(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

C.J. and Justin, glad Anthony hasn't quit yet, you guys haven't gotten rid of him. We just got to get him saved now. No, but seriously though, I do thank everybody for the hospitality. Pastor, I thank you for the opportunity to preach. It's always a blessing, it's always great. So yeah, Matthew chapter 22, there's a ton of information packed in this chapter, a great chapter, especially dealing with a subject that I'm going to be dealing with this evening. So if you look down there at verse number 22, it's going to explain the goal that I have for this sermon for you and the subject as well. So Matthew chapter 22, look at verse number 22, it says, when they had heard these words, they marveled and left him and went their way. So Jesus just gets done being challenged by the Pharisees and he completely destroys them and it says they marveled and went away. That's the goal, right? When we're challenged in our lives with an argument or some kind of a dispute or somebody comes up and wants to just get under your skin, especially while we're doing the work of the kingdom, while we're soul winning, while we're doing good works for the kingdom, we need to respond in the right way. And that's what this sermon is about. And the title of my sermon is how to not eat your own words, how to not eat your own words. And like I said, this is a sermon designed to teach you how to win disputes, arguments and things of that nature. And we'll get into the whole debating debacle here momentarily. The title is how to not eat your own words. And this isn't directed at anybody in here from anything I've seen. It's just something that's been on my heart for a long time. And I think it's something that's very important that we need to do. And like I said, the reason for this sermon here, you'll find in verse 15, if you look down to verse number 15, it says, then went the Pharisees and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. Now let that sink in. It says that the Pharisees went and sought counsel, how they might entangle him in his talk. Now these people aren't interested in truth, right? They don't care about the truth. You're not going to win somebody like this over to the Lord, right? So we have to deal with these types of people a little bit differently than we do when we're at the door, when we have a visitor at church, when we're trying to give a family member the gospel, right? There's a right way to do things, and then there's a wrong way to do things. And we're going to learn about that tonight. It says they went to seek counsel to entangle him. And that's what people are doing to us today, right? I mean, the more influential that we get, the more doors we knock, the more works that we do, the more enemies we're going to get. And we've got to be able to stop these people in their tracks. And the Bible has the answers. The Bible has the remedy. It has the formula that we need to follow in order to effectively do that. And we are going to take a look at that tonight. I mean, just think about this. If you want to take on a dispensationalist, right? You want to get into a confrontation with him. You've got to remember, that's what he's about. That's his whole hobby horse. That's what all their sermons are about. That's what they spend all their time researching. You're really at a disadvantage when they come at you, aren't you? Same thing with the Calvinist. The same thing with these oneness Pentecostal Baptist idiots. It's the same thing. That's their hobby horse. That's what they're good at. You see, we have the responsibility to preach the whole counsel of God. So that kind of puts us at a disadvantage. It does, right? I mean, we have to be experts at everything. We have to study to show ourselves the proof into all things. And this is a big book, and there's a lot of information in there. So, but don't worry. There's a right way, like I said, to do this. And there's a formula. And we're going to take a look at that. So it says, then went the Pharisees and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. Now, keep your place there because we are going to use Matthew chapter 22 throughout this sermon. But go with me to Psalm chapter 140. Psalm chapter 140, because we want to take a look at the mindset of these types of people. The type of people, I mean, think about these Pharisees. I mean, they've already had several encounters with Jesus. They've already tried to discredit him on several occasions. They couldn't do it. So they go and seek counsel, and they still get destroyed. But there's something with people like that. You know, they just, they're reprobates. They just won't quit. They just won't stop. You could stop them, and they're going to come back tomorrow. Well, have you heard about this? You know, it's ridiculous. So Psalm chapter 140, and keep something there because we're going to come back to the Proverbs and the Psalms quite a few times. And also Acts, but we'll get there. All right, Psalm chapter 140, look, verse number one. It says, deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man. Preserve me from the violent man. And that's a good prayer that we should all have. Verse two, which imagine mischiefs in their heart. Continually are they gathered together for war. That teaches you about their mindset, about their way of thinking, their way of life. Now look at verse three. This is very, very important. It says, they have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. Adder's poison is under their lips, selah. So he's saying, hey, think about this. These people have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. They purposely set out and carefully and methodically think of ways to entangle us in the way we do business and the way we talk. I mean, you see it all the time and we're going to take a look at several examples tonight of that. But that's what they do. These people are snakes. They're crafty. They they're crafty in a way because they don't, you know, they don't have any kind of truth. Right. And I'm getting ahead of myself, but being crafty without truth is being manipulative. We'll see that. So look at verse four. It says, keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked. Preserve me from the violent man who have purposed to overthrow my goings. So what have we learned so far? These people imagine mischiefs in their heart. They want to hurt us. They want to hurt all of you. And they're not going to stop until they get their victories. And then when they do get the victories, it's all over the Internet, right? You know, look, I beat you, I stomped you, debate me, debate me, come on, let's go. You know, and that's what we want to minimize. That's what we want to stop. You know, so they imagine this mischief in their heart. They've sharpened their tongues like a serpent. They go home at night and they think very carefully, what can I do? You know, they watch the sermons, right, over and over again. And then, oh, I got you. I'm going to say this to them and see how it goes. Oh, I'm going to say this. And then, of course, when they can't, what do they do? They start name calling, right? Start name calling or just outright lies, right? And they'll just start outright lying about everything. Oh, you don't believe in repentance. You don't believe, you don't believe that it's faith alone when we do. You know, they'll say something like that just to frustrate you. And it's annoying. But like I said, there's a way that we can deal with this. Look at verse five. It says, the proud have hit a snare for me and chords. They have spread a net by the wayside. They have set gins for me. Now, jump down to verse number 11 for sake of time. It says, let not an evil speaker be established in the earth. Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him. Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth. And we should have that same goal. We should have that same prayer. Let's not let these evil people speak and try to destroy us. You know, let's make sure that wherever the fight is, whether it's on social media, on YouTube, right outside our front door, you know, that we have the tools that we need to effectively destroy these people the same way that Jesus did. And so the reason for this is simple. And I've already said it. The bigger works we do, the more opposition that we're going to get. If I was the devil, I would come after this movement. I would come after churches like this. I mean, it's simple. And you see it every day. You see it every single day. And there's no shortage of people today that are out there, you know, trying to discredit us and the things that we do. Now, why is it? Why do people want to make us look stupid? What's the whole point? You ever notice these people aren't going to show up at your house at seven o'clock at night when it's just you and them? They don't do that, right? They don't come to you one on one. No, they want the people that are hanging in the balances. Turn to Acts chapter 19. Acts chapter 19. Like I said, make sure you can get back to the Psalms quickly. But go to Acts chapter 19. Acts chapter 19. We're going to take a look at this passage here in Acts from a few different angles tonight. Well, see, look down at verse number eight. Acts chapter 19, verse number eight. It says, Now, just stop there for a second. Look, read verse nine again. It says, Here comes Uncle Atheist, right? You know, here comes, oh, man wrote that book. Explain that. Now you got to stop what you're doing and you got to deal with this idiot, right? You know, you're not going to get that guy saved. He's a devil. Anybody that would try and stop somebody from getting saved like that is a devil. You're not going to win him over. But you do have to deal with him. Why? Because those people that you're talking to, they are hanging in the balance. They're looking at you to see what you're going to do. You know, how are you going to handle this? Right? That's why people make videos against us. It's not because they're trying to change our opinion. Do you think Ray Comfort wants to convert us? No, he doesn't. He's after the people that are hanging in the balances. He's after the people that haven't made up their minds yet. That's the whole goal. And that's why we have to be very, very careful at how we respond to challenges. I could, you know, an example in my life, I was soul winning in Japan one time and I was getting this lady. She was really interested. She didn't get saved. But I was maybe halfway through the gospel. And these two guys, these two idiots come right up to me. So I'm standing like this. You know, I got the Bible out and I'm talking to her. So I'm standing here like this. I'm talking to her. And they cut right in front of me and her, right? And they just stand there and they look at me like this. So I move out of the way, you know? And they're like, oh, OK, was that too close? You know, my face is getting beat red. And I wasn't as mature as I am now. But I'm sure you understand what I'm talking about. But I'm like, OK, I got to get through this. I've got to finish this. And they're just not saying anything. They're just staring at me. They're just looking at me. And then finally they're like, man wrote the Bible. I'm like, oh, here we go. You know, here we go. Man wrote the Bible. And then they start, you know, just chirping with things like that. And I'm still preaching to her. And it's becoming such a distraction. She's not able to listen anymore. But thankfully, another member of the church who was a very high ranking Naval person came over and recognized these two guys that they were in the Navy. And he went over there and just tore them apart. But you know what? I had to go back home and think, like, what would I have done if that guy didn't stop that? What would I have said? Because honestly, what I was thinking about doing probably would have got me a plane ticket home. So I was mad, very upset. And that's what we need to do. We need to be able to take these situations like that and think, what am I going to do to actually turn this into a positive situation, is what I'm trying to say. So this sermon is going to help you if you get ambushed like that. Or say you get put on the spot and the news wants to interview you. I mean, it could happen. Some of you that want to go into ministry, you may have that happen to you someday. When the whole protest thing happened down in Sacramento, I remember this news crew was a lady and a guy that just popped out from behind my truck. And they're like, hey, what say thou? Answer, oh, you got your kids here? And all of a sudden, they're going to put whatever I say on the media, whether I say it's OK or not. So now I have to answer to that, right? I have to think quick and fast. And that could happen to you. And so it's important that we have a game plan on what we're going to say, how we ought to answer every man. So oh, by the way, if you ever want a really good example of this being played out, I think this is the best interview I've ever seen. It's Pastor Anderson's live interview that he did on that Channel 12 news. I mean, he tears this guy apart. He tears that news anchor apart. I mean, if you get a chance, go home and go on YouTube and watch it. And actually, do me a favor. Go type in Kirk Cameron on Piers Morgan about the sodomite issue. And then just look at the different popular pastors. Look at how he handles the questions. Look at how Joel Osteen handles them. And then watch how John Hagee answers them. And all these other idiots. And then watch that one. And it's like, wow, so you get to see what not to do and then what to do. And people aren't really begging and chomping at the bit to interview Pastor Anderson today on the news. So I just wanted to get that out there. That is this sermon. He handled that perfectly. And so in this sermon, what I want to do is I want to show you how to control conversations. Because if someone's going to come at us, we need to be in control of that situation very quickly. We can't let them bully us. Because then we lost. Those people that are hanging in the balances are going to see that weakness. We're not going to be able to persuade them. We're not going to be able to continue on with the mission. And we need to dominate them. We need to get them to leave, just like the Lord Jesus Christ did. And so I have kind of a longer introduction tonight. And I got quite a few points. But I think they'll go pretty quick. And I just want to say as a disclaimer, if you really pay attention to this information, you could see how you could use it in other areas of your life, which isn't bad. You can use this stuff at work. So I would say to you guys, you better pay attention. Because if your wife gets a hold of this stuff and decides to use it, you're going to be in a world of hurt. She's going to wind up owning you. And some of you ladies out there, I'm looking at you. You know this is true. So I just thought that was it. So I want to address something here just right off the bat. And that's common misconceptions that are taught regarding the words debate and dispute. In our modern vernacular, we tend to interchange the words debate and dispute. We don't really give it much thought. I mean, how many times have you heard somebody say, oh, debate me, Stevie. Debate me, debate me, debate me. Some of you know who I'm talking about. They get on Facebook, they get on YouTube. Debate me, debate me, debate me, Stevie. You say, hey, that's an attribute of being a reprobate, somebody who's full of debate. And we're going to take a look at that. And they'll say, well, Paul and the disciples, they were disputing, common misconception. Or I've heard this. And as I was preparing for the sermon, I was looking up examples of people, these liberals, what they teach about debating and disputing. And they interchange the words, and they go back to the Greek. A lot of old IFPs, they'll do the same thing. They'll go back to the Greek, and they'll say it's the same Greek word. I don't speak Greek. I have no clue. But I did look it up in the Greek on Esau, because you know Pastor Mendez teaches you how to do that. It can be profitable to rebuke people sometimes. Like if you can take a look at a word like debate and dispute, you can actually look it up on Esau, what the Greek word would be. And it is a different word. And that's basically where I'm going to stop. It is a different word. So if somebody tells you, no, no, it's the same word, they interchange it. No, God put dispute where dispute belongs, and he put the word debate where debate belongs. And we'll take a look at that. Because if you look up the word dispute in the dictionary, it says to engage in argument or debate. See, it's the same thing as debate. That's what the dictionary.com definition is. But the question I have, is that true? Is that really the truth? If you're in Acts, look down at verse number, we'll read the whole thing again. Look at verse 8. It says, and he went into the synagogue and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when diverse were hardened and believed not, but spake evil that way, before the multitude, he departed from them and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one, Tyrannus. And look at verse 10. And this continued by the space of two years, so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. Now keep that thought and keep your finger there, but go over to Romans chapter 1 real quick. Just go to the right in your Bible, go to Romans chapter 1 real fast. Romans chapter 1. So we saw two examples of the word dispute in the Bible. Two examples of the word dispute in the Bible, right? And there was positive things around that. I mean, verse 10 said, and this continued by the space of two years. So this disputing continued to go, right? And it says, so that they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord. So that's a good thing. There's some positive things coming out of this type of disputing, right? So keep that in mind and look at Romans chapter 1. Look at verse number 29. It says being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, malicious, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity and whispers. I mean, does that, there's the word debate. Does that sound like what's going on in Acts chapter 19? No, it doesn't, does it? That's some pretty serious stuff there in Romans chapter 1. That's some pretty grievous things. So what I'm saying is the word dispute is not the same in the Bible as the word debate. And it's something that we need to understand when we get called out on this. Now, the definition of the word debate, the modern definition, if you will, says a discussion of a public question in an assembly involving opposing viewpoints, right? So when you hear the word of debate, what comes to your mind? Usually two guys, one guy sitting over here, one guy sitting over here, and then you got a moderator. Okay, you got five minutes, you got five minutes. You, what do you say? You're not in control of that situation, by the way. That's why it's stupid to debate. I'm not gonna go on TV and sit down and debate some idiot dispensationals. It's not profitable. Because that moderator, he's the one in control. I'm not in control, right? He tells me when I can speak, how long I can speak for. And there are people that are very crafty that can make you look stupid, even though they're wrong, right? And that's another point that we need to understand. So we saw in Romans chapter 1, verse 29, a perfect example of debate. It doesn't sound like something you wanna be full of. It sounds like an attribute of a queer. Not something that's good. Not something that's good. You don't have to turn there, I'll just read you another example of the word debate. Second Corinthians chapter 12, verse 20 says, for I fear, lest when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as you would not. Lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbiting, whisperings, swellings, and tumult. So when you see the word debate in the Bible, it's always negative. And you're gonna find that word strife oftentimes. Here's another example. You don't have to turn there, I'm just gonna read this one for you. Isaiah 58 four says, behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness, ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. So there's another example of the word debate associated with strife. So in Second Corinthians, Paul's saying, hey, we shouldn't be fighting each other. We should all be of one accord. We shouldn't be debating each other, it's not healthy. Now, can we dispute amongst ourselves over a passage? Sure, that's fine. We can reason with each other, but we're not supposed to debate. So debate in the Bible and dispute are different. I had a whole lot more that I wanted to get into, but it's just gonna take me way too much time and I'm not gonna get through all this. So the result is this, disputing in the Bible is different from debating. It is, it's different. When we're disputing with people, in the biblical sense, we're reasoning with them. And we oughta stay away from these challenges to come debate. Oh, come down to my church and debate me in front of my congregation. Can I preach a sermon to them and then you can do whatever you want? I'll do that. But no, I'm not gonna sit there and debate somebody. Like I said, we have got to be in control. So you're there in Romans. You can go back to Acts chapter 19. So moving on, some things you're gonna need to succeed in this are number one, you're gonna need an honest self-assessment of your knowledge and your current ability. Everybody in here is on a different level. Nobody in here is exactly the same. Some people, believe it or not, they're just natural at this stuff. They're just quick thinkers and they're able to just roast people naturally. Some of us aren't that way. We have to work at it. We have to be taught these things. But the reason why I'm saying this is because it's not enough to be familiar with a topic to defend it. You have to know it. You gotta know it. You don't have to memorize every verse in the Bible, but you ought to know where to go. Do you know what Romans chapter four is about? Do you know what Matthew 24 is about? Do you know what Matthew 22 is about? You see what I'm saying? Do you know what Revelation 14 is about? Do you know what Revelation seven is about? You gotta be able to make those decisions and where to go because that's crucial because you are gonna have to fire back with truth. And so you need to be not just familiar, but you have got to know the truth. You gotta be able to rattle it off without too much fumbling around. I mean, think about it. Here's an example for the ladies that cook a lot. If you're just familiar with a recipe and you're gonna make something, I'm willing to bet that you're gonna pay very close attention to that recipe list as opposed to just winging it because you're just familiar with it. You don't have it down yet. You're gonna follow that recipe. Okay, step one, step two, three, and so on and so forth. You know, it's the same thing with guys at work. You know, if you're not familiar with it or if you're not really, how do you say it? Really well versed with a task that your boss has given you. Like maybe it's something new that you've only done one or two times. You're probably gonna be very careful how you do that because you don't know it. You don't actually know it without being told or without having to ask questions. See, so we've got to know the truth, not just be familiar with it, and that's a mistake that a lot of people make. You know, they stumble under the truth. They say, okay, I got it. I know, you know, I know it's post-trib. Hey man, I watched all these sermons. Now I'm gonna go roast people. It doesn't quite work like that. Yeah, you might have some small victories here and there, but you know what? Someday, sooner or later, somebody with some crafty, sharpened tongue is gonna come after you and make you look stupid, and we don't need that anymore, do we? We don't need that. Number two, study. You have got to study. You know, are you reading the Bible? That's great, keep doing it, but you've got to start studying these things. You want to start dividing, learning how to divide the word, looking up topics, researching, reading in the morning, studying in the evening, however you do it, you've got to start studying these things out, and I'm not saying you got to read the Book of Mormon or read the Quran. You don't need to do that. You just need to know your measure of truth, which is the King James Bible. You need to know your standard, and that's enough. That's enough. That's what's gonna teach you. That's what's gonna defeat the enemy. Number three, I pretty much already mentioned it, you've got to have a complete trust in this truth. It's not enough just to pay lip service. You've got to trust it. You've got to trust the Bible. You have to understand these things. You've got to know them. You've got to know where to go, and you've got to trust, and then number four is practice and the will to study this subject further. What I'm preaching to you tonight is very basic. It's very basic, and there needs to be more about it. When I wrote this sermon, I looked down and I'm like, wow, I've got 15 pages of handwritten notes. So when I began to type this up, I'm like, there's no way I'm gonna get through all this. There's just no way. So what I'm saying is, use this, apply it, learn it, rewatch this sermon if you have to, and really just dig into it and try to advance yourself, because I'm not here all the time. I can't preach a sermon about this. When I get to Boise, we're gonna go through a whole series on this, because I think it warrants it. I mean, we need to be able to respond to the threats on our media ministry. Somebody is attacking us on Facebook, we should be able to respond to that, because there are people hanging in the bounces. The same goes on Twitter. People wanna start tweeting stupid stuff. You know, guess what? There's people watching. We need the right comments. Debunk that stuff and shut people down. So the introduction's over. We're gonna get on with the strategy. So go back, I'm sorry, you're in Acts, right? Go to Matthew chapter 10, Matthew chapter 10. Ah, Matthew chapter 10. We're gonna take a look at this strategy. I've got four points, and the last point's like three sub points and then three more baby sub points, I think, something like that. So anyways, write them down if you have to, rewatch it, or ask me after the service, and I'll get you this information. But point number one, we gotta have the right formula. We wanna have the right mindset, the right attitude, and the right strategy, the right formula. So you're in Matthew chapter 10, look at verse number 16. Matthew chapter 10, verse number 16. It says, behold, I send you forth as sheeps in the midst of wolves. Be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves. So we see two things there, right? We wanna be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Now he's not saying, I want you to be a snake and stab people in the back. I want you to be like Jake the Snake Roberts and drop everybody with a DDT. That's not what he's talking about. He's not saying that. He's saying, I want you to be wise like a serpent. And if you study the topic of serpents, you'll see that they are a very wise creature. They have wisdom. The way that God made it, they do have wisdom. And so the perfect harmony to dealing with the wolves is that combination of the wisdom that a serpent has combined with the harmlessness of a dove. Because realize it or not, that when you go out into the community and you're soul winning, we're following up with people, we're doing the things we ought to, we're amongst the wolves. Just because they don't attack us every single Sunday, every single Saturday, or every single day that you're out soul winning doesn't mean they're not there. They're always there. And the devil decides, okay, today's the day. Today's your day. I'm gonna tear you apart today. And we gotta be ready. We've got to be ready to avoid the snares that they've set out for us. And if you think about wolves, wolves intentionally seek after the sheep. And we've already seen that in our study tonight, haven't we? These people that wanna challenge us, what do they do? They go back and they carefully research, they carefully and methodically prepare to take us on. That's what wolves do. They hunt for the sheep. They select, okay, that one got away. I'm gonna go after him. We need to remember that. And also, being in this environment, the question comes, how can we advance our efforts for God? How can we do this without becoming the prey? How can we do that without becoming predatory ourselves? And what Jesus is teaching us here in this verse is in order to be Christ-like in this godless world, we have to combine the wisdom of a serpent and the harmlessness of a dove. Our goal is to manage these conversations, to manage these conflicts, not manipulate. We want to manage. We want to control, not to coerce people. You understand what I'm saying? We don't want to manipulate them like that. We wanna get them with a quick glass of truth, to shut them up, to make them look stupid like they are and have them just go on about the way so that we can continue on with what we're doing. So point number one is we need to have the right formula. We need to be like this. Jesus gave us this formula for a reason because it works. That's what he did. I mean, think about it. You go out and you start swinging at somebody. I mean, what are they gonna think? What are the people outside they're gonna think? I mean, the news would be all over that. When you lose control like that, you lose the whole battle. We all look stupid. We all look dumb. So point number two is to control your emotions no matter what is said or who said it. Control your emotions no matter what is said or who said it. And I don't know if it's because I'm preaching this sermon tonight, but we had some pretty stupid things said to us today, didn't we, Brother Justin? We're done with soul winning, right? We're walking back to the car and this guy just comes out of nowhere and he's like, what cult are you guys in? Huh, what cult are you guys in? Some pagan heathen guy wrote that Bible, right? What did Brother Justin do? He didn't start swinging. He didn't get mad. He followed this principle. You see, these things you guys are already doing. We just need to clarify them and just really just get them into the internals of our souls so that it's just second nature. And he just answered, you know, just basically did what I'm teaching. He heard what the guy said, asked him questions, you know, and basically just shut him up. You know, oh, Jesus wrote that book, but he was a pagan. That's why there's crosses on it. Crosses on this book? What are you talking about? But that's the mindset, right? That's the mindset these people have. They just do anything. They'll say anything to just get a rile out of you. He wasn't trying to win us over to his opinion. He wanted to fight with us. He wanted to bring us down to his level. And he didn't do that. Proverbs chapter, turn to Proverbs chapter 16. So if you kept your place in Psalms, just go one book to the right and go to Proverbs. So you were in Psalms earlier, go to Proverbs chapter 16. Proverbs chapter 16. We have got to control our emotions because when you're irate, when you're super angry, you're not able to be clever. You're not able to think straight because all you can, you just get that tunnel vision. You know what I mean? We've all been there. We've all been super angry at people. You just get tunnel vision. You can't think straight and you're just, all you can see is blood. That's not being harmless as a dove, right? That's the opposite. So Proverbs chapter 16, look at verse 32. It says, he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty. And he that ruleth his spirit, then he that taketh a city. That is powerful. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty. And we've all read the stories in the Old Testament about the mighty man and the mighty things that they did and those are tremendous. Those are some of my favorite stories in the Bible. I love those stories, but you know what? I'll bet even those guys were slow to anger, right? I mean, when Jehu told Jezebel or the eunuchs to throw Jezebel out the window, he's like, I'm gonna go get something to eat. It's just business, right? Just there for business. And that's a sermon in and of itself. About personalities, but I'm working on that one. So the whole point is here is we gotta be slow to anger. If we're gonna be harmless as doves and we're gonna be clever with the truth, we have got to rule our emotions. And it's tough. That's what it's saying here. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty. You're better than that. When someone comes at you harshly and trying to hurt you, trying to hurt your feelings, and you just respond in a calm manner, a calm but firm manner, because sometimes you do have to be firm, right? You can't just be like these trendies that are like, oh, I still love you even though you told me I'm a rapper, babe. You can't be like that. You can't be like that. There's a time and a place to be firm and to be mean. And we're gonna take a look at that as well. But being slow to anger, you're better than the mighty. You're better than that. And he that ruleth his spirit better than he that taketh the city. There's more profit in ruling your own spirit than there is taking over an entire city. You don't have to turn there, but Ephesians 4 26 says, be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Why? Because the next verse, which says neither give place to the devil. When we let the sun go down on the wrath, we just won't let things go in our lives. We give place to the devil. We can't think clearly. And it's just a bad recipe. Remember, we want the truth to get to people, right? We want to, if we're gonna offend people, let's offend them with the truth, not just with our attitude and our actions. So remember, the enemy wants to bring a snare upon us and he wants to bring us down to their level. That's their goal. That's their goal is to make us look stupid, to trip us up in our words. If they can't do that, they're gonna try to get you to swing on them. They're gonna try to cause us to be inappropriate or what have you, some form of that. Go turn back in your Bible to Proverbs chapter 12. Look at Proverbs chapter 12. Just a few pages to your left, to the left of your Bible. Look at Proverbs chapter 12. Look at Proverbs 12, look at verse 16. It says, a fool's wrath is presently known, but a prudent man covereth shame. A fool's wrath is presently known. And isn't that the truth? You know, the Bible says, the fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. So when an atheist comes up to challenge you, his folly, his foolishness is already manifest. You don't have to work that hard to disprove it. You just gotta do it the right way. And that's what he's saying here. The fool's wrath is presently known. Don't have to work that hard. They already, they're making themselves look stupid. And you don't have to turn there, but Philippians 4, seven says, and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ. That's why God said, we gotta be harmless as doves. Because when we're harmless as doves, we're not out for blood, the peace of God, which passeth all understanding will rest on us. And that's what's gonna give you that clever thinking. That's what's gonna give you that victory that you need. And then finally, you don't have to turn there. Proverbs 14, 29 says, he that is slow to wrath is of great understanding, but he that is hasty of spirit exalts with folly. And that's just the truth. That's just how it is. He that is slow to wrath. And it's something that probably a lot of us gotta work on. That's been hard for me my whole life. You know, Uncle Sam didn't do me any favors when I joined the military, you know, in this area of life. And some of you know that, you know, those of you that have been in the military, you work for the state, you work for the government, that's enough to turn you into a different person. And so you gotta work hard, right? So point number one was we gotta have that right formula. We gotta have that Matthew 10, 16 formula. We gotta be crafty, but we gotta be crafty with the truth. We gotta be clever with the truth because being clever without the truth is what? It's manipulation. That's what it is. And remember, we're not trying to manipulate people. We're trying to manage people. We're trying to get them to leave, to shut their mouths, and go somewhere else. Point number two is to control your emotions no matter what is said or who said it. Now point number three is in order to win, you have to know your standard. And I've already touched on this. I've already touched on this a lot. You've gotta know the Bible, right? So if you're gonna take somebody on, you better know what you're talking about. You can't just be familiar. You gotta know. So think about this here. I got here a tape measure, right? Let's say you're at work. You guys are at work, and the boss says, all right, can you cut me a board that is five feet long? Let's just say that. Five feet long right here. And you cut it four feet, 11 inches, all right? Did you follow the instructions? No, you didn't, right? You messed up. So your boss comes over. He pulls out his tape measure. So let's say I got the board right here, and he lines the tape up, and he's like, oh, I said I wanted it five feet. You did 4'11". What are you gonna say? Oh, well, in the Greek, in the Hebrew, right? In the Chinese, or, I mean, they use cubits. How do you know that's the true measure of standard? Nobody does that, right? Nobody does that garbage. So why do we let people do that to us? You see what I'm saying? Why do we let people pull that same junk on us about the Bible? And one thing you need to understand about Christians, most Christians today that aren't fundamentalists, that's their mentality, right? They do not believe the Bible. They don't. This pisses me off more than anything in the planet. I can't stand that, because I'm a very black and white person. They say, oh, yeah, we believe the Bible. Oh, amen, praise God. No, you don't. They believe in a fairytale book that doesn't exist. They believe in the original manuscripts, which, by the way, are in heaven. And what we have here today is a direct copy of that, because our God is able to pass us on to all understanding, the Bible says. We have the truth here, and we need to use it. Do you really think God would create the heavens and earth and just leave us with nothing? That's absurdity. That's absurdity. And that absurdity has to be brought out of these people when they challenge us. Go to Proverbs chapter four. If you're still in Proverbs, go to Proverbs chapter four. Point number three, in order to win, you have to know the standard. You have to trust it. You gotta trust this Bible, because this is how we audit people. This is how we tell whether or not something is true or whether it's false. It's very simple. Proverbs chapter four, verse seven says, wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore, get wisdom, and with all thy getting, get understanding. Let that sink into your heads. With all thy getting, get understanding. With all your power, whatever it takes for you, I know a lot of you are busy, but you have got to make it a point to read and study the truths that are in this book. If you don't, you're not gonna be able to defend the faith. You're not gonna be a good contender for the faith. It's just not gonna happen. It's just not gonna happen. There's a very strong emphasis on the word wisdom here. How do you get it? You get it by knowledge and applying that knowledge, because that's what wisdom is. And what we're being taught here is that we need to have a maximum effort all day, every day, to know the truth. Turn to Matthew chapter four. Matthew chapter four. We're gonna take a look at some examples of this. Matthew chapter four. This is a passage where the devil's attempting Jesus. So Matthew four, look at verse number four. Says, but he answered and said, it is written. It is written. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Not by some of the words, not by just some of the words that we happen to dig up in some cave somewhere, but by every word of God. Why would Jesus say that if we don't have a book today that has all these words? You see what I mean? And that is valuable information to have when you're contending with these people that call themselves Christians, that wanna come after us because they don't have the standard. And that gives you all the leg up you need. That's the victory right there. Now let's take a look, jump down to verse six. We're gonna take a look at rightly dividing the word. Matthew four, six says, and sayeth unto him, if thou be the son of God, cast thyself down for it is written. He shall give his angels charge concerning thee and at their hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. So what the devil's doing here is he's saying, okay, I'll play your game. I'll play your game. Okay, I got Bible two. I've got, it is written X, Y, Z, right? So what does that mean? We have to know how to divide the word, right? Because when the enemy gets frustrated, when these Christians get frustrated, they'll start to play your game. They'll start to say, okay, well, I'll, sure. I don't have that much. I don't have a problem with King James. I'll use the King James and they'll read you a verse just like this. But look how Jesus responds. Jesus said unto him, it is written again. It is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. So Jesus gives us a very clear example on rightly dividing the word. You see the importance? Do you see the importance on why you've got to know the Bible? You got to really know how to divide the word of truth, right? Second Timothy 2 15, study to show thyself approved unto God not to Bible college, right? Not to some professor, but unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth. We have to be able to divide the word of truth and notice that it's called a workman. You all have to become workman. We have to work hard at it. It's not something we're look, we're not Pentecostals here, right? It's not just gonna come to you in a night vision. Though that's not how things work. You have to work hard, read, study, meditate, pray, get out there, get your hands dirty. You gotta get your, you know, you gotta get your feet on them doorsteps and start knocking because you know what? You get a ton of experience when you're out soloing, don't you? You get to ask those questions. See, we have an advantage because we actually do the work of God. We actually start off our soloing presentations with good questions, with questions to receive clarity so that we can show people how they're wrong and how they need to be saved, right? And that's gonna play in here a little bit later. But go with me to Psalms chapter 119. Psalms chapter 119. So what are we talking about? We're talking about the standard. We have to know the Bible. We have to know the Bible. It's not enough to be familiar. So Psalm chapter 119. Bible reading is not just beneficial in the ways that I've been talking about it, but it's also a commandment. It's a commandment and we should do it. It's a commandment. You wanna be pleasing to God? You gotta read, you gotta study. You've got to become that workman. So Psalms 119, look at verse number four. Look at verse number four. Thou has commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. Verse five. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes. Now look at verse number six, Psalm 119 verse six. Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments. That is key. That is very key. Because that's what this sermon's about, right? It's about not being ashamed. A challenge comes to us. We respond the way Jesus said to and then we don't get confounded before the enemy. We don't get put to shame. That's the whole goal. But notice everything leading up to that, right? Keep his precepts diligently. Keep his commandments diligently. When you decide in your heart, I'm gonna be the best Christian I can. I'm gonna follow God's rules. I'm gonna believe the Bible. I'm gonna do things right. You're not gonna get put to shame. You're not gonna get put to shame. And when you see people in our movement get put to shame, it's because they are familiar, they don't know. Or they're babies. And if you're a baby Christian today, that's great. You're just not ready to take on the big dogs yet, right? That's okay. And that's why I said earlier, things you need to know, things you need to understand, you gotta take an honest look in your heart at yourself and say, okay, I'm not ready yet. That's okay. There are people that are ready. There are people that are ready. And yes, we need more and we're gonna need more. Just make the decision right now that you're gonna get ready. You're gonna take these steps to improve yourself and to get better. That's the whole goal of the sermon. First John chapter five, verse 20. You don't have to turn there. It says, and we know that the son of God has come and hath given us an understanding. And we need to rest on that promise that we may know him, that is true. And we are in him, that is true, even his son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. So in first John five, 20 says, and we know that the son of God has come and have given us an understanding. This book is that understanding. You understand me? This book is that understanding. Now going back to Psalm 119, verse six, I forgot to mention this. It says, then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all light commandments. Modern Christianity today does not respect the word of God and that's why we can and we will put them to shame. They're not gonna put us to shame. We're gonna put them to shame and send them crying, send them home with their sippy cups, send them home with their soy milk because that's what they want. That's what they deserve and that's what needs to happen. That's what's gotta happen. The same for the dispensational dirt bags and the Calvinists and these oneness freaks that wanna talk trash about my pastor. So where am I at? All right, yeah. Okay, so point number one was the right formula, the Matthew 10, 16 formula, right? That wisdom that comes that's like a serpent, right? Combining that wisdom of the serpent with the harmlessness of a dove. Number two was to control your emotions no matter what is said or who said it. Point number three was in order to win, we have to know the standard. We've got to know the Bible. We have got to know the Bible. A perfect example of this is who here knows who Brother Norm is from, what is it, the beautiful feet, soul enters? That's the name of his channel, right? Well, he made a video exposing Ray Comfort and the devil that he is, right? Who saw that? Some of you guys saw that? Yeah, if not, look it up. It's a great video. Well, Ray Comfort decides to respond to that video, right? He decides to respond to that video, right? Because Brother Norm's point was obviously what the Bible says, you know, for by grace are you saved through faith, you know, that you don't have to turn from your sins. You don't have to repaint. You got to repaint, you got to repaint your life, you know, or whatever Ray Comfort says. Well, you know how Ray Comfort responds? He responds, one, with a commentary Bible called the New King James. It's not the word of God. They didn't dig up King James and say, can we, you know, make a new version of your name? But he responds with this so-called logic. And what does he say? He says, he responds by quoting a hymn, Amazing Grace. He's like, listen, folks, it's not amazing faith. It's amazing grace. You are saved by two things. You're saved by grace and you're saved by faith. You see what I mean? He's a perfect example of not doing Psalm chapter 119, verse six, because he doesn't have respect to God's commandments. He's a fool, he's a devil. He's an idiot and he's a loser. And all he did was prove brother Norm's point. That's all he did. If I were hanging in the balance and I watched every comfort video, I'd be like, I'm going to go meet brother Norm. I'm going to go get the gospel from him. You know, he had nothing. These people are lame. They're lame. They wallow in their soy milk on their beds at night and they just dream of ways to defeat us, but they just can't do it because they got no hope, man. They don't have a standard. A bunch of losers. I got to stop going off on these rabbit trails. All right, all right. Point number four, point number four. You have to, we have to understand the subject of questioning, of asking the right questions. And here's why. So I want to look at what to ask. When someone comes at you with a challenge, what do you ask? What type of questions are you going to use? We want to use specific questions for clarification, right? And you already do this soul winning, right? What are you trusting in? If I came to you and wanted to know how to be saved, what would you tell me, right? What are we doing? We're trying to gather information and how come? It's because we need to clearly understand what these people are talking about so that we don't misrepresent them and so that we don't misunderstand the situation. So when that guy came at Justin and I today, he's like, oh, you guys are from a cult? Yeah, yeah, you guys are from a cult. You know, which cult are you from? Man wrote the Bible. Man wrote the Bible. Some pagan guy named Jesus wrote the Bible, right? He came at us with all this stuff and what Justin asked him was just a very simple question. Like, how do you know that? You know, how do you know that? See, when you start asking people these questions, you become in the driver's seat. You place yourself in the driver's seat. We didn't have to sit there and, oh, I got to respond to every single accusation that he made of me. Uh-uh, we're going to pick one thing, one thing out of what they're saying and we're going to question it. We're going to ask the right questions. Go to Matthew chapter 22. We're going to start reading in verse 15. Matthew 20, we're going to take a look at this. We're talking about questions. See, when someone challenges us, you don't always have to respond right away, right? Because remember, they're not interested in the truth. Now, when you're out soul-winding, it's different. But when someone's coming at us with just a blatant attack on our character, we need to be able to respond and show the people that are hanging in the balances their own folly. So Matthew 22, look at verse number 15. It says, then went the Pharisees and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent unto him their disciples with a Herodian saying, master, we know that thou art true and teach us the way of God in truth. Neither carest thou for any man, for thou regardest not the person of man. I call this the butter up. Watch out for it because sometimes your own family members may come at you with this. You know, all I know, you're really smart, this and that, you know. But, you know, then comes that dagger, right? Then comes that right hook. Try to knock you out. Look at verse 17. Tell us therefore, what thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or not? Now look at the question here in verse 18. Pay attention to this. But Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? See, there's that firmness that I talked about earlier. You see, when these people come at you and you're soul-winding, you know, you're giving the gospel to some people, you're giving the gospel to somebody, and they come up to you and they're like, prove to me that man didn't write the Bible. Prove to me that God wrote the Bible. It's okay to be like, look, you're, you know, you're a hypocrite. You can be firm with these people and show them their folly. But look at verse 19. He says, show me the tribute money, and they brought unto him the penny. So why did Jesus do that? Why did he respond to that with a question? The answer is very simple. Because it puts him in control of the conversation. It puts him in the driver's seat. Remember, we want to be in the driver's seat when people are trying to debate or dispute or argue with us. We gotta take control of the situation. And then look what he says next. And he saith unto them, whose is this image in superscription? Another question. Another question. He's like, okay, you wanna come at me with this money thing? I'm gonna question you about it. Now look at verse 21. They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. And look at the result. Verse 22 says, when they had heard these words, they marveled and left him and went their way. So number one, when dealing with questions, we need to ask specific questions. We need to come at these people and make them prove their claims. We need to put them on the hot seat, right? Because that takes pressure off of us. And number two, we need to ask clear, clearly, we need to ask quickly, and we need to ask firmly. Don't show weakness when they come up to you. Ask these questions. Go show me the money, right? Show me it. Show me it. Oh, you say that Jesus didn't say he was the only way to heaven? Prove it. Prove it. What exactly do you mean by that? Number three, we need to know when to ask. We need to know when to ask questions. And that's obvious right here. You need to ask these questions as soon as the challenge is brought to you. As soon as the challenge is brought to you. Go over to Matthew chapter 27 real quick. Matthew chapter 27. Okay. Matthew chapter 27. Okay, we're gonna put a look down. I'm sorry, this is for point number four. So point number four is when not to ask questions, right? Because there are times when you don't wanna ask questions. I kinda messed up my verses here. I got like half of one chapter and half of another. But anyway, so point number four when regarding questions is when not to ask. Because there are times where we don't need to respond to people. There are times where we just, silence is better. So look at Matthew 27, look at verse number 11. It says, and Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying, art thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, thou sayest. So thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. So sometimes when we're accused of doing wrong, you know, in debate or somebody's challenging us, like they're challenging Jesus, sometimes it's better to just do what the next verse says. So look at verse 13, it says, then said Pilate unto him, hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? Now look what Jesus does. And he answered him to never a word in so much that the governor marveled greatly. So there are times to answer questions and there's times not to answer questions. And that's key when somebody's challenging us, right? Sometimes we need to answer the questions right away and sometimes we don't. For example, 2 Timothy 2, verse 23 says, but foolish and unlearned questions avoid knowing that they do gender strife. See, Jesus is at the end of his ministry here. He's already said enough. You know, and they're still questioning him, they're still asking him. He's like, look, I'm done, done with you. I'm not gonna say anything more. And that was the right decision there. You know, when somebody comes up to you like, hey, could God make a rock so heavy you can't lift it? Get out of here. You're not worth my time. That's just as weak. I wanna respond to real challenges. You know, not stupid little schoolgirl tactics like that. So my next point is that we need to manage the conversation in order to win. I know I've said that throughout this sermon. So we need to strategy. We're gonna take a look at a very quick strategy. I know I've gone kind of long. We're gonna get through this here. You don't have to turn there. Ecclesiastes chapter 10, verse 11 says, surely the serpent will bite without enchantment. And the babbler is no better. And amen, that is true. When people come up babbling to you, and we don't respond, they're just gonna keep going. They're just gonna keep doing it. They're just gonna keep doing it. It's just like what he's saying here. He's saying, you know, the snake will bite you if you don't take control of the situation. Well, it's the same thing with these babblers and these idiots. If we don't stop them in their tracks, we don't shut them up, they're never gonna stop. We gotta make them look foolish. We're gonna turn the tables on them. And so, just remember these four things. We have the truth, we know that they're wrong. When you understand that, that's gonna give you a huge mental edge when you have to answer to people. Ecclesiastes chapter 10, verse 12 says, the words of a wise man's mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. And that's true. You need to understand that. When someone comes at you that's a fool, understand that his own lips will swallow up himself, so it's our job to be able to bring that out of him in front of other people. That's why we make videos responding to accusations to our churches, right? That's the whole point. That's why we get on Facebook and respond to these accusations, because these fools eventually are gonna say something that swallowed themselves up. Now, it's our job through diligent study and practice and all the things I've already taught to be able to catch that. That's our job to point that out. Fools are always gonna say something that swallows them up. So when you're being challenged by somebody, you need to ask, you need to respond, and I'm gonna give you three quick tactics, three quick strategies. And if you haven't been listening until now, just remember this. Listen to the rest of the sermon later, but remember these three things. This is the time to wake up. Number one, when someone comes at you, you need to ask a specific question like this. What do you mean by that? Or some variation, something similar. What do you mean by that? When someone says, hey, some pagan guy wrote that book, you need to say, what do you mean by that? Right away, you're in control, you're in the driver's seat, he needs to be put on the spot, he needs to be put on blast to answer for his stupid folly claims, and his foolishness is gonna swallow him up. So just remember that. And what this does is this gives you the opportunity to gather facts, right? You're gonna gather the facts, it's gonna take pressure off of you, and it gives you valuable information. It's gonna give you that foolishness that swallows people up. And why? Well, for one reason, it's not productive to engage these people if we don't clearly understand what they're saying. And a lot of times we're gonna try to hide that, but realize the devil is in the details. And we need to draw those details, we need to draw that foolishness out of them. Also, what I want you to remember about this is use this question often. Start using it all the time. What do you mean by that? What do you mean by that? Oh, Abraham's bosom, what do you mean by that? Make them explain, make them explain that. Somebody comes at you, oh, all the kings in Revelation are half alien. What? What do you mean by that? Explain to me that. Oh, you gotta repent of all your sins to be saved? You gotta turn from all your sins to be saved? What do you mean by that? What do you mean by that? That's a good question, so just realize that. And I got just a real quick example, I always go back to wrestling, because it's something that I understand, I think it's something all of us understand. When someone comes in to take you down, what do you do? You sprawl back, you push their head down, you cross face them, why? So that you can control, so you can turn their head. Because the body always follows the head, right? When someone tries to grab your legs and you stuff them down, their body's gonna follow their head. It's the same thing in conversation. When they come at you, you ask them a question, you take control of that mind, so that they, that conversation, will follow that question. Do you understand what I'm saying? It's the same thing in verbal altercations, right? You sprawl back with a question, you put it on them. Let's look at a quick example here, back in Matthew chapter 22, look at verse 41. And by the way, you don't move forward in the challenge until they give you the details you want. You're in control, you ask the questions, you get those details. You don't move forward until they answer it. When people make claims, they have to back it up. Let's take a quick look at an example here in the Bible. Matthew 22, 41, it says, while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto him, the son of David. Look at verse 43, he saith unto them, how then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit down on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? So Jesus asked them a question, right? They give him, they do give him the right answer. They say the right thing, but he can perceive that they don't really believe it. They don't really believe it, so they make the claim, and now look what he puts on them. Verse 45, it says, if David then call him Lord, how is he his son? Now look at what happens. And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. You see, you've got to put the burden of proof on them. Make them explain, ask them the questions because they're gonna give you what you need. They're gonna give you the ammo that you need to be able to take control. Let's see here. All right, so real quick, the main question, the first question you wanna ask is, what do you mean by that? Because that tells us what they think. And the second thing that we need to ask is how did you come to this position, right? How did you come to this conclusion, right? Whatever it is, you know, so you ask somebody, okay, what do you mean by repentance? Well, it means you gotta turn from all your sins, even though Romans 5a completely blows that out of the water, right? You wanna put the burden of proof on them. When someone makes a claim, hey, the Bible was written by man, wasn't written by God. Okay, how did you come to that conclusion? And just watch them, they'll just start tap dancing all over the place. They'll just dance their way right out of your life. Ask the questions, put the burden of proof on them, make them, look, these are the people that came to challenge us. These are the people that came to challenge you. Make them back up their claims. You see, this is where we go wrong because we just wanna get right into smashing people. But that's not always the best option. Sometimes we need to just make them prove their stupid claims, and they can't, and we know they can't. And so we need to draw that out of them. And by the way, don't just settle for opinions. That's not proof. When someone starts, oh, well, because, that's what the guy did to us today. Oh, I know it was written by some pagan guy, by some man because, because of X, Y, I can't remember what he said, right? But it was just opinions, it wasn't facts. So Justin was like, do you think your opinion's the only one that matters? Or is it the only one that's right? And he's like, no, I think everybody's right. So you just said we're wrong, and we're in a cult. You see the folly there? A fool's folly will swallow him up. And we saw the perfect example of that today. All right, so real quick, point number one, the main question you need to ask is what do you mean by that? And then the next step, you gotta make them prove their claims. Make them prove it. And don't move on until they do. Number three, you wanna boil what they give you down to its absurdity. You gotta filter through all the garbage that they say and just get down to that one dog bone, right? You ever give a dog a bone and that's all they can think about? That's how you wanna be when you're challenging, you're responding to a challenge. You don't move forward until you get the information you want. Once you get that information, you don't let go of it. Because they're gonna sidestep, they're gonna be like, well, they're gonna change the subject and attack you from a different angle. Nope, no way, buddy, no way, man. We're not moving on until you tell me for a fact that the Bible is written by man. You don't move on until you tell me for a fact how I have to turn from all my sins to be saved. You see what I'm saying? You can insert anything you want to in there, but you don't move forward and they're not gonna be able to answer you. Fine, we're done here. You know when they don't answer, when they don't give you that answer, we're done. You just made yourself look stupid. You're a fool, you're a hypocrite, goodbye. Goodbye, get out of here. I destroyed you, I beat you, go. Go home and cry to your mama. Go get that soy milk. It's on sale down at Albertsons for $5.99 a box. All right, all right, real quick here. Go to, did I already tell you to turn to Matthew chapter 12? Matthew chapter 12, almost done, almost done. Matthew chapter 12, Matthew chapter 12, verse 24. Matthew 12, 24 says, but when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow doth not cast out devils by Beelzebub the prince of devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts and said unto them, every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. In verse 26 says, and if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How shall then this kingdom stand? So we're talking about boiling down these absurd claims, right? The questions have already been asked. The burden of proof has already been put on them and this is what they'll do, they'll sidestep. But notice what Jesus does, they make a stupid claim. They're like, you cast out devils by the power of the devil. And Jesus doesn't say, oh, let me show you the Romans road, let me try to get you saved. He doesn't do that. He just boils down their stupidity and exposes it so that people around can see how dumb they are, right? Look at verse 25. And Jesus knew their thoughts and said unto them, every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand and that's what we need to do. They make the claim, you boil that thing down to its absurdity, to its stupidity and then you point out their error and that's what Jesus does. He points out their error in verse 26 says, and if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How shall then the kingdom stand? Checkmate, it's over. This is harder than it sounds. This is harder than it sounds. You really do have to do everything I taught up to this point, right? You don't forget the questions but don't forget to study. You know, don't forget to pray and get your hands dirty, do all the work because that's what's gonna get you better at doing this. You're just not gonna automatically be this good like Jesus is. I mean, and people will tell you, oh, well, he did that because he's the word and he could get away with it. No, these things are written for admonition, man. These things are written. I mean, there's how many conflicts do you read in the gospels? There's tons of them. They're there for a reason. They're there to give us the keys to defeat the challengers and we've got to in these last days. We have got to understand these things. We've got to apply them. We've got to know them. Three steps real quick to boil down false claims. You boil it down to the person's claim. That's the most basic argument because they're gonna come at you with a lot of stuff. Pick that one dog bone that you want to go after and you go after, you go for it, all right? So I got to be done with this but just to recap real quick, we talked about the right formula. You know that Matthew chapter 10 verse 16 formula. Number two was to control your emotions no matter what is said or who said it. Point number three was in order to win, you've got to know the Bible. You got to know the standard. You have got to trust it. Number four is you have to understand the subject of questioning. Why? Because it puts you in control and that's what we need. We want to be in control and just real quick, the first question, this is a very powerful question. What do you mean by that? What do you mean by repentance? What do you mean by Bible? What do you mean? And yeah, what do you mean by Bible? An NIV, a New King James? Those aren't Bibles and we need to expose that to them. And number two, the burden of proof needs to be brought forth. How did you come to that conclusion? How did you get to this place in your life? How did you get that opinion? Show me. Because that tells us why they think the way they do. And like I said, don't just settle for opinions. Don't just settle for opinions. That's not proof. That's not good enough. See, when you can grab that bone, you'll make them look stupid. And then number three was boil down what they give you to its absurdity and point it out. Point it out firmly. You know, Jesus did and that's what he did. Hey, you're a fool. You're a hypocrite. You know, that's okay. It's gotta be tough sometimes and especially in these types of situations. And let's bow our heads and close with a word of prayer. Lord, thank you for this opportunity to preach. I just pray that you keep us safe as we go our separate ways. Please keep us motivated to keep studying this subject and respond in the way you told us to, Lord. And please bless our fellowship tonight. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.