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Alright, we're here in 1st Corinthians chapter 3, and we're starting a new series on church problems, and this is gonna be a pretty long series I think it's probably gonna be eight weeks. There's gonna be a lot of sermons on this and Just one second. Let's get the sound balanced out and So we're gonna be in here for about eight weeks, and we're gonna be specifically talking about church problems But quite honestly you could apply this to marriage problems You could apply this to problems at work. You could apply this to raising kids It's gonna fit all of those things although we are gonna make it specific to referring to church problems and as a church I'm really trying to basically switch more to more practical preaching than we've had before I think our church has always had a lot of practical preaching But even more so than before when I say practical preaching Sermons that will help you be a good husband be a good father be a good mother be a good wife And there's many reasons for that you know obviously that's the way pastor Jimenez and our sending church is like But quite honestly you know as a church some people would call us a new IFB church And I don't really have a problem with that because you know there's a lot of like-minded Churches in the US that are great men of God and great churches and everything like that But I want you to understand with a church that puts sermons online What ends up happening is you attract a lot of great people to your church? You also attract a lot of bad people to your church Right there's actually a combination there that takes place This is at every church in the world that puts their sermons online because when you preach exciting sermons like the God of Hinduism Versus the God of the Bible some people that are ready to go to war said man I love that and they would love it if every single sermon was like that And so you do attract a lot of people that love God and this room is filled full of people that were here from Day one and you love soul winning you love the Word of God it attracts a lot of great people It also attracts a lot of bad people as well You know that's just reality okay, and here's the thing when you preach more practical preaching it helps Make people that are obnoxious jerks not want to come to your church And quite honestly I like that Okay, because if you've noticed over the last six months our church has a lot of unity and everything is going great Right, but you know six months ago. That wasn't really the case okay There were a lot of problems and whenever you have church problems. There's two things that need to take place Number one you must deal with the church problems now most Baptist churches It's free-for-all Baptist Church. Just let anything happen never deal with anything That's fine as long as you give your first fruits. We love you whether or not you know you're like a Hardcore home or whatever if you give your first fruits. We love you no matter what right and so number one You must deal with church problems number two you must learn from church problems And as a church that has gone through church problems, and we're on the other side. This is a sort of sermon series I wanted to preach a while ago, but quite honestly you know a lot of people were not able to come to church for a while Now we're at the point where most people are back at church And so it's time to actually learn lessons from that as a leader You must be willing to share the credits and take the blame for situations and as a church We've been very successful in two years. We have definitely grown as a church There's no question about that. We've gotten a lot of people saved We have a very successful church plan, and that is not because of me alone It's because of the fact there's many people going soul-winning Many people reading the Bible many people that were going down on Sundays to pom-ponga to preach to get that church off the ground Many people that love God it is a group effort and look as a leader I'm willing to take the blame and say you know what there were church problems, and I didn't handle everything perfectly But I will say this during this series I think all of us should take heed because there's many things that could have been done different and quite honestly You know when you come to a church That's like this it helps you escape from the world where your co-workers believe different things and talk about different things Your family's rejecting you your friends rejecting you the last thing you want at a church is you basically are coming to church and saying Man, I've got to go to church because I'm obligated like we don't want that atmosphere here We want you to come to church because you're excited to learn the Word of God you're excited to fellowship You're excited to serve God that you want to come to an area where there's great fellowship and unity and as a church We are supposed to have unity as a church, okay notice what it says in 1st Corinthians 3 And this is just kind of an introductory sermon So we'll kind of go in more specifics as we go, but notice what it says in verse 1 And I brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual but as unto carnal Even as unto babes in Christ so in verse number one Paul the Apostle says that this church is filled full of saved people That are baby Christians and they are carnal Christians now right there that shows you a saved person can be carnal Right. I mean the Calvinists and the Repentive sins preachers. There's no such thing as a carnal Christian Well 1st Corinthians 3 one right baby Christians and baby Christians are carnal according to the Bible That's what a carnal Christian is. Okay, and you think of a babe in Christ think of a newborn, baby Newborn babies are completely reliant on their parents Newborn babies when they're tired, you know at 3 15 in the morning today, you know a young little daughter Just as is wide awake and waking up, you know, that's newborn babies, right? They're reliant on their parents if they need to eat they need a diaper changed or whatever They completely rely on their parents and as new Christians, that's what you expect from new Christians But wouldn't it be weird if you're safe for 10 years? Like it wouldn't it be weird if my daughter 10 years from now We're still putting a bib on her and feeding her like she's a little baby That would be weird wouldn't it and yet in today's world you see Christians that are saved for 15 years And they're still being spoon-fed. They never eat the Bible for themselves They never really grow themselves. They're baby Christians after 10 years 15 years 20 years. There's something wrong with that Okay, the Bible speaks about baby Christians here in verse 1 and notice what it says in verse 2. I Have fed you with milk and not with meat Isn't it true that babies are not ready for steak day one after they're born They need milk, right? There's been you know weird Super liberal people I think was someone who was like a woman who was like a tomboy or lesbian or whatever I think was in the US where basically she was so hardcore against eating animals that she she rejected all milk as well And she only fed her baby juice from day one and the baby died after a couple weeks You say why because babies need milk to survive Right. I mean babies cannot survive on a 100% vegan diet from day one They actually need milk to survive and the baby actually died. She was prosecuted as a result of that Okay, but what you see here is this when when you have babies, they need milk not meat And what that's saying spiritually is this the basics of the Word of God Not the in-depth really complicated things the deep things about but the basics of the Bible Okay for hitherto you are not able to bear it neither yet. Now. Are you able so what he says about the Church of Corinth is this you're not prepared or ready for the meat of the word You're baby Christians and you say brother Stuckey is it because they didn't go soul winning enough Is it because they didn't understand the rapture or Zionism? Well, what does it say in verse 3 for a year yet carnal for whereas there's among you envying and strife and Divisions are ye not carnal and walk as men So according to the Bible if you are full of envious envenous bitterness Strife divisions if there's divisions at church, we're not united There's strife and problems all the time then we would be labeled as a baby Christian Church Full of baby Christians all of these problems that are taking place You could be a church that gets a hundred people saved every week and God would say you're baby Christians Why because you're full of strife and envenus and bitterness Look realize that babies they have a toy taken from them and they complain But look if somebody sits in your seat at church and then all of a sudden it's like a World War three argument Like that's my seat. It's like good night I mean, are you like a little six-month-old that we need to here's here's here's your little crushed up banana, right? It's like no it's like, you know, you need to grow right and so look if you're a church That has all kinds of problems and strife, you know what according the Bible It's filled full of baby Christians and you're not ready for the meat of the word Go to Philippians chapter 2 Philippians 2 Philippians 2 Now when I look at our church and I think of let's say the book of Revelation Okay in Revelation chapters 2 & 3 you don't have to turn there But if you remember there's seven different churches listed and for most of those churches you know what God says some good things about them and some bad things and I think that no matter who you are as an individual or as a church. You need to be realistic with who you are Okay, like for example if I went to the gym and said, you know what? I'm the strongest guy ever I'm gonna bench, you know 200 kilograms, you know, well good night, man. I'm not that strong some people are it's not me Okay, it's like, you know, you're gonna you know crush your neck or your chest or whatever Okay, so you got to be realistic with who you are and look I would say this at six months ago I think God if he came down would say a lot of great things about our church, man That is a church that understands salvation. That is a church that's zealously soul winning But if I'm honest, I think God would also say things that are bad about the church And whenever you have church problems you fix the problem and you learn from it You know, I am very thankful that when this church started, you know God entrusted us with pretty much 25 people from day one that were just ready to serve God You know, that's a great thing but at the same time in some ways it's easier to start with nobody and you say why? Because of the fact you get to kind of set the tone for this is how I want the church to run and everything like that and also Everybody makes mistakes, especially as a leader and when you start off small you can kind of learn on a small scale And you don't have to worry about messing up on a big scale now I believe that God gave us the amount of people that we were able to handle and we have been very successful as a church And we're going strong and growing and everything like that I would just say though that you know It is a challenge dealing with a lot of people from day one when it's just completely new Right. I mean preaching is a really small portion of what a church is if it was only preaching It's like good night. I had experienced preaching before I ever started this church It's like you know, that was not my biggest concern That's not the most difficult thing either trying to operate and organize a church that is difficult Okay, and so as a church we're growing now and I'll be honest I don't want to have church problems like we did before we need to learn lessons from that Okay, Philippians chapter 2 notice what it says in verse 1 verse 1 and the first point is this as a church Our goal is to impede or stop Church problems to impede or stop church problems Philippians 2 verse 1 if there be therefore any consolation in Christ referring to basically consoling one another in Christ if any Comfort of love comforting people having love towards one another if any fellowship of the Spirit having fellowship with one another If any bowels and mercies now when it says bowels the emphasis is this is something coming from the inside Okay, it's not just outward motions But something actually occurring on the inside and look when it comes to problems that happen in our lives Most of our problems are not because of things going on on the outside It's because of things on the inside Look if your life is filled full of problem after problem after problem It's because of on the inside that is the reality and if you fix the inside Most of your problems are going to disappear that is reality as a church It's the same way if we fix our hearts in the inside and love God on the inside a lot of the church Problems will just disappear. Okay verse 2 Fulfill ye my joy that ye be Like-minded having the same love being of one accord of one mind and it says here in verse 2 that we should be of One accord and of one mind as a church. We're united together as one if you've noticed recently I've just kind of mentioned the fact that we are not VBC Manila new IFB and VBC Manila non new IFB right recently. I've been really bringing up No, we are one church, you know And a part of that is because we have a lot of new people at our church that we're not new IFB You know a year ago, right? They're just part of this local church and we must be united as one not that there's factions and groups And I want you to understand if any church ever starts a church plant and they have members from day one It is natural that basically there's a bit of a click that forms because they're the ones from day one that believe all these doctrines But that needs to be done away with as the church grows where you're not just like, oh, there's somebody new Let's make sure they know how to give the gospel before they're one of us. No, they're one of us from day one They're in our church. They're united together as one. We are one church. We are not new IFB and non new IFB No, we're just Verdi Baptist Church Manila. Okay, that's why recently, you know One of the things we did is we changed the rules for the group chat something We just started yesterday in Pampanga as well because I want it to be an atmosphere where anybody can be a part Of it from day one and feel like they can be connected. Okay, not that we say well There's certain things we can say here, but you know, we can't let certain people at the church in then It's like well, that's a problem then because as a church we have one mind. We're united together as one verse three Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory now strife is referring to fighting and Vainglory is basically where people want to get the credit for things they do They want to be looked at look at me. I'm so special I want all the credit for everything and look as a church. That's the wrong attitude to have You shouldn't be seeking vainglory where everybody looks at you and says, oh man that person's so godly No, I mean you should just be one of the members of the church. We should not be lifting ourselves up We should just be united together as one and every one of us is part of the body. I Understand that the thumb is not as glorious that you know as another part that seemed like for example You know if you do the song leading people see that right? So it's kind of a more glorious position because you know people see it It's like wow, I'm on the live stream and everything or me. I preach the sermons It's like man people know who I am But as a church, we're all doing various functions and we need to be united together as one as one Local body as one local church not that there's divisions. Okay It says this but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves Lowliness of mind basically means to be humble. Okay, and it means that basically you you have a You look at yourself kind of lowly. You don't look at yourself as being so special and so great We kind of look at yourself as just being a normal person and you esteem others better or more important than yourself You know one one way this can manifest itself as a problem is sometimes and we haven't really had this as a church We did this at the beginning we had people preach from time to time, but you know when you have preaching nights at a church Right you have like seven or eight different guys preached for ten minutes and everything and look You know I I've you know organized and run preaching nights at Verity and stuff like that And I've overseen them before and everything like that and you know I've been at so many of them that I can tell when somebody's preaching because they want to edify people and Preaching because they want to just get the vainglory Right I mean somebody gets up here their first time they preach, and they just preach against the sodomites It's like why would you do that? Your first sermon is just like you know take back the rainbow It's just like why not preach on you know hey, why you should read the Bible? Right I want you to understand edifying preaching is always helpful. No matter what level you're at okay? No matter what level anybody's at in Christianity if somebody got up here and preached a sermon of why? You should read the Bible that would help me stay motivated to read the Bible that would always be edifying Right and so like when you preach sermons your goal is not to get credit or glory Your goal is to edify the people I have no doubt that the sermon I preached last week is gonna be one of the most viewed sermons I've ever preached the God of Hinduism versus the God of the Bible because people are like man That sounds great right this sermon series is not really going to get a whole lot of views Not that our YouTube really gets a ton of views compared to some of the other churches This sermon series is not going to get a whole lot of views But you know what if we can have unity as a church, that's more important to me It's more important that we are united together as one even if we're not looked at as being the most hardcore church Or whatever verse number four look not every man on his own things But every man also on the things of others Meaning you care about other people more and what they want than yourself and look if we did this as Individuals at a church a lot of the church problems We would impede or stop They would just be gone if we came to church every week and said you know what I want to help other people out That's my goal My goal is not to get credit or to be lifted up a lot of our church problems would just be gone if we Would all have that attitude that I just want to be a blessing to other people So if somebody says something and makes you mad Doesn't even bother you You say why because you're concerned more about other people than yourself anyway And look the same is going to be true for your marriage as well Right I mean you you want to fix your marriage problems Hey esteem your wife better than yourself you want to fix your your marriage problems esteem your husband better than yourself and magically what happens if the husband does that for the wife then Naturally the wife's going to do that for the husband and the marriage the problems will disappear and the marriage will get better Look your problems at work same way your problems raising your children same way and look if you're a person That has a lot of problems and fights and strife with other people. It's not everybody else's fault you need to get an old-fashioned mirror and Look in front of that mayor, and there's the problem. I said why are all these problems in my life? Oh? Okay, it's me right. That's the answer if you have problems with everybody and you're mad at everybody you're the problem Especially at a church full of godly people if you got a problem with 20 people at this church You are the problem not 20 different people now turn in your Bible to Ephesians chapter 4 Ephesians 4 Ephesians 4 Ephesians chapter 4 So point number one in this introduction is this that you know when it comes to a church with church problems our goal is to impede or to stop church problems, but Point number two is this that church problems are inevitable We can stop a lot of church problems We can lessen the blow of church problems, but they are still inevitable because we are a room full of sinners saved by grace That still have a sinful flesh after they got saved so Our church problems will not just all vanish away We have a goal to get rid of a lot of them But they are still inevitable at a church notice what it says in Ephesians 4 verse 11 and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and Teachers and so in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11 as it's referring to the Church of Ephesus One thing it mentions is this that some churches get apostles now in our modern day No church gets an apostle Okay, because you had to see the risen Savior and everybody that says they saw the risen Savior is a little bit value Okay, there are no modern-day Apostles it says some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers Now according to the Bible to be a pastor You must be married with multiple kids and properly ordained and your kids must be found Faithful the Bible says now I am NOT the pastor of this church because when I started this church We had one child and my son was very young He was less than a year old when we came here to the Philippines now Lord willing in a few years I will be ordained as the pastor right now pastor Jimenez in Sacramento is the pastor and he's appointed me as kind of the Under-shepherd the evangelist to kind of run things Okay And look that is that is a proper and biblical way to have a church because in Ephesians 4 11 some churches they get evangelists So there's no problem with that There's no problem with starting a church as long as it's built on the correct structure where there is a pastor That's basically designed to start that. Okay, and so we'll talk about that more next week But as a church, you know, that's who I am brother brother stuck here the evangelist brother Matthew Stuckey verse 12 Why for the perfecting of the Saints now a saint in the Bible is a saved person? both Old and New Testament Perfecting in the Bible perfect does not mean without sin Because the only one who was ever perfect was the Lord Jesus Christ But yet Noah is called perfect in the Bible. Job is called perfect You say why because perfect means complete in the Bible So basically, you know somebody who you know is you know knows their Bible really well and goes soul winning But also has love and care for one another and is long-suffering and is merciful Basically, they're the whole package of Christianity. They would be labeled perfect because they're well-rounded Okay, think of it. For example, like, you know, let's say there was a fighter, you know, and let's say, you know The UFC I'm not I'm not saying to watch the UFC. I'm just using an example Okay, but let's say there was a fighter that was a really good boxer a really good kickboxer But he had terrible wrestling. He would not be perfect according to the biblical definition To be perfect would be someone who is good at at submissions or jujitsu Wrestling kickboxing and has stamina and strength. He has everything. In Major League Baseball They talk about having a five-tool player where you're good at all five things That would be perfect by the biblical definition But if you only have four of those things if you're missing a prayer life, you wouldn't be labeled as perfect, biblically speaking Okay, and so he says for the perfecting of the Saints so the job of preaching these sermons is to help Complete us. Okay for the work of the ministry now the work of the ministry You can think of soul winning and church planning and organizing events You know outreach events that is part of why you have an evangelist or pastors at churches Then it says for the edifying of the body of Christ and the body of Christ would be the local body So the job of the person preaching is to edify the body of Christ Okay Now look, I think it's fun to preach sermons from time to time on you know Hinduism That's a topic I've always found interesting and everything But if I was preaching a sermon like that every single week, then people would not be getting edified through the preaching That's something good to do every once in a while But what's going to change your life is sermons about removing problems from your life It's not going to be the sermon you click on YouTube But it is going to be the sermon that actually helps you change things in your life Okay, and so we need to be all edified through the preaching and Then it says this till we all come in the unity of the faith And so the edifying should take place to the local body until we all come in the unity of the faith But let me ask you is everybody perfect and complete and 100% united No, we're never going to be 100% Perfect 100% united we are going to have work to do So look our problems are going to be inevitable because even if as a church we were all well-rounded then new people come to the church and Everything's new to them. And so look when it comes to church problems. They are inevitable. They will exist Things happen you wake up in the morning. You're tired you come to church Somebody makes a joke you get offended and then all of a sudden there's a church problem. This is reality This is what takes place and so look as a church You know what it is important to have a church series like this because we don't want to have major church problems We understand we're gonna have small ones. I hope we don't have major problems again I hope we can deal with it before it becomes a big situation Okay So it says till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro Carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive One thing that can destroy the unity of a church according to verse 14 is if people are carried about with every doctrine Okay, I'll be honest. I don't really see that being a major problem ever at our church I mean maybe one day it would but quite honestly I'm pretty clear on the doctrines that I believe in the things that we teach and Maybe it could become a problem if we grow and everything certainly now I don't see that happening anytime soon because we're very clear on what we believe especially about salvation But in all doctrines and look by all means you're welcome to believe whatever you want about certain things But what you're not welcome to do is to come into a church and tell people well brother Stuckey said once saved always saved But I say it's conditional salvation. Well, you know go to go to the church down the road, right? I mean if you want to come to our church and change what we believe Then go to another church because I've been part of a lot of churches before and I didn't try to change the doctrines of the Church you say why because I was just a member of that church And I wasn't the one appointed head of that church running the show. Okay, so when you come to our church Get on board or get out One or the other by all means we want our church to grow But if you're not going to get on board then you need to just find a different church And here's the thing if you as a like-minded person can't fit in at this church, well, then you're not gonna fit in anywhere Right me if you say I love this preaching. This is the sort of church I want but there's still problems here I need to fix this and this and this well then have fun at the Bible Baptist Church Then go back to your old church and good luck with that. Okay, I mean you're not gonna fit in anywhere Then if you always find a problem look no matter what church you go to There's gonna be something that you don't fully agree with I'm not the exact same person as Pastor Jimenez, you know I don't look at every single thing the exact same way We would have meetings every week and I would come to the meeting and sometimes I would show him a verse and say You know, I have a different interpretation of this now I would always do it respectfully because for one he was my boss and for two, you know Just out of common courtesy for the pastor of a church. You ought to come respectfully, right? But look, I'm not the exact same as him So there's gonna be things at our church where you say man if I was running the show I would do this. You're not running the show though. I Yeah, if you were the CEO of Pepsi go ahead and do whatever you want. You're not the CEO of Pepsi Okay, so you're gonna be stuck with just drinking the Pepsi All right, and so notice what it says in verse 15, but speaking the truth in love and Quite honestly, this is where a lot of people struggle because the Bible says speaking the truth in love You know when you preach sermons and you preach everything the Bible says There are a lot of harsh things you say behind the pulpit Right things that people could be really offended by and let me tell you something If you're gonna be a pastor one day and you can't figure out how to do it in love Good luck having anybody stick around at your church Right. You say well, I'm just gonna tell it like it is. Yeah Well, good good luck ministering to a church of three people, right? People aren't gonna stick around if you're an obnoxious jerk That's the reality. The Bible says speak the truth in love You know, I had an old pastor that told me he's like allow people to get mad at your position basically what you believe allow people to get mad at your position but not your Disposition and what that means is allow people to get mad that you're post-trib But not by the way you presented yourself where it's like man, if you don't believe this you're a moron Good luck running a church. That's not how you preach Okay, you're not gonna have people stick around if that is your attitude and Look, even if you're right people are gonna leave why they don't want an obnoxious jerk Yelling at them every week people like this church because I speak the truth In love at least the best of my ability and look if I was just a jerk people would leave That's the reality. Okay, and look yes, you know, even when we go so winning when we go so winning We say the harshest thing you could ever tell someone we tell people that you're gonna burn in hell forever if you die right now But there's a way we say it. I Mean, we don't knock on a door and someone says, you know, I'm not sure if I'm going to heaven Well, guess what? You're gonna burn in hell forever For ever right now if you die, is that what you say door to door? Right me if that's what you say. I mean, you know look, yeah I don't want you going so winning on behalf of our church. All right go so winning Just don't tell them you come from our church All right, but it's just like look when you go so winning you're literally saying the harshest thing you could ever tell someone You better say it in love Otherwise, they're not gonna listen now you have to be truthful But that's why there's a balance and look preachings the same way Because you know our lives we have a lot of things we need to fix when I first got saved I still listen to rock music I still watch worldly movies and everything and look I changed due to the preaching of God's Word But it was presented in a way where I felt like my pastor actually cared about me He actually was trying to help me fix my life and as a church, you know We need to just be kind and it's really basic But it says speaking the truth and love and look if it's not spoken in love. You won't have unity People will basically be frustrated and mad and people will leave the church. Okay, it says speaking the truth in love May grow up unto him in all things, which is the head even Christ From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supply it so fitly joined together as a church compacted by that which every joint supply it every joint every body part is useful it helps according to the effectual working in the measure of every part effectual working Basically means that you have a positive effect on other people and I mean shouldn't that be pretty basic That the church is better with you than without you I mean, isn't that just like really really basic that this church is actually better because you're at the church and not worse and Yet you can have churches where people being at a church makes the church a lot worse Just problem after problem after problem. Look when you're at a church, you should have a positive effect on people and It's not hard. All it takes is being nice to people talking to people You know getting involved in the ministries and fellowshipping and guess what you have a positive impact Okay You should have a positive impact on our church maketh increase of the body onto the edifying of itself In love now turn it in your Bible to 1st Corinthians 5 1st Corinthians 5 1st Corinthians 5 Now you might say brother Stuckey if church problems are inevitable if they're guaranteed to happen Why is it that when you look at the church epistles in the Bible, you don't see problems with every single church You only see it with certain churches like the Church of Galatia. The problem was salvation Basically, they're allowing false preachers to come in and confuse things the Church of Corinth. I mean good night They had a million problems. We'll get into that during the sermon series Okay But it's just like you don't see problems with every church and you say why is that why I think the reason why is Paul's not trying to make it a point to let you know all the problems that are existing or have ever existed in the church Look, if we ever have a church fight, I don't just go on Facebook and say all right These two people got in a fight. Let me tell you all the juicy details about it for your gossiping needs for the week Alright, I just want to I want to help facilitate gossiping a little bit easier for you. Here was the problem I'm siding on this side choose your side right tomorrow. We're gonna have a poll on our Facebook Which side do you side with? Okay. So look were there ever problems at the Church of Thessalonica? I promise you there were But Paul's not gonna make it a point to say Well, let me just ruin the reputation of this church as a church when problems exist in our church to the best of our Ability we try to handle it inside of the church You say why there's no need to try to destroy the reputation of the church or of the individuals involved unless Unfortunately, it becomes necessary Right, there's no need to do that but by the best of my ability I'm gonna try to basically give people a chance and restore the reputations and give them a chance to live for God Unfortunately, sometimes you got to make a decision. Okay, it's just too much. Okay notice what it says in 1st Corinthians 5 Point number one our goal is to impede church problems point number two Church problems are inevitable and point number three The reason why these church problems happen is because we are in error in sin or in the wrong If you have a lot of problems in your life, it's because you are in sin It's because you are in error It's because of yourself not because of everybody else 1st Corinthians 5 notice what it says in verse 1 It is reported commonly that there's fornication among you and such fornication As is not so much as named among the Gentiles that one should have his father's wife Here is a man who is intimately involved with his father's wife It's like I don't even know what to say about that. It's like that's not even something named among the Gentiles, right? I mean basically what he's saying the the Catholic priests don't even do this, right? Well, they probably do. Okay But I mean he's saying like not even these false churches are doing this It's like that is embarrassing to a church when sins are being committed that the average church That wouldn't happen at CCF or wouldn't happen at victory or wouldn't happen at any, you know regular church out there, right? He's saying this is so bad and look it's commonly reported People are aware of it. That's when it becomes a major problem verse 2 and You're puffed up and if not rather mourn that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you So obviously here, you know, it's referring to church discipline We've talked about that before and we will during this series But here's what I want you to realize the same church that has major sin in it is The same church with a lot of problems. Do you see the connection? The same church with fornication in it is the same church that has envy and strife and divisions The same church that is taking brothers to court with one another the same church that is taking the Lord's Supper wrong It's like they're messing up everything He says look, you know in 1st Corinthians 3, I want you to be united together as one no envy No strife, no divisions. You're united together as one Okay, you know yesterday in Pampanga. We took the Lord's Supper, you know, it's something we normally do once a year around Easter But you know, we did it because of all the delays and everything like that And you know this is kind of a side point but something I really thought about for this sermon series is this you know in Corinthians one thing he's blasting them about is not being united together as one That kind of shows why communion is taken together as one Because that's what he's blasting not in the homes away from everybody because he's saying the church needs to be united Not to have divisions. So it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense to say Well, let's just divide into 20 different homes to take communion Okay, look other churches do things differently and that's fine but what I want you to realize is this the Church of Corinth has sin in the church and Then they have problems in pretty much every area you could think of why because sin will cause problems in your life And if you have a lot of problems it's because of sin on the inside of yourself that is reality Okay, go to judges 14 judges 14 judges 14 Now look we do understand people have financial problems people have health problems I'm not really talking about those kind of problems what I'm mainly referring to all those some of those things might be able to apply Mainly if you just have problems with getting along with everybody if you have problems getting along with everybody and look I work secular jobs before I worked at an office with plenty of people that are not the godliest people and not talking about The Bible and I got along with them. I Got along with 90 whatever percent of them you say why because I didn't just go in there as a Bible thumper Right. I just went in and said, you know what? I'm on Microsoft Excel all day All I'm doing is math and I'm doing this to pay the bills and for my family to make money and everything like that I didn't come in there. Just trying to say well, hey, I Heard that you're living with your boyfriend. It's like, you know what? I want to talk to you about that during lunch It's like look if you're doing that the problem is yourself You're puffed up full of pride my friends and if you have problems with Everybody in church and at home and your family and everybody the problem might just be you Just look in the mirror, okay, the problem is probably not everybody else It's probably you we understand that the world will hate you from time to time But the Bible also says you should have a good report to them that are without And what does that mean? It means that if you were to call up my previous bosses They would say brother Stuckey was very respectful. He always showed up on time. He never cut out early He was always very nice. He was a hard worker It's like they they would say I cannot fault his job performance The one thing some might say is you know what he believes some weird things I mean, he's knocking on people's doors during the week, but you know what? We would love to have more workers just like him and quite honestly I did one time in my old job get called down to the principal's office You know, it wasn't a school but you know kind of like when you're a kid and you know, basically, you know I got sat down in a meeting with kind of the big people of the company and It's like people found out what I believe somehow and it's like look I never told anybody what I believe I just kind of showed up to work I read my Bible at my lunch break and everything and all of a sudden I got called down to the office one time And they said yeah, you know we heard because you know, I've had sermons I preached in the past Someone you know must have found a sermon or whatever I don't know but then all of a sudden, you know They said, you know, we heard about what you believed in everything and we started to ask your co-workers We've never dealt with this problem before and they're like all their co-workers said like, you know that you're just a really kind person and a hard worker because they said basically that you know, We heard that you don't like gay people and you know, they accused me of being sexist which look I because you believe that there's different roles between men and women they'll accuse you the world will accuse you of being sexist And then they said we talked to because most of my co-workers are female But like all your female co-workers are just like no, he's the nicest guy at this job. He's a hard worker He's the most respectful. He's the most polite and so basically, you know, they told me, you know We talked to everyone and say you know what, you know, we determined you're you're doing, you know a good job And I was like, you know, okay I mean and they're like I'm like so so are we gonna have this problem six months from now? I said, you know, I don't tell anybody what I believe I just show up to work and everything like they said no No, you're fine. I was thinking okay It's like but look if I was a jerk I would have been fired immediately But every one of my co-workers said no brother stuck. He's always early. He's very respectful He's very kind and look that ought to be your reputation at your job. I Understand if there's some wicked person some Satan worshiper that doesn't like you I understand that but look the average Catholic should not think you're a jerk. I Mean they should just think you're a nice friendly person and look by all means when I worked at my old jobs I would invite people to go on lunch together with me and I'd preach the gospel on my lunch break from time to Time and those same people still had good things to say about me Even though they didn't usually agree with me even though I preached the gospel and they walked away not agreeing now Once again, you better preach the truth in love because otherwise you might get a co-worker that hates you but look what I'm saying is this you ought to have a good reputation to them that are without and if you don't It's not because they're not saved and you are saved. It's probably because you're a jerk That's the reality. Okay? Judges 14 now we're gonna look at Samson here and we're only gonna look at part of the story because we'll look at it more Later on, but Samson was a man that no doubt accomplished a lot of things for God But he didn't exactly have the greatest character either in the Bible. He had a lot of problems as well Judges chapter 14 Notice verse 17 and this is when he basically gives a riddle he's basically kind of gambling Okay, this is like old-fashioned makalu mung gambling. Okay old-fashioned gambling here in Judges 14 They're arguing over clothing because it was you know valuable things like that verse verse 17 of Judges 14 And she wept before him the seven days This is Samson's wife while their feast lasted and it came to pass on the seventh day that he told her because she lay sore upon him and she told the riddle to the children of her people and The men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down What is sweeter than honey and what is stronger than a lion? So Samson comes up with this riddle and I'll be honest with you I guess I don't understand old-fashioned riddles Like this is not like a riddle like I think of as a riddle But somehow this is a riddle and nobody can figure it out until his wife, you know tells her people Okay, then all of a sudden he says in verse 18 and he said unto them if he had not plowed with my heifer He had not found out my riddle. So he just called his wife a heifer He just called her an animal basically told me, you know this riddle because you plowed with my heifer He called his wife an animal, right? He called her like heifers a cow, right? I mean he called her like an animal it's like that's about the rudest thing you could ever say and Let me say this when it comes to marriage never criticize your spouse to other people ever This is like marriage 101 advice never criticize your spouse To other people you deal with those problems one-on-one to the best of your ability Okay You don't just got you don't criticize them in public and just like rip and I understand from time to time Maybe you get advice from people and stuff like that But but let me say, you know, don't just go and just rip your your wife or your husband's, you know To shreds to other people right like it's like after the service you say man My husband's the most impatient husband in the world. Well, maybe that's why you have marriage problems because of stuff on the inside Okay, because of problems in your characteristics in his as well and the result is marriage problems never Criticize your spouse to other people. Okay, but this is what he does in verse 18 verse 19 and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he went down to Ashkelon and slew 30 men of them and took their spoil and gave changes of garments onto them which expounded the riddle and His anger was kindled and notice this his anger was kindled and he went up to his father's house This is hilarious. This is the strongest guy in the Bible He gets in a fight with his wife and then he goes home to mommy and daddy and says, you know Look at what my wife did she told my riddle and he goes home to his dad to cry about it That's what you're seeing here. Now. Look I can say this cuz Samson's not here in person to you know, kill me, right? But like that's what you're seeing with Samson. He went up to his father's house So basically he goes home to cry to mommy and daddy and look that's also part of marriage 101 advice When you got problems don't complain to your parents, right and your parents are always gonna side with you Cuz you're you know, daddy's little girl right or you know, mommy's little girl or daddy's little boy or whatever, right? And it's just like that is what Samson does but you know, we can learn great advice, you know From the Old Testament right here And it's like Samson has a lot of marriage problems and you're seeing well You're criticizing your spouse in public and you're crying to your parents about it, right? There might be a reason why there's these problems Okay, that's what we see here at the end of verse 19 Well notice what it says in verse 20, but Samson's wife was given to his companion Okay, so basically the the father of Samson Samson's wife gives his wife to another person and you say well, that's wicked He should have never done it and that's true. But I want you to understand something we don't know how long Samson was gone from his wife and In these times usually the wife did not work because of old-fashioned things I mean wouldn't even be possible to have a lot of kids and raise a family stuff Usually moms would be stay-at-home moms during these days and so look if Samson's gone from his wife and he is the sole provider for that family if He's gone for a month or two months. I could easily see the the father of Samson's wife saying, you know what? I mean her husband just left and Look, you can't send out a text message back then to say hey Samson. Are you coming back? You can't give Samson a call and say hey Samson. What's up? You just left You know my daughter alone and you know what there's rent due in a month, right? He's just gone So look, it's not really shocking that Samson's wife was given to another man Why no one's providing the bills anymore now all of a sudden the mom and dad are providing for their daughter again When she got married, it was the husband's job, right? So he's gone We don't know how long but it was long enough that the father basically gave his daughter to another man Look Samson throughout his entire life. He looked at his life and he always blamed other people But when you read this, it's his fault You criticize your spouse in public and I'm sure you know Look like the Bible says a little bird hears that and it gets around. I'm sure you know, she found out what she said Okay, and you just run away from her her dad could have easily thought he's never coming back Right, and so look the problems that Samson had was that because of everybody else Or was that problems because he was in sin. He was in error. He was in the wrong. It's because of himself That's the reason why Samson had a lot of problems in his life And so it says, you know what Samson's wife was given to his companion notice this whom he had used as his friend Used as his friend. What does that mean? It means that Samson wasn't really a friend to his friend His friend was basically a friend to him, but Samson wasn't a friend to him when he needed this guy He was friends with him when he didn't didn't want anything to do with him. Why he just used him as a friend Let me tell you something. This guy probably wouldn't have taken his wife if he was a real friend to Samson, right? I mean if he was actually good to his friend his friend probably I mean kids think about you If somebody offered, you know your friend's wife to you, you're gonna reject it because that's your friend But the friend of Samson probably looked at Samson said you know what he's been always rude to me He's been obnoxious to me. And so he just didn't really care that much. So look Samson's problems are himself He needed to look in a mirror and say hey, you know what? I'm the reason why I'm having all these problems in my life and look Samson's life was filled full of problems He did great things for God no doubt about that But you know, he also had a lot of problems and the problems were because of himself not because of other people Now turn to 2nd Peter 3, 2nd Peter 3, 2nd Peter 3 We as a church if we have a lot of problems as a church we need to look into our mirror and Just say okay Why do we have problems? What are we doing wrong? Okay Now I will say this that when we had a lot of problems at our church. It really was the result of just One to two people Okay, that are no longer here all of our problems most of our problems But I want you to understand that when it comes to bad people or people that come in and cause problems That's gonna happen at a church But when people come in and cause problems What it really does even though they started the problems and they're the reason why you have all these problems It really kind of shows flaws in our own characteristics when we end up having problems with them Right when there's a lot of problems as a result of a couple a couple people Oftentimes it reveals flaws in our own character People that always want to gossip and criticize other people and then they get other people sucked into gossiping as well That actually shows problems in ourselves, even though we weren't trying to cause problems. Do you understand what I'm saying? This is what you often see at church that when people come in and cause a lot of problems What it does is it reveals that the wall has cracks in it And so as I said, we need to learn lessons from us me as an individual I'm admitting as a leader. Yeah, you know what? I've learned lessons from it That's part of what this series is about But look we need to learn lessons from situations like that and look Otherwise if you keep doing the same thing over and over again with no changes the same problems will happen Right. I mean you're not going to change anything unless you make changes. It doesn't magically go away We would have the same thing happen another year from now as a result of somebody else causing problems And so when you have problems like this, you need to look at the situation We fix the problem now, let's learn from the problem. Why? We don't want to have these problems again Otherwise the same things are going to come up 2nd Peter 3 verse 18 But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to him be glory both now and forever Amen, okay, and in 2nd Peter 3 18, we see kind of a combination of growing in grace in knowledge Okay, and the Bible is giving you kind of a combination and as you grow You ought to grow at basically the same rate Right, you know, I always like to use examples with like lifting But look when you lift weights if your whole goal is to get really big biceps They are only going to get so big unless you start increasing the size of your other muscles around the biceps Isn't that true? You have to increase your entire body if you want to get stronger if you want to have a really strong chest You've got to increase the other muscles around the chest and work that well work that as well Obviously the bench press is the most important but look the shoulder press won't help increase your chest size Why because they grow together? Okay, and so I want you to understand it's the same way spiritually It's a physical example to explain the spiritual and as people we need to grow in both grace and in knowledge Okay, what is knowledge? Well knowledge is being able to prove the poster of rapture Is that good to learn that? Absolutely It's important to learn that right, but it's also important to learn and grow in grace as well What takes place with all this online preaching and by all means the online preaching is a great thing It fires people up. They get zealous. They get bold, but unfortunately it causes you to grow at a Disproportional rate something that's just not normal Right. You say what are you talking about? Here's what I'm talking about Let's say I was gone for two months and I just took a lot of steroids and worked out I would come back and then everybody would look at me like what in the world? How did brother Stuckey gain? so much muscle in two months Right. It's like man. He's stronger than brother Emmon now It's like how did that happen right and it's like you say it would be disproportional. It wouldn't be proper It's like you're not supposed to grow, you know that quickly I mean it takes hard work in years to get stronger and stronger and stronger But you know taking steroids is like a cheap way to gain strength really quickly It's also a good way to destroy your health as well, which is a whole nother topic Obviously, it's not healthy But here's what I want you to understand the online preaching is like a steroid to gain knowledge very quickly The problem is your grace doesn't grow and the problem is this the knowledge Shoots up and it causes your grace to go down because you get puffed up full of pride. Look at me, man I know the rapture second Thessalonians 2 Matthew 24 second Thessalonians 2 BAM Pastors a heretic. It's like yeah, that's that's what takes place And you wonder why you have so many problems and look I'm not trying to be down on the online sermons because I'll be honest You know what when I started to listen and learned a ton and a ton and a ton I'm sure you know what my attitude wasn't perfect. I'm sure my grace was not proper But at the same time I've been sowing for four years before I ever knew who Pastor Anderson was and ever listened any online preaching so I will say this I don't think I went off the deep end like some people do But I'll be honest, you know you can and you can see it online I mean you can you can go on Facebook or go on YouTube and look by all means we need to stand up for what? We believe but you look at a lot of people you're like man that person's a jerk And that's the same person that would just cause a lot of problems at our church. It's like yeah, that's great You know everything about every cult that has ever existed, right? But man, where's your grace? It's like if the average person thinks you're a jerk and let me let me explain something to you Because the Bible says, you know that you know You have a have to have a good reputation them that are without and we'll talk about this more during the series But let me say something if anyone ever gets ordained as a pastor at this church If people do not like them at the church, they're not getting ordained That's like number one at a church Look, if you visit Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento and ask people about me ask people about my wife You know what? They would say man. I miss brother Stuckey. I miss miss tan You know people liked me you say why because people should like you unless you're a jerk Right. I mean they should like you but here's the problem people gain all this knowledge really quickly But you know what? They don't grow in grace I'll be honest with you and I've said this recently, you know I I want my son to know a lot about the Bible and know more than than I ever knew and everything But I am more concerned that my son learns how to say thank you and please and I'm sorry and not be Envious and not be bitter and the fact that he can prove every doctrine under the Sun I'd rather he was just a nice person. I'd rather he was just a good hearted person And look if you're a parent, that's the way you feel about your children I mean once you rather your son's just a hard worker that successful work He's a good husband a good father than the fact that he can prove every single doctrine under the Sun by all means gain knowledge but what I'm saying is this when you listen to a lot of online preaching it gives you an improper balance and Here's the thing if you would just show up to church three times a week and you get a lot of not I mean, I preach a lot. I teach a lot of things you can gain a lot of knowledge Right me you guys are like man judges 14 that story of Samson. I got to go back So I never looked at him as a little girly man before say alright I got that new picture of Samson. Look you learn a lot at this church, but you're not going to learn disproportionately Why because there's only three sermons a week and you go home you read the Bible and you apply those things And you will grow at a proper rate By all means I want my son to you know be a be you know The same size me a healthy boy and grow up be a healthy adult and everything like that But it would be strange for my son in two weeks to be my height right There's a proper way that you grow and it takes time and a lot of that is just experience in life. A lot of it's just the fact that you're at a job and you just learn how to deal with people a Lot of it's just the fact that you know you get married This is why a requirement for being a pastor is that you're married with kids You say why because you that are about to have kids you got lessons you're gonna learn It's like, you know what it gives you experience in life and you know, it forces you to be long-suffering It forces you to develop patience you say why because your kids rely on you 24-7 and You know that you can't just abandon them because they won't survive and so look when they got a problem You got a problem too, right and so look things like that they help you learn Lessons in life and look by all means learn the Bible and look reading the Bible will help you with both of those things Because you're seeing the story of Samson that's gonna help you develop grace and say, okay I don't want my marriage to end up like that. I don't want to destroy my life So you're gonna gain both knowledge and grace But look if every sermon you want to listen to is against this cult and learn this and this to just rebuke people You're gonna have an improper balance and those are the kinds of people that cause a lot of problems at church and it's not just here It's at every like-minded church in the world now turn your Bible to second Samuel six second Samuel chapter six second Samuel six Look I've been to a lot of different independent thumbnail Baptist churches I've never been kicked out of any churches and all those pastors You know had good things to say about me because I just volunteered in the ministries I was kind I was respectful that ought to be how you're at at any church That you go to and here's the thing if you disagree with the church, you just go to a different church I mean many of you left your old churches to come here Right and I get it cuz here in the Philippines a little bit different because most churches are preaching a false gospel And so yeah, it's kind of hard to have fellowship with an unsaved person I get that the churches I came from the u.s. All the pastors were saved Right. I mean they were they were decent churches. They had soul winning You know, it's not like they were just terrible churches. I mean, they were they were solid churches And you know what? I disagreed on on plenty of stuff I didn't just get into lots of arguments with my pastor about it though You say why because I wasn't the one running the show, okay? Number one our goal is to impede or stop church problems Number two those church problems are inevitable though. We will have them number three those problems exist because we are in error we are in sin in our lives and Number four Let's talk about the interval of these problems How long will you let these problems exist in your life? And what I'm saying is this if you just every single week you have the same marriage problems You have to ask yourself How long are you gonna let that go on because the problem is not everything happening on the outside The problem is basically your hearts your characteristics How long are you gonna allow those same marriage problems to exist? How long are you gonna allow those same problems that work to exist with your co-workers? How long what is the interval? Well notice what it says in 2nd Samuel 6 verse 16 And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David Michael Saul's daughter looked through a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord and she despised him in her heart despise means to hate Really really hate she despises him now. Why is it she gets so mad at her husband when she sees him Well, probably because he has multiple wives I mean it's kind of natural if your husband is married to multiple people of course the wife's gonna be mad at him I mean it's it's common sense right and so look David's married to multiple women and she gets mad She's trying to find a reason to get mad at him and isn't this true sometimes in life It's like a situation happens, and it's not the worst situation in the world But then somebody just flips out over it or you flip out over it And you say why because you are looking for a reason to be mad It's like you're walking around that day And it's just like I'm gonna wait for my wife to do one thing wrong And it's like you know she she makes some sort of mistake And then you just start screaming what because you were waiting for that opportunity It's the same way that wives do to husbands That's the same way Michael's doing today, but she is waiting for an opportunity to she's like a viper right She's waiting for an opportunity to strike and she gets mad at him. Why well because he was an unfaithful husband He was married to multiple women Verse 17 and they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in his place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord and As soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace offerings He blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts so David's basically not really doing anything wrong in this in this Specific story and you know he's trying to do What's right and then all of a sudden verse 19 and he dealt among all the people even among the whole multitude of Israel Notice this and and there's a reason why the Bible's specific with every word as well to the women as Men as well to the women as men you say why does it mention specifically women? well, why is his wife mad at him because he's married to multiple women and So it says as well the women as the men now. Here's the thing David is doing this thing innocently He's not trying to do anything wrong, but his wife is mad She's jealous because she's you know his wife and he's been unfaithful He's married to multiple women so basically when she sees it dealt to the women as well as the men It's gonna make her even more mad. It'd be like for example in the morning You know if I handed bulletins to everybody and then my wife is just like oh How dare you give a bulletin to her right that's kind of like she is here now look that's never happened Okay, but that's the sort of thing that's happening. He's not doing anything wrong, but she's just really mad why she's jealous This I mean this was David's first wife It's like why did David marry another woman? It's like what are you doing? I understand you know the whole story salt They're separating everything like that, but but but it's like why are you married to somebody else? It's like no wonder she's gonna be jealous. No wonder you're gonna have problems, okay? verse number Verse number 19 he dealt among all the people even among the whole multitude of Israel as well to the women as men To everyone a cake of bread and a good piece of flesh and a flag and a wine So all the people departed everyone to his house verse 20 then David returned to bless his household So he's coming home and Michael the daughter of Saul came out to him came out to meet David and said how? Glorious was the king of Israel today who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants as one of the vain fellows Shamelessly uncovered himself, so she's basically you know mocking him or using sarcasm You know basically criticizing him and right when he comes home. She's just immediately strikes Okay, now hopefully your marriage would never get to these level of problems But the same thing would be like a guy comes home from a hard day of work and right when he walks in The door the wife is just criticizing him from day one Now I want you to realize something that for both men and women you know you're if you're if you're a stay-at-home mom And you're around the kids all day you can easily get frustrated and there's problems that arise and you're not in a good mood But the same thing happens for men as well Sometimes you go to work, and you make a mistake your boss yells at you, or you're stressed out You're like oh, man I got to figure this out, and then you come home and right when you walk in the door your wife Just yells at you right so look David's natural reaction is He gets mad notice what it says in verse 21 and David said unto Michael It was before the Lord notice this which chose me before thy father who was the father of Michael? King Saul and So think about how King Saul died he tried to kill David over and over again, and then Saul got killed You know that well he committed suicide. You know obviously we know he went to heaven and everything But basically he's after David and God did choose David over Saul what he's saying is true By all means he's not lying God did choose him over, but is that a smart thing to say to your wife? Right I mean obviously her father's dead. That's really insulting to her, but he's not trying to fix the problem You say well this interval of church problems wait he's trying to extend it right he's not trying to get rid of this problem He's trying to basically throw gasoline on this fire Which chose me before thy father and before all his house to appoint me ruler over the people the Lord over Israel notice this Therefore will I play before the Lord basically I'm gonna do whatever I want you're mad about this I don't care. I will do whatever I want I will play before the Lord and I will be yet yet be more vile than thus Basically, I'm gonna do worse to you than you did to me is basically what he's saying and notice this and will be based in Mine own sight in of the maidservants, which thou has spoken of of them shall I be had in honor What is he doing? He's rubbing in the maidservants to his wife I mean can you imagine if a guy cheated on his wife? And then he basically rubs it into his wife about like the women that he's been with There's not real and look David was a man after God's own heart He was a godly person by all means the Bible teaches that but by all means He was not a good husband by all means. He was not a good father. You say why well Look at how all of his kids turned out If all your kids turn out wrong the problems you If with every marriage you're involved in the fact that you're in more than one is a problem but if every marriage just turns out bad the problem is you David had a bad family life because of Himself, that's the reason why you say why because it's problems in our self that reveal That cause all those problems to exist if you have all these problems in your life It's not because he's just doing everything right and his wife's just so grumpy. No. He's married to multiple women and Then you see his attitude when he comes home by all means. He was not a successful husband And look he's gonna accomplish more than I ever will in my lifetime, but I'm just saying when you look at the story Was he a successful husband no And look, you know, can you you accomplish a lot for God and fail as a father and a husband Well, yes, you see that in the Bible, but I don't want that to be the story of my life I don't want to fail as a husband or as a father and David has all these problems because of problems within himself And so this is what you see in the story He says of the maid servants, which thou has spoken of them shall I be had an honor by all means This is a big argument. This is as big as any argument You've probably ever had at home, but notice the first word of verse 23 therefore Therefore what does that mean? It means it's gonna tie together what's about to be said with what was just said They have this big fight Therefore Michael the daughter of Saul had no child on to the day of her death. What is this saying? It's saying they never came together as husband and wife ever. This is the end of their marriage second Samuel 6 is Essentially the end of the marriage now They don't get a divorce but by all means you can stay married technically and pretty much, you know, just not really be in it Right. I mean it's like for example, you know if there's a boxer in the ring who basically just you know Sometimes they just give up but they don't actually technically give up they just kind of quit fighting until their corner kind of throws in the towel and Basically, that's what David's doing basically given up on the marriage and so is his wife Just say we're done with this and that is the reason why she had no children Why because it was scientifically impossible for them to have children together when they're never together after this This is the end of their marriage and she's saying what about this interval of church problems? Look, we don't want problems that exist like this forever if we have problems in our church, they have to be dealt with and if they have to be dealt with harshly they get dealt with harshly and You must learn lessons from those situations Now this sermon series I doubt is gonna get a ton of views, right? I'll tell you this as a church member not only should you want to just come to church and have unity and fellowship and love one Another but by all means this is gonna help you with marriage problems as well I talked about marriage more than church in this sermon, right? And so you call marriage problems part one or introduction or whatever So look by all means if you want to go through your life Just fighting with everyone and having strife and problem and problem and problem go ahead and tune me out and in six months I'll preach on Buddhism But if you want to fix the problems in your life Then this is a sort of series that you should want Look, I don't like going through life. Just fight after fight after fight after fight I mean we should fight the good fight of faith Fighting for the things I've gotten every time we go soul winning we're fighting the good fight of faith But look if you're just fighting with every church member and always fighting and at work You're just in fights with everybody. You're in a bad mood. So the husband comes home in a bad mood What happens the husband yells at the wife the wife yells the son the son yells the daughter the daughter kicks the dog The dog attacks the cat. Is that how you want to go through life? Just fight after fight after fight after fight. I don't want to go through that as Much as is possible. We should seek to live peaceably With all men we understand that's not always possible We understand we're not saying to hang out with a bunch of wicked people But by all means you should try to get along with people and I'll be I'll be dead honest with you if I worked with Someone and I didn't have this at my old job at least that I know but if I worked as with someone that was A Satan worshipper, I would still try to get along with them at work for my own benefits Right. I mean if you're having lots of problems with a co-worker that's not gonna help you out Even if someone is just completely against the things it's like, you know I would try to just ignore that and never talk to them about the Bible Never talk to them as much as as possible still try to just get along with them at work Rather than just having lots of problems So problems you have in your life There's no reason to have to go through life with problem after problem and look as a church We don't want to go through that as a and let me just say this, you know, I hope I Hope that in five years our church is running 200 people Plus that love God and love soul winning and we're united as one but I'll be dead honest I would rather have a church of 50 people that are united and care about one another and love one another than have a Room full of obnoxious jerks, even if we get more people saved by all means, you know We want to come to a place. We're trying to escape the world We're not trying to come here and we have more problems at church as a church We must get rid of our church problems. What does that mean? It means we need to learn lessons from the past Let's go to the word prayer dear Heavenly Father Thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to see your word God and help us as a church You know right now we are very united as a church and we're together as one God Help us to love one another and care about one another and have great fellowship with one another God and continue to bless our Church, you know we ask you to just add to our church more people and Help us all to become better Christians and grow and become more spiritual. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen