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Alright, we're here in Ephesians chapter 4, and we're continuing our series on church problems, and we had a couple introductory sermons, and in the last couple weeks we talked about envy, both the interior causes and the exterior causes, and next up on that list from 1 Corinthians was strife. It said envy, strife, and divisions, okay? So notice what it says here in Ephesians 4 verse 30, because the book of Ephesians was written to the church of Ephesus, okay? So notice verse 30, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed onto the day of redemption. Now, verse 30 shows us that you cannot lose your salvation because you are sealed onto the day of redemption, but you can grieve the Holy Spirit of God. When the Holy Spirit of God is living inside you, if you are living a sinful life, if you are doing what is wrong, you will grieve the Holy Spirit because it's not going to depart from you. The Holy Spirit's going to stay inside of you, so when you're doing wrong, it will be grieved with your actions, it will be grieved with what you do. Now notice the immediate context of what will grieve the Holy Spirit of God, and realize this is to a church, the church of Ephesus. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. See if you are a bitter person, if you are a wrathful person, if you are anger, you're a clamorous person, you are gossiping or speaking evil about people. The Bible says you're grieving the Holy Spirit of God if you're a saved person. You say, why? Because that's wicked, it's against the things of the Bible, and the Holy Spirit's not departing from you. You're in dwell with the Spirit of God, and the Holy Spirit will be grieved with your actions and your attitude. Verse 32, and be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ sake hath forgiven you. See the Bible says we ought to forgive one another, especially in a church setting. If somebody does you wrong, you're supposed to forgive them. You say, Brother Stuckey, what if they did not apologize? What if they did me wrong and didn't say they're sorry? Well number one, as we'll talk about later, if it's a real problem and you can't forgive, you need to go to them one on one and talk about the situation. Maybe you're expecting an apology and they don't even think that they owe you one. It's better to talk to them one on one about that situation, but I want you to realize it says even as God for Christ sake hath forgiven you. How were we forgiven by God? Did we deserve to be forgiven? No. Do we deserve to be forgiven for what we've done? All the sins we've committed, no we don't, and God forgives us even though we are undeserving of it. Look, you, if you're spiritual, you ought to forgive other people that are fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, even if they don't deserve it. Why? Even as God for Christ sake hath forgiven you. He forgave us when we did not deserve it. Go to Proverbs 29, Proverbs 29, Proverbs 29, Proverbs chapter 29. One thing that Pastor Mendez often says is this, that you know what, if somebody does you wrong and you are able and willing to forgive them, then quite honestly you're kind of building up immunity for when you do wrong and then God's going to rain down on you. God's going to be more merciful to you because with the merciful, he's going to show himself merciful the Bible says. So if you are unmerciful to your fellow brother in Christ who did something wrong, guess what? God's not going to be very lenient with you either. When you do something wrong, he's going to rain down on you. But if you are forgiving with your fellow brother and sister in Christ, you're building up immunity for when you do wrong. And I don't know about you, but sometimes I sin and do wrong. And I would like God to come down soft on me because of the fact I've come down soft on other people. But you know, if you are rude towards other people and don't forgive, guess what? God's not going to be very forgiving for you when you screw up. So when it comes to strife, the interior causes, what are interior causes? Things on the inside of our own hearts that cause strife or fights. One thing mentioned in the Bible is anger. Anger causes fights. Okay. Proverbs 29 verse 22, Proverbs 29 verse 22, an angry man stirs up strife and a furious man abounded in transgression. Okay. Now, furious means somebody who has great anger. It's like anger to a very high degree. Okay. Very severe anger. And the Bible says an angry man stirs up strife. An angry man causes fights. Okay. Now when we're talking about anger, we're not saying anger towards a specific person. We're saying anger inside of your own heart. And if you are an angry person, it will stir up strife. It will cause fights. It will cause problems. Okay. I mean, you've met people like this where you say something small and they're immediately mad. They're immediately just causing a fight. It's like, calm down. It's like somebody accidentally sits at your seat. It's like, how dare you sit in my seat? It's like, calm down. It's like, I mean, are you okay? I mean, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? I mean, go to Proverbs 22, Proverbs 22, Proverbs chapter 22. See, anger is a root cause of strife and fights. If you are an angry person, you're going to find yourself getting involved in a lot of fights. That's just the way it is. Okay. Proverbs 22, verse 24, Proverbs chapter 22, verse 24, make no friendship with an angry man and with a furious man thou shalt not go. You know, the Bible's giving you wisdom here that you should not make friends with someone who is an angry person. Okay. Now I believe in a church setting. We ought to be willing to forgive one another and everything, but you know, as a church grows, you're not going to be best friends with everybody at church. Let me tell you something. You know, Verdi Baptist, where there's 175 people, I wasn't hanging out with every single person at church. You know, there's certain people you click with better or whatever, but look, based on the Bible's advice, if somebody's an angry person, that's not the sort of person you want to hang out with. You say, why? It's going to rub off onto you. Okay. That's why at a church, sometimes church discipline becomes necessary because when people get out of control, it's like, look, I mean, it's destroying our church. It's destroying the unity of the church. Go to Proverbs 21, Proverbs 21, Proverbs chapter 21, Proverbs 21, I mean, you've heard of like road rage, right? People that have road rage, they're driving because, you know, in the U.S., everybody drives and it's like, you know, sometimes you're driving with people and then they just get mad. They start. I mean, I've heard stories about people. They're driving and they get in fights on the highway. They're like going and screaming at 60 miles an hour beside somebody and everything, then saying, let's pull over. They got a baseball bat underneath. It's like, whoa, it's like, calm it down there. It's like those sorts of people, you know, that rubs off on you when people are angry people. Proverbs 21 verse 19, it is better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and an angry woman. It is better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and an angry woman. Now what does it mean by dwelling in the wilderness? It's basically saying being homeless, having no place to stay. Hey, it's better to be homeless by yourself than having a huge house where it's fight after fight after fight. That's what the Bible is saying. It's better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and an angry woman. Now look, this is not the only verse that kind of talks about something like this. The Bible has that verse where it talks about the continual dropping of a woman. I mean, have you ever tried to go to sleep at night? I remember I was on a church camping trip one time and everyone was staying in this cabin and there was this cricket that just kept making a noise. It kept chirping, just a little chirp every 20 seconds. So nobody could sleep. We tried to turn on the lights and find that cricket. We're like, we got to kill this cricket, right? There's no way we're going to be able to sleep, you know, with this cricket just making this continual noise. And I want you to realize one raindrop is not a lot, but the continual drop eventually gets just overbearing. That is what the Bible is saying. And the Bible is saying it would be better to dwell in the wilderness. Now I want you to realize, men and women are different, okay? There are things in the Bible that men struggle with more than women. There are things that women struggle with more than men. And see, according to the Bible, it highlights women who would be contentious and angry people, right? The continual dropping. You say, what's an example of this? Because women can have a tendency to just always complain a little bit. Just kind of make comments that are just these little stabs. And you know what the Bible is saying, you know what, it's better to dwell in the wilderness. So look, if you find your husband not wanting to spend time with you, you know, as a wife, you might want to look in the mirror. You might want to look at it and say, hey, do I need to make changes, okay? Go to Proverbs 15. Proverbs 15. And look, don't worry, we're going to hit the guys later on, okay, on the next point. But you know, that's what it says in Proverbs 21. We preach all the Bible, okay? Proverbs 15. Notice it says, better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. You know, better is a dinner of herbs. You say, Brother Stuckey, why is it you have this crazy diet? You're not eating sugar, you're just eating lean meats and veggies and oatmeal and stuff like that. Better is a dinner of herbs, right? You know, we obviously still eat meat and everything, but what I want you to see is this. Basically, it's better to have very little money and not be able to have nice food. And just, it's better to eat rice every day, and that's all you eat, you know, if you have love there. That's what the Bible is saying. You know, if you don't have a lot of money, but you have love, you know, the Bible says that's better. A wrathful man stirs up strife, but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife, okay? The Bible says a person who is wrathful, which is great anger. What it says is they stir up strife. They cause fights. They cause problems. A wrathful man stirreth up strife, okay? Go to Proverbs 14, Proverbs 14, Proverbs 14. I mean, isn't this kind of common sense that anger is a root cause of strife and fights? Because look, if you are slow to anger. If you are long suffering and somebody does you wrong, you know what? You're going to just forgive them. You're not going to make a big deal of it. But if you are quick to anger, then what's going to happen? Immediately when something goes wrong, boom, there's going to be a fight. And you must realize in life that you cannot change the things that happen on the outside. Right? I mean, people are saying, well, you know what? If people didn't do this, I wouldn't get mad. You're not going to change what happens on the outside. The only thing you can change is what's on the inside of your own heart, okay? People are going to make rude comments. People are going to do things that are wrong to you. That's never going to change. And if you're waiting your entire life for that to change, forget about it. What you need to do is fix your own heart so when things on the outside happen, it does not affect you. Why? Because you're spiritual on the inside. See, the Bible says do not be an angry person. Proverbs 14 verse 16, a wise man fearth and departed from evil, but the fool rageth and is confident. Right? You know, the Bible says the fool rageth, okay? Think about someone who's, they say, a raging alcoholic or raging drunk. People drink alcohol and then the wife has to hide. The kids have to hide because they're afraid they're going to get beat by the husband or by the father. Right? You've heard of like a raging drunk because some people when they get drunk, they just get out of control, extreme anger and everything. The Bible's saying someone who is full of anger and it says it's a foolish person. He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly and a man of wicked devices is hated. The Bible says if you are quick to anger, you are a fool. It's going to get you into so many problems in your life and so many fights and you know, what's the purpose of it? What's the reason? What benefit is that going to do in your life to get in lots of fights? Okay, look down at verse number, Proverbs 14 verse 10, Proverbs 14 verse 10. You know, an example when I mentioned about being a raging drunk is, you know, I knew in college, you know, I've mentioned this before in sermons, you know, I was in my Spanish class and you know, I remember we had like a project on, you know, a Thursday or a Friday and this guy sat right behind me and to my left and it was like a group project of five people and everything. Well, we show up to class on Monday or Tuesday morning and the teacher's like, you know, so and so passed away over the weekend. We're talking about a 20 year old kid, 21 years old. Now, of course, your natural reaction is, you know, obviously you're very sad about what happened in which I still am sad that person died, but the teacher is being very nice by not explaining the details. The actual details is he went out drinking on a Friday night, he got drunk and him and his friends were arguing with other friends. One person threw a snowball and then all of a sudden the other one came charging and then there was a knife that came out and he got stabbed to death and the whole trial was like a year plus trial. The question was whose knife was it? Was it self-defense or was it cold blooded murder, but you know, it started because of a snowball. No, it started because of alcohol. That's the reason why. Why? Because alcohol can make you lose control of your emotions. I mean, how foolish to die at the age of 20 years old because of alcohol, right? Notice what it says in Proverbs 14. Point number one is anger. Anger causes strife. Anger causes fights. Point number two, though, is bitterness. Okay. Proverbs 14 verse 10, the heart knoweth his own bitterness and a stranger doth not enter metal with his joy. Now this is an interesting verse when you think about it because it says the heart knoweth his own bitterness. If you are a bitter person, then you know that deep down on the inside. Now you might lie to people about it and you might lie to yourself, but deep down on the inside, you know if you're a bitter person and if you are a bitter person, the Bible says, you know what? It says in a stranger doth not enter metal with his joy. If you are a bitter person, it will result in fights. It will result in strife. As much as you try to hide it, it is going to come out, okay? Go to Colossians three, Colossians three, Colossians three, Colossians chapter three, Colossians chapter three, Colossians chapter three in your Bible verse 19, Colossians three verse 19, and I want you to see what it says in Colossians three verse 19. It says husbands love your wives and be not bitter against them, okay? Now as I mentioned earlier, according to the Bible, women can have more of a tendency to kind of say things that they don't mean when they're upset or whatever. You think of Job's wife. Job's wife was going through trauma and everything and she said curse God and die, okay? Very foolish statement, okay? But the Bible is saying that women can struggle with something like that, but it's showing here that guys can struggle with being bitter against their wives, right? I mean the Bible highlights the husbands here, not the wives. Why? Because husbands can have more of a problem of not forgiving their wives after a fight takes place. That's what the Bible is saying. It says husbands love your wives and be not bitter against them, meaning forgive them. Don't hold hatred towards them. Let it go, okay? Hebrews 12, Hebrews chapter 12, Hebrews 12. Look, as I said, this sermon series is specifically for church problems, but absolutely you can take this outside of church and benefit your life. I mean if you are always getting in fights with people at work, you got to listen to the sermon. You got to figure out, okay, what's the problem? Why is it that I'm always getting in fights and nobody else is getting in fights at work? Everyone else gets along, but I'm just, it's just because they're all Catholics. They're not Baptists. No, that's not the reason why. The reason why you're getting in lots of fights is because of your own heart, okay? Because look, I worked with just plenty of unsaved people, you know, my job in Maryland, and I gave the Gospel to unsaved people, and you know what? I got along with them before and afterwards, right? You know, I'll give you an example of something. I remember I showed up to work one time, and you know, sometimes I post things about the Bible on Facebook, which I don't really do as much anymore, but I remember I posted some soul-winning story. Somebody got saved, and I was excited about it and everything. You know, I go to bed. I'm in a great mood. I'm like in a really exciting story. I wake up the next day, there's like 500 messages, this big argument, and it's just like people like yelling at everyone, because you know you've got friends on Facebook. Some are safe. Some aren't safe, and it's like the person that people were really rebuking was my coworker, and they were saying how you're going to go to hell, and I'm like, what in the world? So you know, I show up to work, you know, that morning. I'm right beside my boss, and that lady comes over, and she screams in my face about how you're so bad, and I didn't do anything. It's like good night, and it's like, and let me just say something. Hey, don't rail on other people on other people's Facebooks. You don't know who that person is. That could be their brother. That could be their sister, okay? That could be someone that they don't want to argue with online. It's like don't go and just rail on people you don't know on Facebook, okay? Because that could destroy the opportunity to preach the gospel. I mean, this lady disliked me for a very long time, but I'll say this. After a year later, I was always polite to this person, and she would always, you know, I'd open the door, and she used to be like really mad and everything like that. And you know, we have food and everything. Oh, ladies first. I was very respectful and polite, even though she obviously just didn't like me. But you know, honestly, about a year later, I remember her just changing her attitude towards me. Like she didn't like me anymore. Now, here's the thing. She was a member of the Church of Christ, where, not Church of Christ like, you know, that church, but Church of Christ in America where you have to get baptized in their water to go to heaven. I mean, every, you know, it's always like that with those churches. You've got to get baptized in our water to go to heaven. So she disliked the gospel of salvation by grace through faith. That's why she was mad, okay? But what I'm trying to say is this. You know what? If I was an angry person, and she's yelling at me in front of my boss, what do you think I would have done? I mean, I would have just gone to war with her, and that's a good way to get fired, okay? Hebrews 12, verse 15. Hebrews 12, verse 15. Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you. Notice how the Bible says root of bitterness, okay? Now think of a tree, right? You know, my old house in Sacramento, California, you know, we moved into our house, and there was an awesome tree that we really loved. It looked beautiful. We thought, we can read the Bible under this tree, and we can have a swing there for our son as he gets older and everything. It looked great and everything. But, you know, the branches grow very quickly, and they grow over the fence into somebody else's yard. So I would be up there like every month or so. I had a machete in my hand, and I was climbing the tree and just chopping off the branches, you know, with the machete and everything. But it's very easy to get rid of a branch. But try getting rid of the roots of that tree. See, the Bible says the root of bitterness. It's not saying something that's easy to get rid of. It's saying, think of a tree, and the roots are dug down there. Good luck taking a tree out of the ground, right? And see, if you're a bitter person, you know what, it's going to get down deep on the inside, and good luck fixing that problem. It's terrible. I mean, it's very hard when someone's a bitter person to get rid of that. And it says the root of bitterness, and what it says is springing up trouble you. See what the Bible's indicating is that if you are holding bitterness towards someone, it's going to be something that springs up from time to time and troubles you. When something on the outside takes place, you're going to get mad, and there's going to be a fight. There's going to be strife. Why? It's going to spring up every other week. You got to get rid of that root. You know, in life, people always try to get rid of the symptom, okay? It's like they have a headache all the time, and look, I'm not saying it's wrong to take, you know, a little medicine or whatever, but it's like you're getting rid of the symptom. You didn't get rid of the root of the problem. The reason why you have a headache every single day is you're not getting enough water, you don't have a good diet, you're not getting enough sleep. There's probably some other cause other than the fact that it's just random. You got to get to the root of the problem, okay? And this bitterness, if you hold it on the inside, it's going to cause a lot of strife and fights in your life. You must get to the root of that problem. Turn to 2 Samuel 6, 2 Samuel chapter 6, 2 Samuel 6. You know, what's interesting about bitterness is that sometimes you can have bitterness towards a specific person because of something they did, but you know, people that are really bitter towards somebody end up being mad at lots of different people because you can be bitter specifically towards one person, but you can be bitter in general where basically something happens and because of this, you're mad at everybody else who have nothing to do with this. So you notice what it says in 2 Samuel 6 verse 20, then David returned to bless his household and Michael the daughter of Saul 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 you know, David gets home and all of a sudden, you know, he's in a good mood, things are going well, and his wife is just immediately just trying to cause a fight, okay? Now look, we understand David was married to multiple women, which that probably going to cause a fight in a lot of marriages, okay? And so we understand that, but she's just immediately mad and the reason why is she is bitter towards him, right? Verse 21, and David said unto Michael, it was before the Lord, which chose me before thy father. And look, this is a very rude statement to make. King Saul is dead. That is Michael's father. And he's saying, you know what? I was chosen before your dad, who's dead now, okay? And before all his house to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel, therefore will I play before the Lord. Verse 22, and I will yet be more vile than thus. He's saying, hey, what you did was wrong. I'm going to do worse. I'm going to do it like twice as bad. I will be more vile than thus and will be base in mine own sight and of the maid servants, which thou has spoken of, of them shall I be had in honor. And so basically he's rubbing in the fact that he's married to other women saying, I'm going to have honor in front of other women in front of you, okay? Verse 23, therefore, Michael, the daughter of Saul had no child onto the day of her death. So verse 23 starts off with therefore, and the reason she had no children is because her and her husband were never actually together as husband and wife again, they never actually came together. This fight is the end of the marriage. Now I don't know with David whether he had multiple houses for each wife or how this works exactly, but this is basically the end of their marriage, okay? But here's my point. What was really the root cause of their marriage problems? Who was really to blame for it? King Saul, who separated David and Michael? King Saul. See, it started because of King Saul persecuting David. He's on the run for his life. She marries somebody, he marries, you know, several people. And it's like the real root of this wasn't even David's fault or Michael's fault. And they're holding bitterness toward each other and neither one was really responsible for that. See, sometimes in life you can be bitter and you're really upset at other people, but why are you really bitter? Are they the reason for it? Is it their fault? Or did just something else happen and you're choosing to be mad towards other people? Right? I mean, I've used the example before in this series about, you know, they always say like a husband, you know, he's at work, he gets yelled at by the boss. He comes home and he yells at the wife. The wife yells at the son. The son, you know, yells at his sister and then the sister kicks the dog and the dog attacks the cat, right? And that's the way we are in life. Something happens and it's not this person's fault and you unleash it on this person. It's like, Hey, it's not their fault. They didn't do that. It is not their fault. But you know, this is often what we do. Okay. Especially to our loved ones. Okay. Turn in your Bible. Actually, look at verse 16 verse 16 verse 16. You know, oftentimes we say things to people that we're close to that we would never say to a coworker or random stranger. Right? We say things to your wife or your husband or your kids that you would never say to another person. Just rude things. And there's a few reasons why. Number one is because you know that they kind of have to forgive you. Right? I mean, you're married to someone or you have kids. I mean, the forgiveness is going to end up happening so you can kind of unleash it and not think about it. The other thing is just this. If you are close to someone and they do something that you don't like or that's rude or mean or whatever, it kind of hurts a little bit more. But it's like, I mean, think about this. You know, the things that we say to people that were married to or our kids or brothers or sisters or something like that. Would you say that to somebody at work if they did the same thing? Probably not. Okay. That's what we see with David and Michael. Because, you know, David's respectful to everybody except his wife. And probably the same with his wife, Michael. Right? Notice what it says in verse 16. So two of the root causes of strife are anger and bitterness. But, you know, another one is hatred. Notice 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. Okay. So before we saw verse 20, where she's unleashing this attack on him with her words, it says she despised him in her heart. What does despise mean? It means to have great hatred. She really hated her husband. See, someone who's an angry person, if you look that up in the Bible, anger is something where you're just angry in general. Hatred is specific where you hate a specific person or a specific thing. So someone can be an angry person and they're going to get in a lot of fights. But if you have hatred towards a specific person, it's going to cause you to get in a lot of fights as well. Go to Proverbs 10. Proverbs 10. Proverbs chapter 10. I love this sermon series because this is a sermon series every one of us can apply to our lives. Right? I mean, a sermon where I'm preaching against the Jehovah's Witnesses, everyone screams Amen. It's like, Amen. We already agree with that. That's great, Brother Stuckey, but it doesn't step on anybody's toes. If it does step on your toes, well, I mean, you're at the wrong church, right? But a sermon series like this, this is something we all need to work on. You say, Why? Because we're not perfect. We're still sinners and we need to work on our character. Okay. Notice what it says in Proverbs 10 verse 11, the mouth of a righteous man is a well of life. Okay. That's a great phrase there. And you can certainly apply that to soul winning being a well of life. But you know, if you're a righteous person and you're a godly person, it's going to spring up life in a lot of different ways in terms of benefiting people's lives, being a person with a good personality and a happy person. But it says a righteous man is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked. Hatred stirs up strife. Someone who has hate towards other people, it stirs up fights. It stirs up problems, but love covers all sins. Go to Proverbs 26, Proverbs chapter 26, Proverbs 26. If you have extreme hatred towards somebody at church, quite honestly, you'll get in a lot of fights potentially with them, but you're going to get in fights with other people that are not them. You say, why? Because if so and so doesn't side with you in a situation, you're going to get in a fight with them. You're going to get in a fight with everybody that doesn't side with you because you hate somebody so much. Hatred stirs up strikes, the Bible says. Proverbs 26, verse 23, burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver drawers. Verse 24, he that hateth, dissembleth with his lips and layeth up deceit within him. The person who hates another person, according to the Bible, they are a liar. They are full of deceit. They are dishonest. If there's somebody who hates another person at church and you ask them, hey, do you hate brother so and so? No, no, I don't hate that person. Do you really think they're going to be honest with you? They're going to lie about it. A person who hates another person, what you're going to also find is they're going to be full of lies, dishonesty, deceit. You say, why? They're trying to cover the fact that they hate somebody. They're not going to be honest about it. Verse 25, when he speaketh fair, believe him not. What does speaking fair mean? Giving fair words, being a flatterer, saying nice things. The person who is over the top at flattery, that's a person you got to watch out for. Sometimes they're overcompensating. Someone who's just always giving these over the top compliments. It's always like, whoa, why are you saying, you are the greatest preacher in the entire world. It's like, wait a minute, red flag, right? It's like, why are you being over the top? Oftentimes because they're a dishonest person. They're full of hate. They're trying to hide it. It says, when he speaketh fair, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart. Do not be so foolish to always believe that people are telling you the truth. What it's saying in verse 25 is don't be Bobo. Do not believe a person just because he says something nice. You have to look at the actions. You can't just look at the words somebody says. Words can be meaningless. They can be fake. Look at the actions. I mean, isn't this true with political debates and presidents? You got these debates and both sides have very fair words. I mean, isn't that true? I always watch the political debates, both here in the Philippines and in the US, and you listen to Joe Biden and Donald Trump, they got a lot of fair words. I'm going to fix the economy. I'm going to bring everybody together and blah, blah, blah, we're going to make America great again. They have very fair words, but look at the actions. Look at the actions, and if the actions don't back up the words, then what's fake? The words are fake. Why? Love implies action in the Bible. For God so loved the world, what's the proof of that? That he gave his only begotten son. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Love implies action. Words can be meaningless. They can be fake. The Bible's saying don't just believe people because they say something nice. They could be lying to you. Verse 26, whose hatred is covered by deceit, by lies, whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be showed before the whole congregation. The Bible says if someone is a person full of hate and they are lying about it, they're dishonest, it's going to be showed before the entire congregation. Everyone's going to find out that they hate somebody. It's going to become very obvious. Look, if there's somebody at church that you say, man, this person's rude to me, and whatever you think about them, it's like, hey, you know what? If you're right about it, it's going to be showed before the whole congregation. People are going to find out about it. It's going to become obvious. You say, why? You cannot hide hate in your heart forever. You can hide hate in your heart for a little while, but you know what? Something on the outside is going to make it spring up, and it's going to become very obvious that, you know what, you're just a liar that's pretending that you don't hate that person. I mean, you say you love someone, but then look at the actions, and you're trying to cause all these problems in their life, okay, you're a liar. It's not real. It's fake. It's just words. Verse 27, who so diggeth a pit shall fall therein? And he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him. I mean, isn't this true? When someone's trying to get other people in trouble and dig a pit for them, I mean, dig a pit to basically throw them inside and make them look bad and bury them is the analogy given. It's like they're the ones that end up going on the inside. It's like you're making it a point to try to make other people look bad. You know what? The only one looking bad is you. You're the one who ends up looking bad. You cannot hide hate forever. It's going to come up. Think of Haman. Think of Haman and Mordecai. I mean, literally Haman digs a pit for Mordecai, and who falls therein? Haman. That's what takes place. Verse 28, a lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it, and a flattering mouth worketh ruin. So notice the person who is filled full of hate is also a flatterer. The same person that has very fair words is the same person that's full of hate. I mean, be very careful about someone who's always an over-the-top flatterer. They're always really nice. I mean, they buy gifts and all these nice things. Those are the people the Bible says watch out for. They could be fake. They could be phonies. Turn to Leviticus 19, Leviticus 19 in the Old Testament. If you are someone who gets in a lot of fights, you have a lot of strife with people, whether it's at home, whether it's at work, whether it's at church. What you need to do is look in the mirror at yourself and ask yourself, okay, what is it that I'm struggling with? It could be many of these things. I mean, if you're getting in fights all the time, it's probably a lot of these things. But you need to figure out what is it in my personality that's causing this? It is not always everybody else's fault. If you're always getting involved in fights, you're doing something wrong. Now, look, none of us are perfect. And whenever we get involved in fights, we need to all look inside at ourselves and ask ourselves honestly and not lie to ourselves and say, hey, what could I change about myself? Always improve from situations. Learn from things that have happened. But if it's happening all the time to you, you've got a problem and you have got to deal with that problem. It could be anger. It could be bitterness. It could be hatred. It could be one of the things we'll mention here in a second. But you've got a problem inside your own heart because not everybody else is getting in lots of fights when the same things happen. Leviticus 19 verse 17, Leviticus 19 verse 17. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart. Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor and not suffer sin upon him. Now, this is an interesting verse here in verse 17. And I don't have time for sake of the length of the sermon. But if you remember in the New Testament, it talks about when you have a problem with someone in a church setting, go to that person one on one and deal with it, right? That's what it's saying in Leviticus 19. So look, the same God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. Okay. And in Leviticus 19 verse 17, what it's saying is instead of hating your brother in your heart, rebuke that person. If something major takes place that you're really upset about that you cannot forgive, it is better to deal with it one on one and talk to them about it rather than just holding up hate in your heart. Because if you hold up hate in your heart, what's going to happen? Well, you're going to gossip about that person. You're going to be really mad at that person and mean to that person. If you cannot forgive, talk to them one on one and deal with it. Now look, if you come to me sometime and say, Brother Stuckey, so and so sat in my seat, or so and so jumped the line at lunch. You said ladies first and one of the guys, he got food before the ladies. I'll be like, you know what? Get over it. Right? It's like, please. It's like that is something very minor. Okay. But let's say somebody does something really wrong at church. Okay. You know, an example, and God bless Brother Jared Pozarski, because I wouldn't have been this forgiving. He talked about his old church in North Dakota, where somebody at church after the service was just kind of walked up into this group and he was like, man, he's like, I've got health problems. And he said, you know, I've got this major thing and I need to get it checked out and everything. Like, Oh, when are you checking out? He's like, Oh, I don't have the money for it and everything. Yeah, Brother Jared is a very kind hearted person. He felt bad. And he actually, you know, gave that person the money to so he could get it checked out to go to the doctors. I mean, a lot of money. And then all of a sudden he asked him the next church service, Hey, how did it go? He's like, Oh, you know, it turned out to be nothing. It's like, well, you have my money, right? And it's just like, he just kind of, the guy just kept the money. And it's like, you know, it was like, it was a lot of money. And it's like, now me, I'd be like, okay, that's going to be dealt with. Right? I mean, he was more forgiving than I would be. But here's the thing, if he wasn't able to forgive, it would have been better for him to just go to him one on one and say, Hey, you owe me money, right? Now he's very long suffering and forgave the person, but I want you to realize sometimes things happen in church. Let's say a fight takes place. Let's say that there's kids at church that get into a fight or something, and then the parents are upset at each other. And you're holding hatred because, you know, little Johnny stepped on, you know, so and so's hand or whatever, and your son was crying and everything. Hey, it's better to talk to that parent one on one and deal with it, rather than holding hatred towards those people in your heart. Okay. That's definitely better than rebuking the child, which is often what people do. Parents will, like, yell at a little two year old. It's like, no, talk to the parent one on one like mature adults. Okay, now turn in your Bible. Actually look at verse verse 18 thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. So if somebody does you wrong, don't have this attitude. I'm going to avenge it. He did this to me. I'm going to be more vile than us. Like David said. No. If God sees fit that somebody's done something so wrong that he has to step in, then allow God to do that. Okay. You don't personally avenge. The Bible says, okay, now turn in your Bible. Look at verse 16 verse 16 point number one we had was anger point to bitterness point three hatred and point four, which is associated in this chapter as well is gossip. Someone who is a gossiper on the inside is going to stir up a lot of strife. Leviticus 19 verse 16 thou shalt not go up and down as a tail bearer among my people. Neither shalt thou stand against the blood of the neighbor. I am the Lord. The Bible speaks about going up and down as a tail bearer. Okay. You say, what does that mean? It means basically going house to house, just gossiping. I heard so and so did this the other day. I heard they were listening to rock music. I heard that they yelled at their wife. I heard this happened, right? And you're just going from person to person to spread this rumor. Spread this story. You're just telling tales. Okay. Now in today's world, this is a lot more dangerous. You say why? Because back then you had to put in effort to be a gossip. You had to go from, at least, I mean, you're getting exercise, you're going door to door and it's like, I can't make the Saturday soul winning this week and then you're going door to door just, you know, telling tales. You had to put in effort to be a gossip. Now all you need to do is pull out that cell phone group message to 40 people and you cause major problems. It's a lot more dangerous in today's world and the Bible says, you know, thou shalt not go up and down as a tail bearer, just spreading gossip and if you do, it's going to cause a lot of strife. It's going to cause a lot of fights. Let's go to Proverbs 10, Proverbs 10, Proverbs 10. Now you know the worst, the worst is when people are gossips and they spread stories and stuff like that and they turn out not to be true and they never correct their wrong. That is wicked. I mean, if you spread a story about someone and you spread a gossip and it turns out to be wrong, you better correct that. I mean, if I found out somebody did that at a church that said a rumor and it turned out to be completely false, you know what, that's going to make me mad. Why? You better correct that thing. You've caused problems and you know, people are going to assume it's true. You make an accusation like, you know, oh, so and so believes this false doctrine turns out to be false. You better tell every single person that you were wrong and you were gossiping rather than allowing people to believe a rumor that's not even true about someone and this takes place. People that are gossips, they run off their mouth, but they never correct it when they do wrong. Isn't that true? They say things and it turns out to be 85% true. You know, 85% true is 100% false. I mean, why don't you, why don't you have the proper context on what you said? When you say something that turns out to be false, you better correct that. And what I found is people that are gossips, they say things all the time and it's no big deal to them. And what ends up happening? Well, you gossip to someone, most likely that's going to be gossiped around and then everybody at the church believes somebody believes this false doctrine. Hey, you know, brother so and so at church, like he doesn't believe that Jesus is God and brother Stuckey is okay with it. It's like, that's the sort of rumors that get passed around. As far as I know, we've never dealt with that, but, but let me just say that's the sort of stuff because once a rumor gets passed around, it always gets changed 5% each time. I mean, isn't that true? I mean, don't, don't they play this game in the Philippines where you have all these people, one person talks to one person and then at the end you find out and it's like nowhere close to what it originally was. That's the way rumors are. You know, you spread rumors about someone, you say something and it's like, yeah, so and so did something or, I mean, it was this person or this person. One of these two people does not believe Jesus is God. And then all of a sudden it gets passed around and you have no idea what the end of the rumor is going to be. But it's like people that are gossips, they spread stuff and they never put out that fire. That's wicked. And look, it's wicked to gossip in general, but if you gossip and it turns out to be false, you better correct that. Okay. Proverbs, what are we? Proverbs 10. Is that where we're at? Proverbs 10. Proverbs 10 verse 18. Verse 18. He that hideth hatred with lying lips, notice, and he that uttereth a slander is a fool. We talked about the person who's filled full of hatred, who's a liar. It also talks about uttering a slander. Okay. And people that are gossips, they will just say slanderous things about people. They'll just spread false rumors, turn out to be false, and they have no intentions to try to do anything good. Right? Pastor man has always asked, you know, is it kind, you know, is it necessary? Does it involve you? And if not, why are you getting involved in it? Okay. Go to Proverbs 26. Proverbs chapter 26. Proverbs chapter 26. Proverbs chapter 26 verse 17. Proverbs 26 verse 17. He that passeth by and meddleth with strife belonging not to him is like once that taketh a dog by the ears. And the Bible is saying he that passeth by and meddleth with strife. What it's saying is basically you're walking by and two people are involved in a fight and you're kind of passing by and you're like, oh man, I want to get involved in this situation. I mean, you find it exciting. There's something wrong with you if whenever sometimes there's problems, it's like, oh, this is great. Man, so and so got kicked out of church. This is awesome. It's like, what is wrong with you, right? He that passeth by and meddleth with strife and you're just like, man, you see a fight. You're like, I want to join myself into that. And you get involved in that fight. Okay. And the Bible says you're like taking a dog by the ears. Try doing that. Take a dog by the ears. Okay. See what happens. Verse 18 as a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows and death. Okay. Now verse 18 it says as a mad man in the Bible, mad is not saying someone who's like the opposite of of happy. It's not the opposite. A mad means crazy, like the mad hatter. So when you look up mad in the Bible, you're talking about someone who's crazy when it's saying as a mad man who verse 18 who casteth firebrands, arrows and death, imagine somebody who's crazy. You know, sometimes you see people along the side of the road or whatever that are just insane. They're just out of their mind. Okay. And the Bible is saying, imagine a crazy person that has arrows in their hand or a weapon. Give a loaded gun to someone who's insane. Basically what it's saying is you have no idea where those bullets are going to go. I mean, go, go to the feast of the black. Don't go to the feast of the black Nazarene, but go to the feast of the black Nazarene and give a crazy person a loaded weapon and you have no idea who's going to get shot. That's what is the example as a crazy person who has a weapon, you have no idea what's going to happen. That is what you are as a gossip. You are throwing arrows out there and you have no idea who's going to get wounded with it. You have no idea whose feelings are going to hurt and you don't care. You're like a crazy person who's just every direction, just all these rumors, you're just throwing them out and you know what, sometimes you're going to hit the target and it's going to hurt. Okay. When you're a kid, they tell you sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt me. Now, I think that is a good attitude to try to take if somebody says something wrong to you, but don't take that attitude and say, well, I can just say whatever I want to someone, right? Because it's not a stone. No, actually words hurt a lot more according to the Bible. I would rather you just threw a stone at me. Just hit me in the head with a stone rather than say malicious words. You say, why? Because a stone is just on the outside, but according to the Bible, words hit the inside. Notice what it says, verse 19, so is the man that deceiveth his neighbor and sayeth him not I in sport where no wood is there the fire go without. So where there is no tail bearer, the strife ceaseth. The fight will go away if there is no wood to spread the fire. You say, Brother Stuckey, man, there's this fight at church. You know, here's what you do. Tell the people to deal with it one on one. Talk to Brother Stuckey about it. Don't spread it to other people. All it's going to do is make it worse. That's all you're doing. If there is no wood, the strife is gone. The problem's resolved. Okay. Don't spread gossip and make it a much worse situation than it needs to be. Verse 21, as coals are to burning coals and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. The words of a tail bearer are as wounds, and they go down in the innermost parts of the valley. See, here it says, as I mentioned, the words of a tail bearer, a gossip, they are like wounds. They hit the inside. See, if you hit somebody with a rock or something, it only hits the outside. I mean, if you hit me in the face with a rock, yeah, I'll bleed a little, that's it. But when you put words out there, they go on the inside, okay, and a wound is something that does not recover quickly. Do you understand the difference? I mean, if you get a scratch on your body, it's gone in a week. Right? I mean, you get a paper cut or whatever, you rub your, you get some sort of cut, it's going to be gone in a week. But see, words can hit the inside, and it can cause somebody to have a root of bitterness that is going to spring up from time to time, and you know what, they might not recover from that. So I was saying the words are more dangerous than the actual weapon, okay? They hit the inside. Turn to Romans 13, Romans 13, Romans 13, Romans chapter 13, and look, there are people that live off gossip. That is their excitement. I mean, isn't that true? They are just excited about every little thing. Every bit of gossip, they eat it up, they're like, this is great. They want to know everybody's juicy details. Everything happening in their life and everything like that, I mean, everything, and you know, some people, they take it outside of church. They don't just want to know everything that's happening with this church. They want to know everything happening in the new IFB. It's like, I mean, there is someone I know who, it's like he would always have the inside details, not at our church, you know, somewhere else, always had the inside details about everything. I mean, if somebody got kicked out of church, he knew it. Do you hear so and so got kicked out of church? I don't know who so and so is. It's like, what church are you talking about? I don't even know that church. I mean, but they knew every single details, and it's like, you know what? Why don't you just worry about your own lives? Don't be someone who lives off of gossip. Don't be someone who just your excitement is life is just every bit of gossip. You want to know those juicy details. There's something wrong with you. You need to fix that, and you're going to be filled full of strife. I used to think this was something that ladies primarily had a problem with, but honestly, I've changed my opinion about that, because I've seen it as something that guys also really struggle with. It's like, honestly, I believe that's something that both guys and girls, it's like you see them struggling with, and it's like, you know, it's a major problem. It's going to cause a lot of fights. So point number one is anger. Point two, bitterness. Point three, hatred. Point four, gossip. And point five, envy. You say envy. I thought we just talked about envy. What I believe in First Corinthians as it talks about envy, strife, and divisions that these are progressive things. The strife, the fight is like the main event. It's the climax. This is why this series is not church fights, because strife is one third of the equation. The envy is a major root cause in earlier stage that leads to strife. And when strife happens, all of a sudden you have divisions at church. You have separations at church. So envy is a root cause of strife, and strife is a root cause of divisions. You've been to those churches that are divided, aren't you? You've been to churches where half the people believe in repentance of sins for salvation, and half the people believe salvation by grace through faith. You've been to churches where there's the soul winners and the people that hate the soul winners, that are mad people are getting saved. You're not meant to have that division in a church. You're meant to have unity. Now at our church, there will never be a problem with division on doctrine. You say, why? Because I'm very clear about what we believe, and look, people are welcome to be at our church as long as they're not spreading false doctrine, but it's like it is never welcome to spread false doctrine at our church. If we ever had a problem where there's people that believe something else, it's like, okay, you can get with the program or get out, because we believe in the Trinity around here. We believe in eternal security. We're against Calvinism. We have unity in what we believe, but no matter what the church is, you will have church problems from time to time. We cannot allow strife to take place, because once it gets to that stage, divisions will take place, and then we are not a body. A body must be connected. A body must be unified, and if there's lots of strife and it causes division, bye-bye unity. I would rather this church had 50 people that were unified than 300 people that weren't. I would rather our church is unified no matter how many people they are, and we love God, we love God's word, we love soul winning, and we care about one another, and we have fellowship with one another, rather than having a big church with all kinds of fights and problems and divisions. We need to be unified as a church. Romans 13, verse 13, let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, notice, not in strife and envying. See in Romans 13, verse 13, what you see is this, strife and envy are very commonly connected together. Philippians 1, Philippians chapter 1, Philippians 1, Philippians 1, verse 15, Philippians chapter 1, verse 15, some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. So notice in Philippians 1, verse 15, what are you seeing? You're seeing envy and strife connected together. Envy and strife are often connected together. You say why? Envy is a major, major root cause of strife. That's why it mentions that in 1 Corinthians, because envy will cause strife. Go to James 3, we'll close up here, James chapter 3, James 3, James chapter 3. I mean, even in situations, because obviously when it comes to a church and what we believe, many of you have family members that just don't agree with you. And look, by all means, preach the gospel to them and everything like that, but you know, I know a lot of people that just, and I understand sometimes separation is necessary and sometimes there's just too big of differences. I get that. But then there's some people that, you know, it's not just because of what they believe that caused that separation. It's because of their attitude with how they present it. I have family members that do not believe what I believe, but they don't hate me because I'm not rude to them. Now, obviously we must stand up for what we believe. We shouldn't back down from what we believe, especially about salvation. But you know what? If everybody in your family, every single person hates you, you know what? There's a good chance it's not just because of what you believe. It's also probably because of the way you're acting. If every coworker dislikes you, it's not because they believe a different gospel. It's because of your attitude. Right now, look, we understand there's the reprobates of this world and yeah, you know what? They're not going to like us, but just the average unsaved person, like why would they dislike you? I mean, everywhere you go, everybody at the gym, everybody at the gym hates you. It's like, it's not just because of what you believe, okay? It's because of the attitude. Everybody you play basketball with hates you. You're doing something wrong, okay? It's something wrong with your personality. You can't say when you get in all these fights, it's always what's happening on the outside. No, because other people deal with the same stuff on the outside and they don't have the same fights. It's something on the inside. The proof is in the pudding. James 3 verse 13. James 3 verse 13. Who is a wise man and a dude with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. Yeah, verse 13 is a very interesting verse because it says, you know what? Who is a wise man? Who actually has wisdom? If you have wisdom, you will show out of a good conversation your works with meekness of wisdom. Now realize, conversation in the Bible is not referring to usappan. It's referring to pamumuhay, your lifestyle, what you do, not just the words, but also your lifestyle, because let him show out of a good conversation his works. That's not the words, it's the actions, okay? So the Bible's saying if you really have wisdom, if you really know the Bible so well and you're such an expert, you know what? Show it through your actions. Actions speak louder than words, my friend. And if you're someone who says, I've got all this knowledge and wisdom, but you're obnoxious, you know what? You don't have wisdom. Because it says, with meekness of wisdom. Is there a time to rebuke people? Absolutely. But not usually. And here's the thing. I preach some pretty rough sermons sometimes. But do you ever see me go outside the pulpit and just yell at people for the way they're dressed or what they're listening to or what? I don't act that way. I see some picture on Facebook I don't like and I just start yelling, no, I don't do that. Now look, when you preach behind the pulpit, you preach all of the Bible. And the way God has set up his system, I can preach everything the Bible says and I'm not specifically highlighting anyone, so you ought to be able to take that and not get super offended. If I individually went to someone and said, hey, point number two was because of you. That's the reason why I added that point. You know what? Yeah, you're being a jerk. That's not wisdom. I mean, you might have read the Bible 100 times, but you know what? You got a lot of knowledge with very little wisdom, very little character. Okay, look, if you're getting in fights all the time, you're the problem. It says in verse 14, but if you have bitter envy and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not against the truth. Look, the Bible says over and over again through this sermon, if you're filled full of strife, you're a fool. If you've got problems with these things, you're a fool. Here's the thing. If you've heard a whole sermon on this topic and you know you're guilty of at least one of these points and you just reject it and you lie against the truth, you lie to yourself because you just don't want to change, you know what? You're a fool. I mean, if you've got a problem, if you're an angry person, fix it. You are a fool to hear the word of God and do nothing about it. In a way, a church is like a hospital. People come in here and they've got all kinds of problems. I've got all kinds of problems. When I preach sermons like this, I'm not saying, hey, I'm perfect. I never do anything wrong. No, I'm a sinner saved by grace that struggles with these things as well. This sort of sermon is something I need to hear all the time because you know what? I struggle with these things. I'm willing to admit sometimes I struggle with anger. I'm willing to admit sometimes I struggle with bitterness. Be honest with yourself. Make the changes. And look, if you have a major fight, look at the situation and do an introspective look at yourself, not at the other people, and say, what do I need to change? Maybe they did this, this, and this, but what did you do wrong? Make the changes. And if you don't, you're a fool. God says lie not against the truth. What does that mean? Because when the truth is put right in front of you, here's the evidence and you just deny it all. You're a fool. I mean, the Bible said the heart knoweth his own bitterness. Look, on the inside, if you know it's true, quit lying about it. The only way you're going to fix the problem is if you deal with it. And you must realize that strife is coming primarily from the inside. So here's the thing. If you walk away, if you're filled full of strife and you walk away from this sermon and make no changes, what change is going to happen in your life if you don't change the inside? Nothing. The same exact thing will happen over and over, and you're always going to blame everybody else. It's always everybody else's fault. Why are you getting? No, it's your fault. It's on the inside. Verse 15, this wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. What are our five points today? Number one, anger. Anger causes strife. I think that's obvious. Okay, bitterness causes strife. If you are bitter towards someone or bitter in general, it's going to cause strife, hatred. If you have hatred towards someone, you will have strife and not just towards the person you hate, but it's going to bubble over to everybody. If you are filled full of gossip, you just love to hear every juicy detail. You like to know all the problems with everybody else because it makes you feel better. Your life is so messed up that when you hear somebody else has a problem, man, this is awesome. This makes me a little bit better. It's like, why don't you worry about yourself? And then envy, envy will cause strife, which eventually leads to divisions at church. Fix your heart. Let us all fix our own hearts. Let's close in the word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see your word on this topic of strife and help us to be a church that is always unified, that we care for one another, that we love for one another. That we have love for one another, God, that we're just trying to grow together and making the changes. And obviously all of us will have strife from time to time. Help us to learn from our mistakes. Help us to make the changes, God, and help us to strive to be better people each and every week. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.