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You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You 379 Something this church is good at bringing in the sheaves song number 379 We shall come So in the sunshine Neither Oh She's bringing Great singing everybody. Let's open up the service now with a word of prayer Lord we love you and we just thank you again for this awesome church and the people in it We love you and we just ask you to bless it Fill it with your spirit help us to be edified from the message this evening And now we just ask all these things in jesus name. Amen Amen All right for our next song. Let's go to song number 246 Song number 246 Redeemed song number 246 The lamb By the Jesus Redeemed by the blood of the lamb I think of my blessed I think of him all the day long. I sing for I cannot be silent His love is the theme of my song Is Me Good evening. Thank you for coming to steadfast baptist church If you didn't get a bulletin this morning If you need another one just lift your hand real quick One of our ushers can come by and get you guys a bulletin on the front. We have our bible memory passage We're working in the book of jonah chapter two on verse four Any kids any kids that can quote that on wednesday can get a special ice cream treat also we have on the Inside our service times and soul winning times As well as church stats make sure you're sending that information to your soul winning captains lieutenants If you have maps that are done you can put in the done bin and uh and help us out with that as well On the right is our list of expecting ladies. Please be in prayer for them Also, we have a prayer list if you'd like some additional prayer you can submit that to our email Steadfast baptist kjv at gmail and we'll add that to our prayer list on the back upcoming events Our heritage the lord conference is scheduled for october 4th through the 6th. That is friday saturday and sunday And we have a schedule down below October 31st is a texas chili cook-off and that's going to be here at the church The 6 p.m. Is when we would start serving potentially if you'd like to enter the competition for your chili You have to bring it before 6 p.m So that way we can get the samples and everything ready for our judges We'll pick a few judges that have no family member that's entered in the competition at least direct family member and then We will be giving out prizes to those who uh finish in our top places in order to Be qualified there cannot be any fillers in the chili which includes beans I know that, you know this ruffles people's feathers, but I don't think we should split the church over beans folks. Okay And just just take take my word for it. It's better. All right, there we go. Um, november 16th, uh, miami soul-winning marathon If you'd like to participate, uh, you can put that note down I'll probably try to get a sign-up sheet or something out here so that people that are indicating on wanting to go I can coordinate with them As far as our conference just a couple things I want to Take note of that. We will be doing some some like prizes and stuff and do some like sword drills And some just bible trivia and questions and so I would encourage you to bring a bible for your kids For some of those activities and some of those events, uh for the services And we do have the kids spelling bee the spelling list is on our website. You can download it and you can review that It's broken up into three separate age groups and we do give prizes to the top two in each Category so there should be six winners in in and two first and second and three different categories And even if your child you you don't know that they're necessarily going to win. I still think it's Something you can encourage them to do just to help them Um with just public speaking and learning and growing and so it's a lot of fun Um for those in the oldest age group that are going to compete uh, I I do have a secret word list in case there is A situation where they memorized every single word which has happened in the past. So I have to learn from my mistakes. Okay And I have to realize these kids are way smarter than I give them credit for and that was my mistake But it's a it's a good thing. I'm i'm impressed. So But now i'm ready for you. Okay, so Be prepared. All right. There we go Also, we have a couple uh other events there I'll try to get addresses and stuff like that for some of our locations and events in the bulletin when we get a little closer Or I guess i'll send out an email to the church family as far as what that's going to be So that way everybody has it if you don't receive that by wednesday, just let me know and i'll get that to you as well Um, that's pretty much all I have as far as announcements are concerned We're going to go ahead and sing uh our psalm of the week psalm 119 psalm 119 All right, that was psalm chapter 119 psalm 119 those who know well sing it out Unto my feet and a life unto my path I have sworn I will perform I am afflicted Very much Unto thy word The wicked have laid us before me yet. I am not from thy precepts Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever Except The free will offerings of my mouth Teach me thy judgments My soul is continually in mine Therefore me Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever Is They are rejoicing Even unto The wicked have laid us there for me yet. I am not from thy precepts Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever Thy word is the lamb unto thy feet and the life unto my path Oh Great singing everybody now as the offering plates are being passed around go ahead and turn in your bibles To the book of john chapter number 13 That's john chapter number 13 So So John chapter 13 the bible says Now before the feast of the passover when jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the father Having loved his own which were in the world. He loved them unto the end and supper being ended The devil having now put into the heart of judas iscariot simon's son to betray him Jesus knowing that the father had given all things into his hands And that he was come from god and went to god He riseth from supper and laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself After that, he poureth water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded Then cometh he to simon peter and peter said unto him lord, does thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him what I do. Thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter Peter saith unto him thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him if I wash thee not thou has no part with me Simon peter saith unto him lord not my feet only but also my hands and my feet and my head Jesus saith to him he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet But is clean every wit and ye are clean but not all for he note for he knew who should betray him Therefore said he ye are not all clean So after he had washed their feet and had taken his garments and was set down again He said unto them know ye what I have done to you you call me master and lord and you say well for so I am If I then your lord and master have washed your feet Ye ought also to wash one another's feet for I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you Verily verily I say unto you the servant is not greater than his lord neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him If you know these things happier ye if you do them I speak not of you all I know whom I have chosen But that the scripture may be fulfilled he that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me Now I tell you before it come that When it has come to pass you may believe that I am he Verily verily I say unto you he that receiveth whomsoever I stand receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me When jesus had thus said he was troubled in spirit and testified and said verily verily I say unto you That one of you shall betray me Then the disciples looked one on another doubting of whom he spake Now there was leaning on jesus's bosom one of his disciples whom jesus loved Simon peter therefore beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake He then lying on jesus's breast saith unto him lord, who is it? Jesus answered he it is to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it And when he had dipped the sop he gave it to judas iscariot the son of simon And after the sop satan entered into him then said jesus unto him that thou doest do quickly Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him For some of them thought because judas had the bag that jesus had said unto him by those things that we have need of against The feast or that he should give something to the poor He then having received the sop went immediately out and it was night Therefore when he was gone out Jesus said now is the son of man glorified and god is glorified in him If god be glorified in him god shall also glorify him in himself and shall straightway glorify him Little children yet a little while I am with you Ye shall seek me and as I said unto the jews whither I go you cannot come So now I say to you a new commandment I give unto you that you love one another As I have loved you that you also love one another By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one to another Simon peter said unto him lord wither goest thou Jesus answered him whither I go thou canst not follow me now But thou shalt follow me afterwards Peter said unto him lord. Why can I why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake Jesus answered him wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake verily verily I say unto thee The cock shall not crow till thou has denied me thrice let us pray Dear heavenly father. I thank you for steadfast baptist church. I thank you for the soul saved today I ask you please to help us to give jesus christ the preeminence and to seek unity in this church And I ask you to bless bachelor. Shelly's he preaches to us in jesus name. Amen Amen, I want to I want to look back at verse 34 again. The bible says a new commandment I give unto you That you love one another As I have loved you that he also Love one another and jesus is very clear that we should love One another and that's the title of my sermon this evening is that we should love One another this is a very important aspect of christianity And jesus even says this specifically in verse 35 by this shall all men know that you're my disciples if You have one love to another Here's the reality not every saved person is a disciple of the lord jesus christ What is a defining mark of a true disciple of the lord? Jesus christ is one who shows love towards other christians and towards one another And if we truly want to be disciples of the lord jesus christ If we want to set the right example, we must show love one toward another this is reiterated Many places in scripture. Um, I want to go to one more keep your fingers coming right back Go to first john chapter number four And I want to look at an example here where the bible also mentions the same thing But for sake of time i'm not going to go to every place the bible tells us to love one another This is a common theme in the bible described in many places But I do want to point out a few ways in which we can discuss. What does that look like? What does it look like to? Truly love one another the bible says in first john chapter four verse seven Beloved let us love one another for love is of god and everyone that loveth is born of god and knoweth god He that loveth not knoweth not god for god is Love the example of love in the bible is demonstrated by god the father And we are to follow his example and because we've been born again Spiritually speaking we now have the capability To love as god loved us And we should walk in the spirit and do our best to exercise love one toward another go back to john chapter 13 What does it look like to love? Well, I believe that the bible shows us many things I want to point out a few examples of loving one another And the first one I want to point out is the idea of serving one another to love one another would be through serving one another that is Illustrated for us in this chapter that we just read look back at verse number 13 The bible says this he called me master and lord and you say well for so I am If I then your lord and master have washed your feet he also ought to wash one another's Feet for i've given you an example He should do as I have done to you Verily verily I say unto you that servant is not greater than his lord neither he That is sent greater than he that sent him if you know these things happy are ye if ye do them notice that The lord jesus christ is often Telling us things that are conditional These are not things that are automatic. These are things that are up to you. You have the free will We have the choice to decide to be a disciple of lord. Jesus christ by our actions We are known as the disciples of jesus christ by loving one another and one of the ways in which we can love one another And the ways that we'll be happy is if we serve one another We have to understand that loving comes through serving And if someone truly loves you they will serve you that is what true love really looks like And we think of the example the lord. Jesus christ gives us and illustrates for us is one that is a master and a lord Someone that is in a position of authority a position of authority demonstrates its love by serving Sometimes we think of leadership as always being about the person that gets to make all the decisions and having power And everybody's there to serve them But the lord jesus christ is illustrating for us a very important lesson here that those who are in charge Demonstrate their love by serving those on whom are under his authority Where we could look at this in many different cases a pastor who loves his congregation is one who will serve his congregation Not one where his congregation will serve him And we have to understand that in any position of leadership whether you're a soul winning leader You're a song leader whether you're a boss at work whether you're a husband whether you're a mother No matter what position you have if you truly want to love those who have you have authority over you must serve them And that is how you will demonstrate your love for them And we have to be very careful, you know when we have a position of authority that we don't use that authority In a selfish manner it's very easy to just tell people what to do and to force everybody to Accommodate to your wishes and wants but a true genuine loving leadership will serve and we have to understand that god served us God served us by sending us his son the lord jesus christ and jesus christ's ministry is marked by him serving Us by serving the jews by healing the sick Healing the lame by preaching the gospel by feeding the hungry by basically just ministering and serving And loving jesus did not come to sit on a pedestal and have everyone serve him But rather he came to serve and the bible even illustrates that when we go to heaven That the lord jesus christ will continue to serve us even in heaven Now do we worship and serve him yes we do and i'm not taking away from that But the bible even says that the lord jesus christ will serve us at the table And that he will still do good unto us and a good leader will serve his subjects And that is how you demonstrate the love that you have when you have an opportunity To be around people that are under your authority or your leadership. You must do good unto them by serving them Look at chapter 15 look at verse number 12 now Some people when they read the bible Instead of trying to understand the spirit of the bible They just try to do exactly what it says So there are churches today that you go to and after the service We're all going to get a bucket of water and we're going to all literally wash each other's stinky feet And they think that that's what that means And look I'm, not going to fight somebody who wants to literally wash another person's feet because there's nothing wrong with that But we don't want to miss The point and think like well, I went to church and I literally washed someone's feet. So i'm good No, it's about just serving people in general That's the principle that's the spirit and we want to make sure when we interpret the bible that we don't get this over the top Just draconian view of the scripture and just try to do only the letter of the law We want to figure out the essence and the spirit of what the bible is saying and then make proper application for it And so we have to understand that we need to love one another and not just say well I checked the box I washed someone's feet this week That's not that's not what we're doing. We're not just checking boxes We're recognizing that we have the right attitude and spirit and we need to actually love one another And not just checking some kind of a box or you know People would love people would love for me to just give them like a little piece of paper that it's like Here's how to be a good christian. Just check these boxes Or here's how to be a good husband or here's how to be a good wife Or here's how to be a good parent or here's how to be a good child or here's how to make money Or here's how to you know, it's like how do I make money? How do I get married? How do I do and they they want like a checklist but I can't give people a checklist You know, who should I marry? I do have some some points and some tips and I think they're important but at the end of the day There's there's always reading between the lines There's always the spirit and the attitude behind these things and we have to use Our discretion that god has given us to make wise decisions and as god's people We need to have an attitude of loving one another not just seeing well I checked off this list or I did these things I go soul winning. Therefore i'm i'm loving automatically That that's not necessarily true Okay, and so we want to make sure that we're not balancing and measuring our life based on a checklist But it should be more based on a spirit and an attitude that we have And god very much cares more about our spirit and attitude than he cares about a checklist evidenced by the fact that the poor widow woman who only gave two mites jesus christ literally said that she gave more than they all Proving that god didn't care about the monetary money that she gave He cared about the heart and the attitude and the spirit that she had when she gave And here's the thing god cares more about the spirit and the attitude and your heart towards your actions than the actions themselves And we have to be very careful that we have the right attitude and the right heart and the right spirit as christians And this is what demonstrates the holy spirit We allow our flesh we would crucify our flesh and we allow the holy spirit to come inside of us and fill us And allow us to to do the works that he would have us do and charity and meekness and in genuine sincerity Actually wanting to serve people You could watch someone's feet and hate it It's called people that have the the chinese pedicure place or whatever, right? I mean don't they that you come in and and they're all nice and they're like, oh you look so pretty Right, and then they're like Did you touch all you know and you're like, what did you say? And they they probably were saying like she's you know, a stupid white girl or something, right? And she didn't even have the right spirit, you know why she did it because she got paid Not because she actually loves you or cares about you And the reality is again, it's not about well, I checked the list of washing someone's feet I checked the list of all these things that I found in the bible. Therefore i'm good. No, it's about the spirit It's about the attitude and it's about the heart that you have And if you don't love other christians You're violating a very important principle that jesus christ is giving us here that we need to sincerely and genuinely love one another And we do it by serving one another with an attitude of sincerity I genuinely want to serve you. I genuinely want good for you. The bible says in john 15 verse 12 This is my commandment That you love one another as I have loved you greater love hath no man than this that a man may lay down his life for his friends so Christ is not asking us to do something that he doesn't do And good leadership and good authority is not asking for people to do something that they themselves would not do Or that they themselves have not demonstrated And so therefore the lord jesus christ demonstrated an ultimate sacrifice of even laying down his own life Being willing to make his own personal sacrifices for the betterment of others skip to verse 17 And it says these things I command you That you love one another verse 18 if the world hate you, you know that it hated me before I hated you If you were of the world the world would love its own but because you're not of this world But I have chosen you out of this world. Therefore the world hateth you so We're not talking about the world here I wanted to read that verse not because it's necessarily directly related But it's helped to give us balance in context of what we're talking about This is not saying love every person This is also not saying every person will love you the world will not like you if you're a disciple of the lord jesus christ The world will hate you the world will say everything you do is wrong But what we can do is we can love one another regardless of what the world thinks about it regardless of what the world does And we should be very careful that we love one another as christians Now go if you go to romans chapter 13 Romans chapter number 13 point one that I have this evening is we should serve one another as a demonstration of our love And if you want to be a really good father you should serve your children If you want to be a really good mother, you should serve your children If you want to have a really good marriage you husbands should serve your wives Not only tell them what to do, but you should also serve them and appreciate them and do good under them And you know what? Obviously the reciprocal is true wives. If you want to have a good marriage serve your husband Children if you want to have a good relationship with your parents serve your parents I always say this a good marriage is two people trying to serve each other And when you have a bad marriage It can be one person stopped serving but what happens is The other person then kind of gives up too And the only way to fix it is for one person to start serving again in hopes that the other person will reciprocate You can never ever force someone to reciprocate love It's called free will God created free will and unfortunately the reality of free will is that most people don't make the right decision We can only go so far and isn't it so sad that god is only Perfect and loving towards us and yet so many people still reject him Isn't that sad but you know what? He doesn't stop being good unto us and he doesn't stop loving us and he doesn't stop trying to serve us and so we should in the relationships and the the situations that we have reciprocate and model God's behavior in the same way that we're going to continually love and continually do good even when it's not reciprocated What we don't want to do Is wish ill or do evil unto those? That are our brethren those that are christians those that are saved those that are the important relationships that we have Romans 13 brings us up look at verse number eight Oh No, man anything But to love one another free that loveth another hath fulfilled the law for this thou should not commit adultery Thou should not kill thou should not steal thou should not bear false witness thou should not covet And if there be any other commandment is briefly comprehended in this saying namely thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself love worketh no ill To his neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law notice. The bible says that love worketh no ill So point one that I made this evening is that if you love one another you will serve one another Second point is if you love one another you will wish no ill You're not going to work any ill Towards one another okay and unfortunately a lot of people will Get mad At other christians, they'll get mad at their brethren And they'll wish ill upon them And that's just not biblical go if you went to galatians chapter five go to galatians chapter number five You know, I I personally do not believe it's ever right to Curse your brethren. Okay now obviously We could have a circumstance where someone's wayward or someone's causing a lot of problems and we say god I don't know what this person needs I pray that Even if they need something negative in their life to help them then your will be done But I do not believe that we should wish ill for our brethren period I do not believe that we should wish For god to do anything negative to them and the bible is very clear that we are to bless them that curse us We are to bless them that despitefully use us that we are not to Overcome evil with evil but overcome evil with good And so I believe when we're just when we're talking about fellow believers we're talking about other christians We should only ever wish for their good We should not Curse them or wish for their evil or wish for their ill and we should certainly do know we should not work Any ill towards them galatians chapter number five the bible says in verse 13 For brethren you have been called unto liberty Only not only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh But by love Serve one another so that's the point one that we made already, right? For all the law is fulfilled in one word even in this thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself But if you bite and devour one another take heed that you be not consumed one of another so notice We could just be loving towards one another but what is a common temptation? It's to bite and devour One another now why would someone bite and devour well it's because someone does something wrong And then when something does something wrong someone attacks them And then because they've been attacked that person attacks them And then that person attacks them and then that person attacks them and that person attacks them How does it end? You know how it ends someone says i'm not going to attack you anymore I You can't fight fire with fire always, okay? Sometimes you just have to say you know what you did me wrong But i'm just gonna go ahead and let it go I'm gonna give you this word grace. I think that most christians sadly enough don't even know what the definition of grace is Apparently because the word grace means they have done you wrong Oh, i'm very gracious. Okay. Show me an example of someone Criticizing you attacking you doing you wrong and you not retaliating. They're like, why would I not retaliate? It's called grace Grace is giving somebody what they don't deserve It's not giving them what they do deserve. It's like well they deserve to be attacked They deserve to be called out. They deserve to be responded to they deserve for me to hit them in the face Okay, but that's not gracious is it? That might be what's just that might be what is reciprocal, but it's not grace. It's not mercy It's not long suffering. It's not charitable. We have to understand that the word grace implies error You cannot extend grace to someone that has not trespassed against you You can only extend grace to someone that's trespassed you it's like i'm so gracious The guy that bought me a really nice car. I said, thanks That's not grace That's expected. Okay Grace is the person that did something bad to you And you treated them. Well, you treated them better than they deserve and we have to understand that love worketh no ill Even though they may have trespressed against me. I don't have to do something to them that causes ill towards them I don't have to attack them. I don't have to speak evil of them. I don't have to call them names I don't have to do that. I don't have to reciprocate Obviously there's a time and a place to to Help your brother know that they've trespassed right? Hey, you did this and this is wrong. Hey, I didn't appreciate that Hey, you shouldn't do this that is not attacking someone, you know The bible makes it clear that we should at times reprove and rebuke our neighbor But that's not wishing them ill that's just saying look you shouldn't do this. You shouldn't say this you shouldn't call this But that's not retaliation That's not going, you know outside of the biblical parameters, but in many cases even when you call someone out, they don't respond correctly And you can do this let it go And Sometimes you can just even decide i'm not even gonna i'm just gonna let that one slide This person did this whatever, you know, this person, you know said something did something We shouldn't take heed to all words that are spoken That's what the bible says in ecclesiastes chapter number seven. We've already addressed that recently, but Hey, some people say dumb stuff. Sometimes you just need to let it go And if you can't let it go tell them once you've told them let it go You say I don't like that. Okay. Well, then you're not gracious You know, we need to love one another and you know what if we just constantly are retaliating for every little grievance Then pretty soon. We won't like any we won't like each other at all You want to like people you need to give them grace That's what people really appreciate and this passage brings up examples of people not doing this Now I want to keep reading in this passage a little bit more because this isn't this is a really important point That's being brought up look at verse number Fifth or 16 this I say then walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh for the flesh Lusted against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other So you cannot do the things that you would but if you be led of the spirit You're not under the law now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness Idolatry witchcraft notice this word hatred When you're hating your brother you're in the flesh There's no reason to hate your brother variance emulation wrath when you have wrath towards your brother you're in the flesh Strife when you're at strife with your brother You are in the flesh the bible says only by pride cometh contention. Did we forget that verse? If you have contention with your brethren someone's prideful Because the reality is if I trespass against you and it's clear and you point that out I should immediately say you're right and fix It right. So if no one's prideful in the situation, there's no strife. Where does the strife come in? Someone is going to be prideful Either a the person won't admit they're wrong and take ownership and they're prideful or b The other person cannot extend grace and let things go and because of their own pride they Continue to fester the pride of the other person They continue to fester the problem, but the reality is if we love one another We would extend grace and we would not cause strife to continue to go we would humble ourselves And allow us to be wronged. I mean, do you not remember what jesus christ said turn the other cheek? I know that we love to preach about the reprobate doctrine I know that we love to preach against sodomites and all these god haters and all this stuff, you know Sometimes we need to take the lessons of the bible and apply them to ourselves And jesus christ literally said to turn the other cheek now, is that to a reprobate? No, but we're not talking about that But here's the thing What is I mean how many people in here would like it if I walked up to you and I just slapped you across the face? Wouldn't that be embarrassing? Wouldn't you be like what in the world? I mean who would want me to just bring you up right here and just smack you across the face And what did jesus say do turn to the other cheek? That's what our lord and savior told us to do But how many christians today are willing to be publicly humiliated multiple times in a row? That's a loving person, isn't it? That's a loving person that would say you know what you did me wrong But i'm not going to respond i'm going to turn the other cheek right now I'm going to allow this to let i'm going to let this go And at the end of the day that doesn't mean you couldn't say why smitest thou me jesus said that to the pharisees. Did he not? Jesus was was asking. I mean the apostle paul asked questions like why are you doing this? This isn't right I mean if someone does this wrong we can say that but he's not going to withdraw himself He's still going to put himself out there. He's still allowing them to even make bad decisions We need to walk in the spirit. What does walking in the spirit look like? Turning of the cheek Not causing strife not being prideful not having wrath not having hatred if you're hating other christians right now You are wrong If you're wrathful towards other christians right now you are wrong Now does that i'm not discounting proper reproof and proper rebuke they have their place But we should at the same time extend a lot of grace and a lot of long-suffering even when people are wrong When they are wrong Now what is the bible let's keep reading Verse 22 let's skip but to the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace love and peace Notice this long-suffering Gentleness What is long-suffering giving people space to fix their issues? What is gentleness? Obviously, it's not being harsh. It's not being condescending It's allowing people the Opportunity to get things right in a calm kind gracious manner and spirit We should be gentle, you know, we as we as god-fearing people should be gentle people we should be gentle to Our families we should be gentle to the loss. Hey when a visitor comes in Hey, what do you think about facts? It's like I don't know. Oh, man, you're just an idiot, aren't you? You're like a fag loving idiot, aren't you? You know You don't agree with we we think we should shoot them in the head right now. Do you agree or disagree? Is that really being gentle? You know, what if someone came in dressed inappropriate and we're like why are you dressing like a hooker, you know, it's like Let's just be honest. It's not being gentle Now again, there's a time and a place for hard preaching I'm never going to stop hard preaching but in my my personal life and in my conversations with people, you know what? I'm not going around just trying to be as harsh and critical as I possibly can and we should sometimes be gentle And even when people make mistakes or people are wrong or people are confused or people are just frankly stupid It takes every fiber of my spiritual being to not attack physically flat earthers, okay Like it it makes me viscerally angry Okay But i've you know, and i've preached hard about that Anybody in this room knows that that's true There's been plenty of times where someone comes up to me and they start telling me about it And i'm just like, okay. Yeah, I think that's wrong, you know, let me you know, the bible is really clear on this But inside i'm thinking like I just want to you know, scream and yell and rip this guy's head off, you know Like that's how I feel Okay, and i'm not even saying that i'm perfect I'm not even saying that I haven't gotten the flesh in these areas Sometimes i'm not even saying that i'm always like that But of course that is what we should do. That's what we would do if we were walking in the spirit When people make mistakes not just ripping their head off not cursing them not wishing them evil Not calling them a fake and a phony and a fraud and a weirdo and and whatever And look everybody wants to just be quick to throw out All kinds of accusations when they're in the flesh and they're too emotional and we as christians Are not demonstrating being disciples of christ when we act like that The disciples of christ are loving disciples of christ are turning of the cheek The disciples of christ are compassionate the disciples of christ are long suffering the disciples of christ are gentle It also says here in verse 23 meekness Meekness is similar to humility Having an opinion of oneself that i'm not better than others And recognizing that we all make mistakes. It's very very easy For people especially that have high standards to think highly of themselves And to think well, I would never do that. I would never say that i'm not so stupid. I'm not so foolish Oh, look at me. I'm better than you. I can't believe you haven't come to the same conclusions as me You must be You know retarded or something forgive me for that word if you don't like that word, but Go go to first peter chapter three, you know people throw out pretty insulting language and i'm using mild language Okay, some people use some extreme language this is not being Gentle, this is not being meek The bible talks about moses being the meekest man upon the face of the earth. What did that mean? It he did not Hold his position of authority because he thought so highly of himself But rather was a humble servant being used by the lord if we think about his his entrance into his position. He was not Saying of course you picked me I'm the guy obviously he was even somewhat level of uncertain about being used by god And feeling humbled and appreciative of god using him as that Vessel for the lord's service and we should always approach any position any status any knowledge that we've acquired with meekness Not saying like how dumb are you to not know this? But rather saying, you know at one point I was like this person at one point I struggled in this area at one point. I had issues and saying you know what? I need to take the effort and energy here to Be kind and gentle. Did I have you turn to first peter? Look at verse eight of chapter number three, okay The bible says finally Be all of one mind having compassion one of another love his brethren be pitiful Be courteous Be pitiful What is what does being pitiful mean? In a dictionary it kind of has two senses at least one sense. Sometimes it's like pathetic But that's not what we're talking about. It's talking about having pity so it'd be similar to the idea of compassion We should have compassion and it's not only to the lost. It's also to our brethren compassion. Hey, I can see why you're upset Hey, I kind of understand where you're coming from hey, I can see your point of view Hey, I can see how we disagree and that doesn't make you a bad person for having a different opinion than me The spiritual person can have pity on other people and you know what pitting people when they're down It's really frustrating to see people Say like I think this person is making a bad decision and then they can't even be pitiful towards that person or having compassion There's a person they have to attack that person they have to be vicious they have to be harsh They have to be extremely judgmental that they can't lovingly look at someone they think is wrong and a pity or Compassion or mercy or grace towards that individual? Well, let's keep reading here, let's read verse number nine Not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing but contrary wise blessing Knowing that you there unto are there unto called that you should inherit a blessing The Bible says in verse 10 for he that will love life and see good days Let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no guile Let him eschew evil and do good. Let him seek peace and do it, you know when we speak we should take the opportunity to seek peace and not Render evil evil not railing for railing not working ill towards our neighbor not increasing strife not increasing wrath not increasing hatred increasing grace long suffering mercy being gentile being pitiful having compassion and Seeking peace. We should be peace makers blessed are the peacemakers is what Jesus Christ said This is the attitude and the spirit that we should have go back to Galatians, I want to go back to Galatians chapter number six It's easy to say that you're loving But most people just aren't in fact if you're not even saved the Bible says you can't even love anyways Real love comes from people who are saved that are walking in the spirit who are able to actually get out of the flesh When you're in the flesh you don't have real love and most people think love is reciprocating good for good. That is not love Love is reciprocating good for evil. Love is helping people when they're down Love is serving people that are under your authority. Love is not working ill towards your neighbor. It's only doing good and seeking peace and Even if you think someone's wrong or has done something wrong. What does the Bible say in Galatians 6 verse 1 brethren? If a man be overtaken in a fault he which are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness Considering thyself Lest thou also be tempted bear ye one another's burdens and So fulfill the law of Christ we are to love one another when your neighbor's Animal falls in the ditch. You're supposed to pick it up When the Good Samaritan is Going on his way and he finds a man that's been beaten up without money. He serves him. He doesn't work ill He's not even necessarily somebody he knows it's not even somebody should help that is what it means to love That's what it means to do good. How many pious religious zealots just walked right on by The Pharisee Levi they don't even care What is God saying hey, I want the guy the Samaritan who's not even that great of a guy but love God appreciated him more and I think sometimes we think like well, I'm I'm not like other men. I thank thee God that I'm not like other men. I go to the new IFB I Go to a fundamental Baptist Church three times a week. I tithe of all that I possess. I even tithe on gift cards. I Tithe on the gift card I get from memorizing the soul winning verse or the verse of the week I've memorized every verse In fact, I've never missed a service. I sing the songs the loudest But at the same time they have no compassion Towards their brethren. They have no pity. They return railing for railing evil for evil Well, you know that person is not a loving person and they're not even a disciple Being a disciple is not a checklist it is a spirit and it is an attitude of love and compassion towards your brethren if You don't have that if you haven't been constantly showing grace mercy and long-suffering the people that have done you wrong I question if you're a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ and The Good Samaritan we may look at him. He doesn't go to the new IFB. He doesn't go to a good church He doesn't have all the checklist that you have, but you know what? He showed love When a lot of people wouldn't and you know what? The Lord Jesus Christ is commending him He likes him We can always look at to ourselves and think we're so much greater than we are But you know what? Even if you could recognize even if objectively I'm right and they're wrong. What does it say? We're supposed to restore such one in the spirit of meekness Meekness It's frustrating when I've seen people doing something that they believe someone's done wrong And again, it doesn't really matter what the truth is if you believe someone's done something wrong What should your attitude be towards that person meekness? Not being harsh overly critical Acting like you're superior and better than them You know, I try You know, and I'm not perfect in this area, but hey when someone's wrong let's let's try to lovingly help them figure out how to fix this or come alongside them and not just judge them super strict and Not just be really condemning and not just well, I would never do that. I would never make that mistake I'm not like that. I stand completely against that Okay. Well, you're great Congratulations, you're so amazing Your marriage is so much better than everybody else and your relationships and your walk with God and your Christianity and You're so much more knowledgeable. You know what when someone's going down. That's not a time to congratulate yourself Especially especially with these really vague virtue signaling statements I stand against sin I I Stand against abuse. Oh, you're so amazing Find me the person in this world that has a public statement that says I stand with abuse I would love to see that public statement, you know, and people love that you can graduate themselves About how I wouldn't do this and I would be like this especially when they themselves have not even crossed the finish line They're boasting themselves before they've even taken off the harness And you should be extremely careful when you're judging people for failing in an area that you haven't even gotten close to finishing yet Go go to Matthew chapter number seven go to Matthew chapter number seven What is the attitude if you believe someone's at fault? It doesn't say don't address it It doesn't say don't try to help them. It says to do it in the spirit of meekness you Considering yourself saying Hey, we can all make mistakes. You know, the Bible says about David. He's the man up to God's own heart Do you really think you're better than David and if David can sin grievously, which he said previously adultery and murder I mean that is rough that tells me that anybody in this room could commit some serious sin and We should always be considering ourself to say you know what I'm not so much better than anybody else that I couldn't create I couldn't commit a big sin that I couldn't have a blind spot that I couldn't have an issue and it's really frustrating when Christians especially fundamental Baptists like to pretend that they have it all together and that they're not capable of making mistakes and they judge Extremely harshly in areas that they themselves are have never even competed in yet What does it say in Matthew chapter 7 verse 1 judge not that you be not judged For with what judgment you judge you shall be judged and with what measure you meet it shall be measured to you again And why beholdest thou the moat that is my brother's eye But consider it's not the beam that is in thine own eyes a lot of people are very quick to judge not Necessarily doing it to themselves. We should always be judging ourselves more harshly than others We should always be looking to ourselves and that'll help you have a meek spirit that'll help you have a good attitude You know whenever you're you're thinking about someone else's faults Which we all do okay, we all We can't stop thoughts You're gonna always be you know inundated with this idea of why I think this person got this wrong Or this is an issue or I don't like this. You should then stop immediately and say what about me? Do I have an area do I have an issue in this area What about other areas that are similar do I have an error do I have an issue in this area who am I to judge? Do I does it even make sense am I doing this in a spirit of meekness and? Again, if you go through all that checklist then of course you know sometimes we have to correct brethren sometimes We have to approve But we should always be careful with what judgment we judge because it'll be judged back to us and not by humans by God God is the one that texts this and I'm gonna be honest with you I want the maximum amount of grace that God can give me I Do not want the least amount of grace that God's gonna give me and if I want that the only way for me to procure That is to be gracious unto others now does this mean now? We just tolerate everything and love everything and we become this liberal leftist That's just you know loves everything that's evil and wicked because we want to err on the side of grace wrong We always have balance But at the end of the day we have to go through a checklist of saying what about myself what about my issues what? About my areas am I being equal am I being a hypocrite about this and making sure that we're helping people with a spirit of meekness Go if you went to Hebrews chapter 10 go to Hebrews chapter number 10 If we want to have a good church it's only gonna be if we love each other and You know what the measure is for how we love each other Not liking the people that you like Not being nice to the people that are nice to you You know what it's being gracious unto the people that you disagree. It's being kind and long-suffering with people that make mistakes and It's being meek when people do you wrong? that's how we tell if we have a loving church because We're gonna we're gonna upset each other constantly people are gonna. Do you wrong people gonna say things that are dumb girls are gonna be mean Get over it. You know guys are gonna be dumb I Mean it's basically guys can be dumb girls can be mean and that's just life kids are rough kids are wild Okay, and and man is simple man Likes to just make mistakes we like to criticize we like to be harsh, but when these things happen You know we don't have to have strife Contention Only comes by pride only by pride cometh contention it takes two to tango folks and If you cast out the scorner, then you have no then you have no problems I Believe that our church can be a great example of love but we have to make sure that we're serving one another and we have to make sure that we're not wishing ill and we're not working ill towards one another and Thirdly we need to make sure that when we provoke one another That we're not provoking each other with wrath envy strife railing. We're provoking one another with love I'm gonna says in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 24 and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and a good works When you upset somebody let me ask you this question are you upsetting them? By provoking them to love or you provoking them to wrath Saying hey, I want you to come to church with me Hey, let's be nice to this person. Hey, let's be gracious this person. Hey, let's go soul-winning. Hey, let's not do that Hey, let's not act that way. Hey, let's help this person. That's provoking someone unto love and the good works But what it what you have so much opportunity there's power in in the tongue of life and death the power of life and death are in the tongue and You know you're gonna reap the benefits of what you do you're gonna reap what you sow there if you're constantly Provoking people into love you're probably gonna in return receive a lot of love If you're constantly provoking people into wrath and anger and hatred and variants and all these different things You're gonna probably receive a lot of what hatred variants you're gonna reap what you sow and We as God's people need to make sure that we're provoking one another unto love Encouraging people to love more encouraging people to have good works Encouraging people to do right not just being like nuts to you I can't stand you you're evil. You're wicked. I hope you get hit by a car You know whatever and again I like memes like the next guy But I just don't want to just make all these memes attacking say people and just making them feel isolated and embarrassed and you know Taking taking advantage of someone's faults or issues or whatever you know we should be careful That we're not just always as being joking that that we're not serious If you only ever joke with people you'll never have close relationships in Order to have really close relationships you have to the majority of the time be serious with them You have to be serious with them and again. I love jokes as much as the next guy, okay? My personality is the type to take nothing serious. I grew up as arguably one of the most sarcastic people to ever live Okay, I can be more sarcastic than you could ever imagine All right, and I grew up as a very sharp tongue You know I would I can criticize people I can make fun of people and that's not that's not good But I have to I have to exercise control and temperance in that area and say yeah This would be really funny for me to say about this person, but I'm just not gonna say that one I'm not gonna think that I'm just gonna text my wife, okay, all right, and we have a fun conversation together About a lot of things okay But you know I don't I don't want to go around Just trashing people and making people feel uncomfortable and attacking people you know if I have an opportunity to speak Why don't I speak in a way that provokes them to love more or to do good more or serve Christ more or? Something positive you know that that's what we should spend our time and effort and energy doing Edifying one another building one another up go if you would be Ephesians chapter 4 How can the world tell that we're truly God's disciples by loving one another How can we demonstrate that? We're letting the devil win When we're not loving one another When we're rendering evil for evil railing for railing we're not turning the other cheek But in fact we're having these stupid power slap competition who knows what I'm talking about this like major This has become like super popular where people are trading slaps with one another And I'm thinking like how is this our world that we live in how is this even entertaining? I'm not trying to criticize you if you watch this. I'm just saying personally. It's like up there with NASCAR for me it's just like this is so silly and It's so weird. I'm just I'm just like what what what is wrong with our culture? That we're kind of again I guess it's probably we all would got on rumble and it's like they have a major sponsor on rumble or something It's like anytime you go to the site It's just like all these stupid slapping videos are up there, and I'm just like I don't watch this Not interested in this and it's like this is what the world is like the world is just a big slapping competition Some people that's all they use social media for is it just going up. There's finding someone to slap and They're just seeing who who can slap the hardest until someone gives up Right and it's just this big slapping competition of just like well I can slap the hardest or I can slap the the fiercest or I can take the most slaps or something But you know that's just not Christianity that's not loving one another And again if you compete in this you're weird, but I'm not gonna fight you okay I don't want to have a slapping competition after the service or anything But like spiritually speaking this did not be how we act We shouldn't be just trying to see if we how much we can slap each other. We see how much we can serve one another provoke each other under love and good works I Want to read these these verses again today It says in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 1 I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the location Wherewith you're called verse 2 with all lowliness and meekness With long suffering for bearing one another in love verse 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace You know we have only so much energy each day Let us spend our energy and effort endeavoring that's that's a strong word to keep unity and And that's what I want for all of the relationship You know I want my mom and dad and my brother and sister who you know while we don't have The same relationship we've had in the past The efforts that I have to be around them. I want to endeavor to have some unity now if I can't I can't You know the Bible says a man's folks will be they have his own household And that's an unfortunate reality for most of us I think a lot of us could testify that we've had some strained family relationships as we've gotten older maybe as a result of making decisions about church about your decisions for Christianity and Some people will criticize it, and I've heard this and they say well if you become a fundamental Baptist. They teach you to like Not be nice to your family anymore not hanging out your family anymore like abandon your family or something and you know it I think that's an unfair criticism But at the same time I want to make sure that we're careful that we're not actually guilty of that Because you know I'm not trying to like not have a good relationship with my brother and sister and family members I want to endeavor to keep the unity, but obviously if they separate if they don't want to have fellowship It's like hey come with me to church. Hey. Let's talk about the Bible. Hey. Let's do the things that make sense You know sometimes there's gonna have to be a necessary separation if they're like we're gonna go to the bar We're gonna go drinking. We're gonna do these things that are inappropriate, then you just say you know what why can't join you for that Why don't you go with me to church instead? You know I'm provoking them unto love and good works And I want to encourage them to do the right thing and we should always do this for all of our friends family in the Situations that we have where we're provoking them to do the right thing and we're encouraging them and trying to keep unity in a church unity is so important That's the only point of a church and Most churches today. They're not rallied around this point a lot of churches They they're rallied around the fact that we all live five minutes from this building Let's just be honest most churches today The only unity that that church has really rallied around is their geographical location to that property and That is an important factor because if you're not within certain range. It's not practical Okay, obviously we all have to live within a certain level of geographic location to come to a church together But that shouldn't be the most important factor The most important factor should be that we're here to unify and rally around Christ That's what it says in verse 4 for there's one body in one spirit even as you're called in one hope of your calling one Lord one faith one baptism one God and father of all who is above All and through all and in you all so we're here gathered around the one God that exists We have the one Holy Spirit. We have one faith. Our one faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ We're not here in a mixed bag of some people in works. Some people leave baptism regeneration Some people believe in Hinduism Some people don't even believe in God. It's like no we all are unified around the King James Bible the Lord Jesus Christ salvation by faith and Whatever differences we have outside of this we should work on trying to still be unified You know, it's gonna be diversity of spirits I'm sorry of Administrations that are given through the spirit. We're all have different roles. We all have different places that we're coming from but we should always endeavor to keep unity and that's important at any church and any area and as the body of Christ as a whole I believe that even when we're outside these walls We should endeavor to keep unity with other brethren as much as possible and to be friendly towards other Christians as much as possible Sometimes you have to separate David separated from Saul But you know, it wasn't because David didn't want to hang out with Saul it's because Saul was trying to physically kill him Okay, so when you come to me like I feel like I have to separate from this this other Christian I'm gonna be like how many times has he thrown a spear at you? You're like, well, you know, he called me a bad name one time. You know, that's not legitimate to separate You know what? You can still be friends with people that don't act perfect now when they're trying to physically kill you Yeah, okay. Let's separate from that person, right? I mean at that point It's like let's not be around that individual for your physical safety I get that and you know what? there's sometimes that brethren cross a line in 1st Corinthians chapter number 5 because they're in serious sin like drunkenness idolatry Railing these type of evil sins where you have to say, you know what? we would love to be around you, but for now you have to fix this issue and we're not saying we're better than you and You know I'm willing to help you and I'll pick you up for church and I'll try to be accountability for you and I'll encourage you But I just can't hang out with you the same until you fix this area of your life and restoring one in the spirit of meekness This is what love looks like and of course You know how the world doesn't understand love at all and love in the world won't the world's gonna hate us they're in the flesh they can't understand this and We still have the flesh I think that some people don't realize a Saved person as a flesh if you're in the flesh, you're gonna act just like every other unsaved person in this world You can do some horrible things I mean the Bible just has countless story of of saved people acting really badly Saul acted really poorly But you know what? We shouldn't attack Saul Okay, we shouldn't try to kill Saul or something like that And when we have fellow brothers and sisters in Christ that aren't acting appropriately We should still love them be gracious unto them be kind of them belong suffering unto them We should be gentle that should be our disposition and The devil wins when us when we as Christians stop being disciples the devil wins when we stop loving the devil wins when we are not gracious and And the devil wins when this church stops having unity We need to always strive to have unity one with another and be gracious one to another and I'm challenging you To not only like the people that are doing good unto you. I Challenge you to not only like the ladies Who have only said nice things about you? I challenge you when someone does something wrong for you to restore them in the spirit of meekness and to be careful how you judge be careful how you act and Those that are outside these walls. Let us be a good example of people who love and say, you know what? I'm not gonna be this person that's just going online and just trashing everybody and talking negatively about everybody and Judging other people harshly and kicking people when they're down and when I disagree with you You're wrong and stupid and evil and wicked and just a terrible person and a lot of people are gonna act like that But you don't have to People are gonna lie about you, but you don't have to lie about them I've had pastors slander us and slander me and I'm said hey that's wrong, but I don't have to slander them. I Don't have to return railing for railing and I can still wish for their good I can't I don't know. Well, I hope God destroys your church. That's a bad attitude And you know, there's a lot of pastor. Let's just be honest. We're independent fundamental Baptist virtually every pastor out there. I disagree with something There's no way I'm gonna find a pastor I just I agree with every decision they make every single thing they do You know what? I'm not gonna pick them apart You know, I think it's wrong and dishonorable it when people do this and some people do this they'll like make videos Literally criticizing someone else for every single thing they can think of Like there's here's my video series of every single thing. I can think negatively about this person That is not the right spirit Okay, I mean I'm like, how can you genuinely say that you have a spirit of meekness and gentleness and kindness When you're just like here's every red flag. Here's every grievance. Here's every problem. I could possibly think about this person Because I mean what if we all did that to everybody I Mean what if I'm just like, all right I just want to let I'm just go down the list of the church role and I want to tell you all every negative thing I think about y'all That'll be a fun. What if you did that in your marriage? Look your wife has a way longer list than you don't want to play this game. Okay, and She remembers way more You know, this is not what we want to do. This is not Christianity This is not how we want to handle ourselves. Okay. Now look if it's a literal false prophet Son of Belial you cannot criticize them enough I will never I will never attack you for how much you criticize false prophets and Wolves and reprobates. I approve your message. I Automatically approve I don't even have to read it and it just checkmark. Okay But when it's Christians when it's other brethren love cover the multitude of sense We should have a different attitude and a different approach Towards those individuals and even when you don't like people you disagree. Hey, call them out when it's needed necessary But make be careful how you judge Because I sure wouldn't want someone making videos telling me everything that I've ever done wrong and some people try And hey, I got problem. I could preach against myself pretty well. I Could make myself seem like a pretty bad guy if I thought about all the negative things I think about that I've decisions I've made problems I've had and my wife is even better at it. Okay folks Let's let's not let's not be like that Can we can we try to love one another and do it? Christ really said can we actually have some disciples? Well, it's up to us If we do these things then we would be known as Christ's disciples and you know I'd love for when Christ returns or for him to look down from heaven and think like hey There are still some disciples on this earth. They didn't all vanish They didn't all stop loving one another let us take these words of Christ and let us look inward Some of you might be thinking like man, there's someone that needs this message you need it Someone needs to make a change to you Someone needs to start being more gracious to you Someone needs to stop fighting. It's you. All right, let's go some prayer. Thank you Heavenly Father so much for giving us this special message from your son Of how to be a disciple. It's to love one another This is very difficult. This is a very challenging task, but you've modeled it so well for us Thank you so much for how long-suffering and gracious and kind you are to us I pray that we would also take that same spirit and the same attitude and we apply it to others That would be very careful When we approach other Christians and other brothers in Christ and that we would try our best to love one another That we wouldn't allow ourselves to bite and devour one another That whenever we perceive fault in a spirit of meekness, we would try to restore such a one Please help our church to be unified around you and around unified around core doctrine And I pray that we would also have a gracious and kind spirit to those That are outside these walls to our family and to our friends and to other fellow believers Thank you for your example in Jesus name we pray. Amen All right in closing let's go to song number 288 song number 288 Song number 288 Oh I I Hey Great singing everybody. You were all dismissed