least the church,
that yes, pastor honours the authority that he's been given,
but at the same time, yes, pastor is loving.
Yes, pastor can teach us some wisdom of God's word
and I feel like I'm being fed God's word.
I want to be in the house of the Lord because I'm learning something,
I'm gaining something, I'm profiting under the leadership of this pastor.
I hope you can see the balance of all that.
But the head of the husband is Christ.
So again, ladies, if your husbands are not performing, you go to Christ.
And husbands, if your wives aren't performing, you don't come to me.
You need to figure things out with your family.
Remember, when you're married, you become one flesh.
You're a team.
It's not wife versus husband or husband versus wife.
We're there to work together to complement one another,
to be able to raise godly children.
We're there to work together.
And, you know, wives need to know their station.
They need to know, hey, when I made the decision to marry this man,
I removed myself from the authority of my father
and now I'm under the authority of my husband.
And I will preach about wives as well.
Okay?
And men, you need to understand that you've made a promise
that you're going to care for that woman.
You're going to provide for her.
You're going to get out there and labour hard
and you've got everything she needs for life to raise up children
to do her task that is required for her to do.
So I have to preach about men.
You know, it's strange because sometimes I preach about men
and people are like, oh, you preach about men, why don't you preach about the ladies?
And then I preach about the ladies, why don't you preach about the ladies,
why don't you preach about the men?
All of that's important, okay?
But the reason I target men more is because you're meant to be the leaders.
You're meant to be the leaders.
God's made you to be a leader.
You've got the skill within you.
It's just that as many times as men do not want the accountability
and the responsibility that comes with leadership.
They want the leadership but they don't want to be accountable.
Oh, it failed, it's the generation.
Oh, it failed, it's my wife.
Oh, it's failed because the pastor gave me bad advice.
No, it's yours. You own it.
It's your place. Your family is your place.
No one else is going to fix it for you.
You've got to be there, working hard, making it work together.
Come with me to Matthew chapter 7, please.
Matthew chapter 7.
Now, I want to balance this sermon, I want to be careful
because there are different types of extremes in the Bible, okay?
Now, you're basically saying, pastor, you're essentially saying that we should not judge anybody.
That's kind of what some people might be thinking right now.
No, I'm saying, hey, dads, judge your family.
Judge yourself. Each one of us can judge ourselves. Let's start there.
Okay, so I'm not saying don't judge, all right?
So I just want to deal with these extremes.
Matthew chapter 7 verse number 1 says, this is the famous verse of the world,
Judge not that ye be not judged.
Isn't that the most famous Bible verse by the ungodly world?
Judge not, no one needs to be judged.
I mean, that's what it says, though. It does say that, right?
Judge not, lest ye be judged.
But what is this teaching us? Is this teaching us that therefore we never pass judgment?
I mean, we pass judgment every moment of every day.
You wake up and you judge, what am I going to have for breakfast?
Is it a Weet-Bix or a toast?
All right, you pass judgment in every little thing that you do in life.
What Matthew chapter 7 is teaching us is how to judge,
that we should not judge with hypocrisy, okay?
That if we've got our beam in our own eye, you first remove the beam out of your own eye first.
You judge yourself first before you can help judge someone else.
So it's teaching us.
Come with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 2.
1 Corinthians chapter 2.
Now let me tell you another extreme that's out there.
1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse number 15.
It says, but he that is spiritual...
You go, oh, that's me, pastor. That's me.
He that is spiritual judgeth all things.
That's me, pastor.
You know, I've read the Bible. I know what the Bible says.
I know what this family's going through, their problems.
I can see who's messing up there. I can see who's messing up here.
Brother Sones has got problems over there.
So I'm going to make sure I go around and tell them everything and I fix all their lives.
Because the Bible says I can judge all things because I'm the spiritual man.
That's another extreme.
And sometimes churches like ours breeds this extreme.
OK, so we need this sermon to help us have balance.
What is this teaching us?
OK, first of all, but he that is spiritual judgeth all things.
If you know the context, this is telling us that we cannot judge with our flesh.
That we can judge by the spiritual man.
If you know the context, teaching us that the Holy Spirit teaches us the things of God.
And therefore it's the spiritual man, the saved man that can judge all things because we get given the wisdom of God.
But then it says these words, the rest of the verse.
It says,
Yet he himself is judgeth of no man.
Isn't that what Paul kind of said?
I'm not judgeth of man. I'm judgeth of God.
But he himself is judgeth of no man.
So let's say you and I, we both believe we're spiritual.
Alright, brother Tim, that's you and me right now.
We're both the spiritual men.
Alright, and brother Tim sees problems with my life right now.
OK, and I see problems with his life, like that shirt.
I'm just kidding.
I'm just joking. I'm just joking.
Alright, we see problems.
And well, we're both spiritual.
Therefore I can judge all things.
So I'm going to go and tell brother Tim all his issues and what he needs to do to fix.
And he thinks he can come and tell me all the issues that I have and come and tell me how to fix.
Because we can judge all things.
But then we have the problem that says,
Yet he himself is judgeth of no man.
So I'm like, well, I'm going to come and tell brother Tim.
You can't judge me because I'm not judgeth of any man.
So you can see how the Bible's given us this balance, what's taking place there.
OK.
Yes, we can judge all things.
The way we can understand and judge all things, of course, is by the word of God.
By the new man that lives within us.
OK.
But once again, we are then to judge in its proper place.
Are you the right person to pass judgment?
Am I the right person to go to brother Tim's closet and take out the shirts that I don't like
and put the shirts that I want in there?
That's not my place.
Brother Tim's not judged by this man.
And I'm not judged by brother Tim or brother whoever.
You see, it goes both ways.
I'm not judged by any man.
Well, you can't go judge another man then if it's not your place.
You see, this is teaching us, do you have authority in that person's life or not?
Fathers, husbands, yeah, you can judge your family because you have authority over them.
Right.
Managers, you can judge your employees because you've got authority over them.
OK.
If I work for McDonald's, I cannot go and judge KFC's employees.
OK.
Everything in its proper place.
But God gives us the wisdom so we can pass good judgment when it's found in its right place.
Start judging yourself.
Take the beam that is out of your own eye.
I've got plenty of beams in my eye, I'll tell you now.
You all do.
You all have beams in your eye.
What's more profitable is that you spend time fixing up your life than trying to fix up everybody else's life.
Hey, why don't you fix your life and show yourself a good example to other people?
That's a good way to help people, to lead people.
Say, but pastor, I'm so worried about family so and so.
I've got to say something.
All right.
Go and say it to Jesus.
Get it off your chest and go and say it to the Lord and say, I'm so worried about family so and so.
Get it off your chest and go and say it to the Lord and say, Lord, I'm concerned for sister so and so
and brother so and so over there.
Can you please help them?
Because you're the head of every man.
That's the right place.
Romans chapter 14.
I mean, if I walked into brother Tim's house and clean up his wardrobe, I probably won't see him in church anymore.
Probably never again.
But everyone thinks, my opinion, they've got to hear it.
I've got to step on someone's toes because they're doing things away that I don't like.
And then you wonder why you're always in conflicts.
You always, always wonder why you're lifting up yourself above your station.
Or you're not passing judgment in the right areas.
Areas that do not belong to you.
Of course it's going to create conflict.
I mean, I'm not exaggerating.
When I say every fight that I've seen, any arguments, whether it's within this church or New Life or other churches that I've been part of,
I can always look when I understand what's happened, the situation, and say, but why did you interfere?
Like, who are you to go in there and demand such a thing?
It's not your place.
Romans 14 verse 1.
Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubt for disputations.
If you're weak in the faith, you're someone that's new to the faith.
Or maybe you're even, weak in the faith can be someone that is not new to the faith.
But maybe you're in a backslid state and you're just not doing well.
You don't know what, where to receive them.
They want to be in the house of the Lord. They want to worship the Lord together.
I'm going to receive you.
I mean, I want you all on fire for the Lord, zealous for the Lord, walking in his paths.
But even if someone's quite far from the Lord, I'm going to receive you.
Okay?
It says in verse number 2.
For one believer, for he may eat all things, and another who is weak eat of herbs.
Some people want to be vegetarians.
Okay?
You say, well, I'm going to tell them.
You know, look, this is Australia.
Australia Day, we eat lamb.
Alright, we eat lamb.
Hey, get off those vegetables and come to the barbecue and eat lamb.
Do you want to be an Australian or not?
Verse number 3.
Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not.
Why do you despise?
Why do you despise people that are different?
Why do you despise people that do things differently that you don't approve of necessarily?
And let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth, for God hath received him.
God receives them both.
Verse number 4 is so powerful.
Who art thou that judgest another man's servant?
Who are you?
That's what I'm saying.
Who are you?
The football chant.
Who are you?
I don't know if you guys know what I'm talking about.
Who are you?
Who are you to judge another man's servant?
To his own master, he standeth a-forleth.
Yea, he shall be holden up, for God is able to make him stand.
What is this saying?
God is trying to make each believer stand.
God is trying to strengthen every believer.
And there comes brother opinionated man.
Mr. Brother Critical coming along.
Oh, you need to fix that up in your life.
Trying to tear that other brother down.
God's trying to raise them up.
God's trying to edify them.
You come along with your opinions, with your judgement, tearing them down.
Doing the opposite work to what God is trying to achieve in that person.
Who are you?
That judge is another man's servant.
You know what?
It's not my place to tell Anthony's children what they should do.
They're not my servants.
They belong to mum and dad.
Alright?
Understand this.
You've got to figure out, am I a master?
Do I have authority in someone's life?
And if I have authority, what's the boundaries of that authority?
And then I can exercise that authority.
I can pass judgement within those boundaries.
But if I exceed those boundaries, you start judging another man's servant.
One of the authorities that I have is as a pastor at church.
Once again.
There are boundaries when we're gathered together, when we're congregated together.
I have authority in church operations.
But once again, when church is finished and over, I can't go to brother Tim and fix his closet.
Or anything else like that.
Again, you guys won't turn up to church next time if I start acting in that way.
And you're going to develop conflicts at church when you start acting that way, one toward another.
You know, I remember working a job and...
Actually, it was the same job I was telling you about.
My dead-end, entry-level job, eight hours, just typing away.
Just constantly type, type, type, type, type.
Type, type, type, type, type, type, type.
And, you know, we had a team and there was other departments out there, I can't remember which departments they were.
And they'd be chatting and laughing and joking around, wasting time, going on smoke breaks five times a day.
And employees around me were like, this is not fair.
You know, we've got to put our head down and work hard.
Look at them going around and chit-chatting.
And look, it's easy to get in the flesh and go, you know what, that isn't fair.
Look how hard we work.
But I want you to remember this verse once again.
Who art thou that judgest another man's servant?
Those employees mucking around, wasting time, they are another man's servant.
We have our master, our boss, and our boss says, work hard, eight hours, non-stop, then we obey our master.
We obey our supervisor.
If their master tells them, hey, it's fine for you to muck around and chit-chat, leave them alone, who art thou?
Who are you?
It's not your place.
Everything in its proper place.
Verse number, what are we up to guys, Romans 14?
Verse number 10.
Look at this.
But why dost thou judge thy brother?
Or why dost thou set at nought thy brother?
For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
I want you to notice that again.
But why dost thou judge thy brother?
Or why dost thou set at nought?
Nought, you know what nought is?
Nought, zero, nothing.
When you go around judging your brother, when you start breaking the boundaries that God has set,
proper authorities, proper structure in place, you're making your brother nothing.
Nought.
You're saying you are nothing.
You are worthless.
I have the authority to judge you.
No you don't.
They're going to be judged by Jesus Christ.
You know, I'm expecting that when we go and stand before Christ and the Lord rewards us for the work that we've done,
I'm expecting some of my church members to get more rewards than me.
I don't think I'm the pastor, therefore I'm going to get all the rewards.
We are all servants of Jesus Christ.
You know, we're all serving God.
We all have different lives.
We all have different time.
Some of us have more time to give to families.
Some of us don't have families to give time to.
Some of us have more time for soul winning.
Some of us have less time for soul winning.
Some of us have more hours to work on the job.
Maybe some of us can work part time and get through life.
But we all have different times and abilities and lives and families.
And when you stop judging your brethren, because they're different to you, and start judging yourself,
you can start maximising your rewards because you can look at your own life and say,
Lord, I'm not serving you in this area of my life.
I need to change this in my life and start serving you.
There might be people, there might be brothers and sisters in the Lord that you've looked down upon,
that they're not living how you think they ought to be living.
I won't be surprised when they stand before Christ that they're going to receive greater rewards than you.
You've judged them in the flesh.
You've stepped out of line and you should have left judgment up to Jesus Christ.
See, Christ is always going to balance things when we see him.
You know, it's hard for us to judge what's right and wrong.
This is why God's given us areas of influence.
And so you need to stop and say, not only, yeah, no, you're stationed, but you need to stop now.
Just right now, brethren, say, hey, has God given me mastery in an area of life?
Have I been given authority in an area of my life?
Who are you over? Do you have any people that you are over?
Dads, husbands, your heads of your wife and your children, start making judgments in your family.
Pastor Sepulveda, you've got a church that you've got authority over.
All right, I've got to watch for my church.
Make sure that we're serving Christ the way we ought to.
You know, that we're maximizing our abilities.
You know, the gifts that we have are the people here in our church.
You say, pastor, I've got no one that I've got authority over.
Then shut up.
Stop judging other people. It's not your business.
Maybe the reason you haven't got authority over someone is because you're not ready to pass judgments.
Instead of passing judgment on other people, look at yourself.
Humble yourself and say, God, what is it that I need to change?
And then maybe when God sees that humility, then he will elevate you and give you authority over other people.
Everything, brethren, in its own proper place.
Can you please go to James chapter 4? James chapter 4, verse number 10.
James chapter 4, verse number 10.
The reason I'm passionate about this sermon or this kind of topic is, as I said, it's a life lesson for me.
I realized just how powerful it was to understand these things.
But I also understand that it also brings unity in church.
I've been telling you, right, the conflicts. I guarantee you.
Look, think of the conflicts you've had at church and I guarantee you someone has stepped over the line.
Someone has passed judgment when they should not have been passing that judgment.
It wasn't their place.
I guarantee you, think hard enough, you're definitely going to find that, figure that out.
And we ought to be a church that is one body, united.
We cannot serve Christ effectively if we have divisions in our church.
If we have unresolved conflicts in our church.
Verse number 10. James chapter 4, verse number 10.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up.
Speak not evil one of another, brethren.
He that speaketh evil of his brother and judge of his brother speaketh evil of the Lord.
Look at that. If you're judging your brother, you're speaking evil of your brother.
You're doing evil. You're doing harm.
Oh no, I'm fixing them, pastor. I'm fixing them to be more like me.
No, you're not. You're causing them harm. You're discouraging them.
He that speaketh evil of his brother and judge of his brother speaketh evil of the Lord and judge of the Lord.
But if thou judge the Lord, thou art not a doer of the Lord, but a judge.
Did God make you a judge of that person that you've given your two cents to?
Say no, it didn't. Okay, you've done evil to your brother.
You've caused harm. You're causing heartache.
You're developing divisions and conflicts.
Shut your mouth and take the beam out of your own eye.
You should not be judging that person in that situation.
Verse number 12. There is one lawgiver. It's not you.
There is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy who art thou that judgest another.
And again, I'm not teaching. I hope you understand what I'm saying.
It is good and proper to judge.
Judge yourself and judge those that God has given you authority over.
And leave the rest to everyone else.
Leave the rest to Jesus because we're all going to stand before Jesus at the judgment seat of Christ.
First Corinthians chapter 5 please. First Corinthians chapter 5 and verse number 9.
First Corinthians chapter 5 and verse number 9.
Sometimes as Christians we think we have the authority to judge the godless.
To judge this wicked world.
I say, well pastor, I was knocking on doors and preaching the gospel and I found that this woman was committing fornication.
She was asleep. She was there living with her boyfriend.
So I told her, don't you know the Bible says not to commit fornication?
I really showed them, didn't I, pastor?
First Corinthians chapter 5 verse number 9.
I wrote unto you in an epistle not to accompany with fornicators.
I called out their fornication.
I went to their house and they've heard God's word now.
They've got no excuse now to not know that it was a sin.
Verse number 10.
Because look, we should not accompany with fornicators.
But I'm not talking about fornicators of the world.
We're not talking about these wicked people of the world.
Because you need to kind of get out of the world.
Like we have the function in society.
There is sin in society.
If you just, oh this person is doing this, I can't do that.
This person is doing that, I can't do that.
This person is drinking on the job, I'm going to quit my job because I can't face that.
Just get out of the world then.
You can't deal with the world.
That's not what God's teaching us.
Verse number 11.
If one of you guys have found you in one of these sins, I have to kick you out of the church.
I want you to understand that.
And it's not because I don't love you.
It's not because I hate you.
It's because God's word demands it.
Look at verse number 12.
He's talking about the ungodly saved world.
Those that are outside of the church.
Because who am I to judge those that are ungodly that are unsaved?
Who am I to judge these people that have nothing to do with our church?
Do not ye judge them that are within?
Do we pass judgment within our church?
Yes.
See pastor, I can tell brother so and so no.
Who's got the rule in the house of the Lord?
The pastor.
Okay.
Look, if a brother is found in these sins, it's not your job to fix it.
Or to throw them out.
You take it to the pastor.
You take it to the one in authority.
The one that God hasn't given that rule over.
And then I will kick that person out of the church once I've done my due diligence to find out whether this is true.
But look at verse number 13.
So this ungodly word out there.
Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
The wicked person within the church.
Those that are without God judgeth.
You know when I go soul winning, I'm not trying to tell them how to live a Christian life.
I'm not trying to point out all their sins and how they have to fix everything in their life.
All we're preaching is the power of God unto salvation.
The death, burial, resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Look, we see here those that are without God judgeth.
God judgeth this wicked world.
Leave it to God.
Jesus Christ left it to his Father.
When he says this is not mine to give.
It's the Father's business.
Instead of getting out there trying to fix everybody's sin.
Look, if they turn from all their sins and they live the most holy life, they're still going to die and go to hell.
We're teaching them about Jesus.
That salvation is a free gift paid for by Christ Jesus.
That's our job to get out there and tell them about Jesus.
But sometimes you see this stuff on TV.
Like the street preachers.
Getting their bullhorns out there.
Repent of all your sins and clean up your life you miserable wicked sinners.
God is judging them, not you.
Yes we do tell them they're a sinner.
Yes we do tell them they're on their way to hell.
But that God loves them.
The power of God unto salvation is the Gospel message.
Knowing what Christ has done for them.
And then if you have the chance to get them saved.
For them to call upon the Lord in faith.
Now God will judge them as children.
But sometimes you have this idea people get zealous about the Bible.
I know the Bible.
Man, I got saved.
I've got an ungodly family.
I'm going to tell mum and dad what they have to do.
I'm going to tell my sisters what they need to do.
I'm going to tell my brother.
I'm going to tell my cousins how they need to live their life.
They're not doing things right.
And then you're causing what? Conflicts.
Family divisions.
Why don't you just preach them the Gospel?
That's enough to cause divisions.
But that's what's going to save them.
I've got to tell my second cousin to stop drinking alcohol.
Because the Bible says,
Okay, he gives up the bottle but he never trusts Christ.
He's still dying and going to hell.
What good is that?
So brethren, we need to just figure out where everything belongs.
Everything in its proper place.
You know, if you say, look, I've got concerns.
It's a problem, pastor.
Okay, look, I'm worried that our governments are going to lock us up again.
During COVID.
Alright, so I'm going to start forming a movement
and we're going to start pushing back against this.
Now what did we learn?
Verse number 13.
But them that are without, God judgeth.
Leave it with God.
You say, pastor, I am concerned.
Alright, take it to God.
God.
Our politicians.
Lord.
Big tech.
Lord.
The media.
Lord.
The LGBT homosexual sodomite scum.
Whatever it is.
Lord, you deal with it, please.
Because it's bothering me.
You take it to the Lord.
You say, Lord, you deal with that.
At the same time, I know I have issues.
Lord, at the same time, I'm not the best leader that I need to be.
Lord, can you make me more like unto Christ?
Lord, can you teach me to be focused on the things that do belong to me?
That I'm not stepping on someone else's toes?
Lord, that I'm not judging my brother?
That I'm not sending him at naught?
Because I know we're all going to one day stand before our Lord Jesus Christ in judgment?
Can you help me not to be preoccupied with other people's lives?
And think that I'm so prideful that I have to give everybody my opinion about their life?
Lord, please help me protect myself.
Lord, that when people come and give their two cents and their criticism toward me,
that I'm not going to get offended, I'm going to have thick skin,
and Lord, I'm going to make sure that I live my life according to your words and not the opinions of man.
That's the better way to live.
Much more peaceful.
And you'll learn when there are people that do things differently to you at church, well so be it.
They're going to be judged by God.
Maybe they're going to have more rewards than me when I get to heaven.
You know what? If all of you at church get more rewards than me, I'm being honest here.
I'm being sincere.
If all of you get more rewards in heaven than me, I promise you I'm going to be rejoicing.
Lord, I'll be behind the scenes and say, Lord, I think they deserve more.
Because we're not in competition.
We're all serving Jesus Christ.
We're all serving Christ.
We're all running the race, aren't we?
I want us all to win.
I want us all to win the race.
I want us all to win the prize of the high calling.
But the only way I can do this is to be respectful of the authorities.
Be respectful of those that God has put authority over in the family and this and that.
Otherwise, I'm just going to step it on your toes.
Causing conflicts, causing problems, causing issues, causing divisions in the church, and then we lose our effectiveness.
We lose our ability to be rewarded greatly.
I don't want to have lost rewards when we see Christ.
I want to maximise as much as we can.
Utilise us and have unity in our church, peace in our church.
And when you start finding yourself getting bothered by so and so, stop and think about it.
Really just stop and think about it.
When you're driving home, you're like, man, I'm sick of brother so and so.
I'm sick of sister so and so.
When you're driving home, should I be having those thoughts?
Should I be judging my brother?
I think it happens too often.
I'm telling you, because it's happened to me. I know.
I'm preaching because I know.
Whatever my issues are, my weaknesses in the flesh and blood, I know you have the same weaknesses.
Because we all have a sinful nature.
I can be driving home and be like, you know what, I don't like brother so and so.
Oh, pass, you shouldn't say that.
I'm just being honest.
And then I'm going to be like, you know what, no.
He's the Lord's servant.
He wants to be in the house of the Lord.
He wants to praise our Lord Jesus Christ.
You know what, I'm going to love him, I'm going to support him.
And I can't wait to see how the Lord Jesus Christ rewards him when he stands before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ.
So, everything is from a place.
This applies in church, this applies in your life, it applies in every area, your family, your work.
It applies with government.
It applies in all areas of your life.
And I'm telling you, when you figure this out, and when you find something that bothers you, you know where it belongs.
Is this mine to fix? Alright, I'll fix it.
Is it not mine to fix? Alright, I'll leave it in its private place.
And if it still bothers me, I'll go to Jesus to make sure he knows my concerns about it.
And I'm telling you, it'll change your life.
It'll make you much more peaceful, much more content.
And much more accepting of people that do things a little differently than you.
Alright, let's pray.
Heavenly Father, Lord, I just want to thank you for your word.
Lord, I thank you that you use us as sinners, Lord.
Lord, you've saved us, you've given us everlasting life.
But Lord, you've given us the new man within us, you've given us the Bible.
Lord, you're constantly correcting and guiding us and teaching us.
And Lord, I just pray that we would be people that would be humble to admit when we've done wrong.
Lord, not only when we've done wrong, but when we've thought wrong.
Lord, forgive us when you've judged our brother and we've set them at noughts.
Lord, we do commit each one of us to you.
We all know we're going to stand before you one day.
And Lord, I want to stand before you and present this church as a unified church that loves you.
A unified church that loves one another.
So Lord, please give us that ability, by the power of your Spirit, to be effective, Lord, in all areas of our life and our ministry.
Lord, please help us, we need you. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
Alright, please take your hymnals and turn to hymn number 90.
Turn to hymn number 90, Jesus, Lover of My Soul.
Hymn number 90, Jesus, Lover of My Soul.
Wrong one, Rams.
That sounds right.
Jesus, lover of my soul,
Let me to thy bosom fly.
While the nearer waters roll,
While the temper still is high,
Hide me, O my Savior,
Hide me, till the storm of light is past.
Safe into the haven guide,
O receive my soul at last.
Mother refuge, have I none,
Thanks my helpless soul on thee.
Leave thou, leave me not alone,
Still support and comfort me.
All my trust on thee is safe,
All my health from thee I bring.
Cover my defenceless head
With the shadow of thy wing.
Thou, O Christ, are all I want,
More than all in me I find.
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
Heal the sick and lead the blind,
Just and holy is thy name.
I am all unrighteousness,
Vile and full of sin I am,
Thou unfold and truth and grace.
Lentious grace with thee is bound,
Praise to cover all my sin.
Let the healing streams abound,
Make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life, the fountain heart,
Freely let me take a wing,
Spring thou art within my heart,
Rise to all eternity.