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

Amen. Mark chapter 10. I mean, there's about 100 different sermons you could preach out of Mark chapter 10, aren't there, but we're going to look specifically at just a few verses from verse 28. So Mark chapter 10 and from verse 28, where the Bible reads, Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, there is no man that has left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the Gospels. But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last and the last first. And the title of my sermon today is Divide and Unite. Divide and Unite. I'd like to also pray quickly before we continue. So, Father, I thank you for this passage in the Bible that I'm going to preach from now. Please help me to preach it just accurately and help me to preach it boldly. Help those here to just have attentive ears and just help everyone to be able to apply what they hear today to their lives. Help me, just fill me with your spirit, please, Lord. And in Jesus' name I pray all of this. Amen. So as you read your Bible and grow as a Christian, you realise that the Christian life is very different to how you imagined it, don't you? I don't know. Everyone probably had their different idea of what they thought it would be like, not only before they got saved, but I'd imagine also after they were saved as well. Getting saved doesn't mean suddenly you understand and know everything. And when you're first saved, you probably have ideas of how your life is going to be, how it's going to go, when you start going to church, how that's going to be as well. And maybe before you were saved or when you were first saved, you maybe saw it as maybe a bit boring and a bit nerdy. Yeah, there would probably be some there that looked at Christ as a bit of a boring life, you know, a little bit whatever you might call it. At school we used to call people geeks or something like this, you know, the type that you don't actually read or do anything like that. And maybe you looked at it like that. Or maybe you thought, maybe you're exposed to a different type of Christianity. Or maybe you thought that you'd just be surrounded by absolute nutters. You thought that you'd just have all these sort of praise God, hallelujah types, just kind of every other word is, you know, praise the Lord and everything else. You just thought, wow, am I going to become like that because I'm saved now? Because again, everyone is kind of exposed to different types of Christians, aren't they? Or maybe, maybe you thought that your life would be spent in soup kitchens, kind of just serving, waiting, hand of foot on, you know, various types of homeless, alcoholics, drug addicts, perverts whose families have rejected them, you know, won't give them a place to stay, you know, that sort of thing. Maybe you thought that that's what your life would have to become now, because isn't that mainstream Christianity? In some areas that is. And, you know, we see these different ideas of what a Christian is. But whatever version of Christianity that you've been exposed to, and all of us have been exposed to different versions of, in inverted commas, Christianity, I bet you thought that you'd at least be popular. I bet you thought, well, I probably won't at least be unpopular. You probably thought, well, I'll just be at least tolerated by people. I'll be maybe just put up with those around me. Your old friends would maybe appreciate the words of wisdom because you're kind of on a kind of spiritual high. Now, they'll just appreciate that you're probably a bit more calm and a bit more base than others. You're just going to, you know, give them some wise words. Now, again, they might not want to hang out with you because you've become a bit boring now or something else, but they might at least listen to your words of wisdom. Maybe you'd end up being the calm peacekeeper in family disputes. You'd be the one sort of in the middle trying to keep everyone together because, you know, blessed are the peacemakers, right? You're going to be that sort of person. Maybe you thought that that's how it would be. Maybe you thought that your wayward family members will just visit you from time to time to get some sort of solid guidance. You know, the youngsters, the nephews and nieces might need to stay for a bit to kind of get looked after a bit and get set back, you know, on the right path and everything else. Some unconditional love. Yeah, you thought, well, I'll always be there. I'll be a steady. People will appreciate that, right? They might not want to hang out with me, but they'll appreciate that. But eventually you realise that that's a load of old nonsense, isn't it? That's all a load of old nonsense. Well, maybe not in false Christianity, but that's because it's false Christianity, right? But in real life, in real Christianity, that's not really how it goes, is it? And the more you grow, the more you realise that. Turn to Matthew chapter 10, where Jesus is sending forth his disciples. And if you're here in this church, I'm guessing that you see yourself as a disciple. I hope you see yourself as a disciple, otherwise you probably wouldn't be here in the first place. Well, Jesus is sending them forth here, and he says in Matthew 10 and from verse 34, Jesus says, Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword. Wait a second, what about all those Christmas cards that say peace on earth? What about all of those? Or, you know, those billboards outside the C of E churches? You know, Jesus brought peace, peace on earth and everything else. Well, the peace was between God and men, made possible by the blood of Jesus Christ, right? But however many billboards say that, and however many Christmas cards you get that say that and probably paraphrase it and everything else, however many weird men in dresses say that, the truth is that Jesus didn't come to bring peace between men, did he? Yeah, he didn't promise peace between men, he promised peace between men and God by putting your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What did Jesus say then? Jesus said that he came to send a sword. What do swords do? Well, they divide, don't they? They do some damage a lot of the time, but they divide, yeah? They cut in two, and this sharp sword, it sure does divide, doesn't it? Yeah, that is one sharp sword, and it definitely divides. Look at verse 35, said in verse 35, For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's foes shall be they of his own household. Wait a minute, what happened to hanging out with the Catholic father and the Jewish mother-in-law in the pub and just kind of agreeing to disagree? Isn't that the sort of picture that they paint? Because it's all a different path, isn't it? It's all a different path to the same God. Well, that's not how it works, is it? That's not how it works. The word of God divides, and the only way you're going to avoid that is by avoiding the word of God, yeah? The only way you're going to avoid that division is by avoiding, sorry, the word of God. We don't want to avoid the word of God, do we? Go back to Mark chapter 10. Jesus Christ clearly said there, He just said, sorry, while you're turning back, think not that I am come to send peace, I came not to send peace, but a sword, for I am come to set a man at variance against his father and a daughter, against the mother-in-law, against the mother-in-law, and a man's foes shall be they of his own household. So maybe you're sitting there thinking, well, that's if you're outspoken about contentious things in the Bible. That's for the preacher type. That's for those, you know, those extreme Christians. I've had a family member say, well, you know, just a bit extreme, a bit extreme. Maybe that's the type that we're talking about here. Maybe you're thinking, well, we don't have to go on about sodomites, false Jews, traditional marriage roles, abortion, sorry, ritual child sacrifice. We don't have to go on about that stuff, do we? Isn't that where the contentious contentions come from? You don't have to go on about that. Yeah, no one said you have to go on about it. You don't have to start every conversation and finish every conversation about those sorts of things. But you know that they're not really the issue. Do you know that? They're not really the issue. They're not the real divider. Do you know what the real divider is? Anyone know Christ and specifically it's the gospel? It's the gospel. The real divider is the gospel. Those other issues are the scapegoat. The issue is the gospel. Most people know that sodomites are dogs. Yeah, most normal, sane people know that sodomites are dogs. They don't need the Bible to prove that. Yeah, they might cling to the world's version, the world's explanation, but really they know, yeah? Up until very, very recently, pretty much everyone in this nation and most of the world had no trouble with that concept, did they? No one was going, oh, I don't know. Everyone knew that they're dogs. But, well, what else? What else did we say here? We said, well, how about the people that talk about the Jews? I said, don't talk about the Jews. Well, most people, most people in the world know that there's something very, very iffy about a load of white Europeans claiming to be some sort of indigenous Semitic people, yeah? I think you need to have the Bible and the literal tons and tons of verses that say that to make you realise that, do you? I think most people look at these people and go, that's a little bit odd. In fact, they're a little bit odd, right? Most normal people know that men are suited to the leading and working role, don't they, in the household? And women are suited to the house-making, child-rearing role. That's pretty obvious, isn't it? OK, you don't really need the Bible to confirm that. I think most people know that. They don't need, and it's literally the whole Bible. Look, literally the whole Bible says that in various different places, various different stories and in various different verses. And the Bible, we don't really need that, though, do we, to prove these sort of short-haired, green-short-haired, strange, femi-Nazis that they're wrong, yeah? OK, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? It's obvious stuff. And most people know deep down that murdering your own baby is sick. OK, most people deep down know that, OK? They don't need the Bible to prove that. Because it's all a scapegoat, isn't it? The whole thing is just a scapegoat. It's Jesus Christ and the gospel that they have a problem with. And the Bible says that straight away. Here, look at Mark 10, from verse 28. It says, Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all and followed thee. Now, remember that these guys just left their fishing business, James and John left their father Zebedee, Matthew left his job as a publican, et cetera, et cetera. Well, that's just off the top of my head. But look at verse 29. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel's... And we're just going to pause there for a second. What is the reason that they have left all these things? For Jesus' sake and the gospel's. That's what it's about, isn't it? It's Jesus Christ and the gospel which causes that problem, that causes that division. It's the gospel. See, truthfully, you could talk about all that stuff with the unsaved and much more, all the stuff that just so sings off the top of my head. You could add child-rearing to it. You could add our views on child... So out there, so outlandish, like chastising your child. You can add that. You can add our views on the vaccines, yeah, what the Bible clearly says about they that a whole need not a physician but they that are sick. Yeah, you could talk about that with the unsaved. You could talk about divorce and the wickedness of remarriage and the rest of it and it being adult. You know, most of them, they barely bat an eyelid. I know, because I've been talking about it for years. For years, I'd be coaching unsaved people in one-on-one sessions and I like to talk about this stuff, I like to chat about this stuff, especially as I was growing as a Christian. Most of them agree with it. Most of them agree with it. Most of them agree with it. They might not in public, they might not around the liberal friends and where they think they might get a bit of grief for it. Most people, most normal people agree with all these issues. But try preaching the gospel to them and that's when the division kicks in. You could literally stand there with someone and talk about sodomites. You could talk about all these so-called terrible things in the Bible and then say to them, can I show you how to get saved? And that's when they suddenly just keep away from you. That's when they don't want to talk to you anymore. That's when sometimes they get angry, don't they? That's when you see the eyes go, that's when you see the face contort. It's the gospel, it's the gospel which does it. You try telling Mrs Over-the-Hill that her works aren't good enough and that she's going to hell without faith in Jesus Christ. Yeah, it's so simple. All she has to do is put her faith in Jesus Christ and you watch that sweet old lady suddenly turn into some sort of gnashing dog. That's what happens, isn't it? You see the anger in these people, suddenly they're fuming because you've dared to tell them that going to heaven's a free gift and basically that their works aren't good enough, that their prideful exterior isn't getting them to heaven, that their pride in all the goodness they've done in their religion, that's what it's about. That's ultimately what it's about. It's about Jesus Christ. The rest of it's a scapegoat. And even just offer to explain the gospel to your sister, brother, your parents, your grown-up child, whatever it is, and just watch that division start. Sometimes they won't even let you say it and already that division starts, already they don't want to be around you, already they don't want to risk being in a conversation because you might bring up that gospel again. I mean, how hard is it to just listen to someone show you from the Bible how easy it is to get saved and take it or leave him? But it's so offensive, isn't it? It's a gospel which causes a division because it's not that they can't follow you. So here where it says there is no man that has left house or brethren, it's not that you're banning them from following you, is it? No one's told, well, I hope no one's told their unsaved family or friends, no, you can't get saved, I don't want you putting your faith in Christ, I don't want you following me while I follow the Lord Jesus Christ, it's not that they choose not to, they choose not to. That's what happens, that's what the division is. But what other real point is there in life other than to serve the Lord? What other real point in life is there other than to worship the Lord and serve the Lord? That's what life's all about, isn't it? And all of us here serving the Lord and wow, what a life it is, right? What a life it is and what a blessing it is to do that and there is no other point. Well, they can choose to join you or they can choose to reject you and sadly the vast majority choose to reject. And the main way that we serve the Lord is how? Preaching the Gospel. He's preaching the Gospel, that's what he's commanded us to do, that's the first works, that's the first love, that's the Great Commission, that's what it means to be a Christian, really. Without preaching the Gospel, you're not really a disciple, are you? Because you're basically ignoring the first commandment. The Great Commission is to preach the Gospel to every creature, not just to your workmate if they're the type that you think might be into Christianity. To preach the Gospel, that's what we're told to do. And that's what really triggers them, isn't it? You see, it's bad enough that you try to preach the Gospel to them. You tell them that you go out and door knock. What sort of a weirdo are you? Because really, if you're going out and door knocking, they're thinking you're not only trying to preach to me, you're going to preach to other people and then you're probably going to try and preach to me more and more. Because you're probably not going to just put up with me kind of trying to shut you down once. Because you preach the Gospel, that's the divider, isn't it? And they hate it. They absolutely... Some sort of Jehovah's Witness, you knock on someone's door. I mean, what sort of a crazed extremist are you? To knock on someone's door and politely ask them if they'd like you to preach the Gospel to them. I mean, it's out there, isn't it? Well, that's the issue, that's the problem, that's the divider. That's what it really comes down to. And the rest of it is a scapegoat, isn't it? Look at verse 29. Again, let's just pause for a second before we continue. Some of us have left house for Jesus Christ and the Gospel. Some people have done that. I'm sure if many here worked an extra job instead of church, maybe instead of soul-winning times, sent their kids to the worldly school and their wives to work, spent their Bible reading time studying for more qualifications, they could probably have a big house. They could probably own a house. They could probably have what the world tells them that they should be trying to get. Maybe they haven't. Maybe they've forsaken that for the Lord. But maybe in the future, maybe there are some even here that might even lose their house because of Jesus Christ's sake and the Gospel. Maybe they lose it. Do you know that there's people at Steadfast Baptist Church that have lost their job for just attending Steadfast Baptist Church? How bad is that? Look, I'll be honest, that could happen in the future here. That could happen here. There are people here that, oh, wait a second, you go to that church? And maybe it won't, I don't know. Maybe America's just plummeting so far down now that maybe it's just going to be there. I don't know. But you know that that could happen. That has happened in the past. Yeah, that could happen. Lose your job, you might lose your house for the Lord, for the Gospel. And some of us here have watched that gap grow, haven't we, with siblings, parents, children, even unsaved spouses, yeah? It's happened to, you know, you can think of examples of people here, people that have been here, maybe people that will be here in the future. All of that happens, right? Some have left lands, yeah? They've moved areas, even countries, have left jobs, savings and more, for Jesus Christ's sake and for the Gospels, right? Is it a bad thing? Is that a bad thing? Are you looking at that going, ah, just the hardship of it? Is it all doom and gloom? Of course not. Of course not. Look at verse 30. But he shall receive an hundredfold. Now in this time, houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the world to come eternal life. And Jesus is telling us that if we've lost those things for his sake and the Gospels, we're going to receive more in return here in this time. You know, you might be thinking, wait a minute, brother, and this sounds a bit far-fetched. I knew this was fairy tales. This is far-fetched, isn't it? How are we going to receive multiple houses? Anyone here know anyone with multiple houses? Brethren, sisters, mothers, children and lands? Well, let's go backwards on this list. Okay, let's just imagine things get even worse in the United States. The sodomites were then getting away with literal murder. Do you know what they do outside steadfast as well? Is apparently when they go out and they're looking to turn onto the busy road, they then hold a sign out at them to block their view of the traffic as they're coming out onto the road. And did you know that the police do nothing about it? Okay, that's where we're at right now. And how quickly have we got to that point? You can imagine that 10, 20, probably even five years ago. Definitely not 10 years ago, 20 years ago. Now say they start getting away with literal murder, and that's already getting close, isn't it? Say they start getting away with that out there. And our pastor, you name a pastor and it doesn't even have to be a pastor, you just name a good solid, you know they're a good honest Christian from one of those churches out there that are trying to stand up for the gospel for Jesus Christ, for the word of God. Say they just said, look, I've got to get out of here. They're coming for us. Anyone here wouldn't put them up in your home for a bit? I know I would. I bet everyone else would, right? Yeah? Man, they've got multiple houses, haven't they? Multiple homes that they could come to. And every single person, I hope a lot of people here would just say, yeah, I'll make a way for you to come to my house. You know that doing things for God means that God's people appreciate you, don't they? Yeah, when you make a stand, when you lose things, make your stand for the gospel, make your stand for the Lord Jesus Christ, you gain a lot. You gain a lot. Yeah, you might not have the worldly version of it, but that's not what's important, is it? Because that worldly person, when they lose their house, when they do something, when something goes wrong with them, have they got a load of people queuing up to help them? Only if they can get something out of them usually. But here, I'm sure everyone here, I know I would, and I know many people here would do the same. How about we had some senior age members whose kids had disowned them for their faith, yeah? There are people like that out there, aren't there? Maybe we had that in this church. They've disowned them. I hope they would feel like they had multiple kids here, though. Multiple youngsters, not even necessarily youngsters, who would happily go round their home, do odd jobs for them, help them with the things that maybe they'd rely on a son or a daughter to do. As they got older, help look after them, help them with their shopping, things like that, they've got multiple kids, haven't they? They've got multiple kids, haven't they? They've got multiple children. How many who may have been forsaken by their father or mother for their faith might see older church members as a parent figure, yeah? Suddenly they've gained multiple fathers and mothers here. And how many of us here, I hope, would happily help out and do things for the younger members of our church, yeah? How many of us see each other as brothers and sisters? I know I do, yeah, I hope everyone else does, because I look out here and I see the brothers and sisters I didn't have, really. And how many of us here see that, right? That's why we call each other brothers and sisters, this or that, because we're like brothers and sisters, aren't we? Because we have a love for each other, we have a respect for each other, we have a want to do things for each other that you're not going to get out in the world, are you? Well, we've gained brothers and sisters, haven't we? And have you noticed how the thing he didn't mention there, by the way? He didn't mention multiple wives, did he? Okay, so, yeah, just a quick point there. He said in verse 29, or wife or children or lands, verse 30, there's many multiple things, but you're not going to get multiple wives, you're not going to get multiple husbands, and that's a good thing, isn't it? But all these things here, all these things, if someone here lost their home for the gospel's sake, they got evicted for their beliefs, there would be multiple people here with multiple houses, wouldn't there? Yeah? I hope there would. If it was for those reasons, it wasn't because they were just some sort of lazy scumbag and they were conning the tax man or something else, but if it is, some people apparently do that, right? But if it is for good reason, yeah? And it was, you could just see that person's been persecuted for their faith, that I think we're all, a lot of us here, I hope, we want to help each other, right? Because with the division, do you know what comes with division? Greater union amongst those that have a reason to be united, yeah? And we all have a reason to be united, don't we? Everyone here has a reason to be united because it can be rough when those divisions happen. And many of us here who have started seeing those divisions happen have gone through divisions, yeah? Divisions that maybe when you were young you could never see happening with certain family members. When that variance happens, when our household become our foes, sometimes they become your foes. And that is a weird thing, isn't it? That's a weird thing. That brother or sister, that family member that you grew up with, loving becomes your foe, becomes your enemy. But when that happens for the right reasons, not because you're seeking it, not because you're seeking it, or seeking it, when that happens for the right reasons, not because you're kicking off with everyone, not because you're trying to be contentious with everyone, not because you're trying to cause a problem to show how persecuted you are, but when that happens for your faith, when that happens because of the Gospel for Jesus Christ's sake, it means that you're doing something right. That means you're doing something right. Look at verse 30 again, But he shall receive an hundredfold, now in this time houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions, and in the world to come eternal life. Okay, it comes with the persecutions, because in this life it's with persecutions. That's when you get blessed. You don't have to turn to 2 Timothy 3.12 says, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Okay, if you're living godly, you will suffer persecution. It will come sooner rather than later. Okay, if you're thinking, well, it hasn't happened yet, am I doing something wrong? Look, it's going to happen, okay? You're going to suffer persecution, but we should rejoice in that time, shouldn't we? Okay, know that you're blessed, know that you're doing things right, and also, by the way, you're still going to heaven. You're still going to heaven, remind yourself of that. Verse 31 says, But many that are first shall be last and the last first. So if you're getting grief in this life, you'll be up there with the top echelons in heaven for eternity. Yeah? I'm up for that because do you know the vast, vast majority of Christians sadly do nothing for God? Okay, they do nothing for the Lord. But if you're here, then look, you're already doing more than the vast majority, right? The vast majority, you just get saved and that's it. But in the meantime, as that division increases, as the strife gets worse, that's when we need the unity of the church more than ever, isn't it? Okay, we've gained, we're gaining through those persecutions, we're gaining after that division, we're receiving hundredfold, houses, brethren, sisters, mothers, children, lands, and if you're thinking lands, yeah, we could go off to, you know, you're getting persecuted here, I'm sure you could go off to another land and be welcomed in by good, honest Christians in that land as well, right? Yeah, we could receive all of that. We've gained places that you probably would never have been able to go and do much yourself in. In fact, there's a good example. What about Brother Anselm from Germany? Anyone know that guy? He basically, he did some translations of certain, well, some might say risque documentaries on subjects which maybe aren't that popular with our mainstream liberal elite now, and the police came round for him, they tried to, they basically confiscated all his stuff, it looked like he was going to court and he was going to be in big trouble, he went out to the US and now he's living out there and seeking asylum and everything else there. Yeah, he's just going to land there, hasn't he? Yeah, going to land and he's out there, I think, serving at Faithful Word right now and there's a chance that, you know, in the future he could come back as an American citizen, but whatever happens to him, that guy, look, he was getting persecuted, wasn't he? Yeah, he was getting persecuted and he's received extra land because of that. Well, okay, so that unity though, that unity, we need it, don't we? And isn't that unity great? Now, since God kicked out all those devils at this church, how many people have said it's a different place? It's like a different place, isn't it? The unity already, the peace, just smiles on everyone's face. I mean, there were people, I was speaking to someone last week who was saying they weren't even going to come to this church. They were saying they didn't want to come to this church because of certain individuals in this church. There were people saying it was putting them off, they didn't want to come, people who were travelling from afar. There were people, like, I'm watching just people just look like a weight is often. Relaxing, fellowshipping, happier. It's great, isn't it? Isn't it great? And the unity that we're all getting because of that, but with that we need to take advantage of that, right? I was chatting to a brother about this the other day as well, because it's funny, isn't it? You've got people in this church from all different walks of life, haven't you? Different walks of life, different nations, ages, education, backgrounds, wealth, hobbies, interests. I mean, there are some people that from a worldly sense would be like chalk and cheese, yeah? But it's like being around family. It's like being around family that you've grown up with, isn't it? You come here, I'll come here, I'll just look forward to it now. You just look forward, you walk in and you're just looking forward to seeing all your brothers and sisters in Christ. You look forward to it, you look forward to that. You know, look, you know a Wednesday evening is going to be late. You know it's going to be a late finish, you know it's going to be late home. You know they're always going to put out their bollards on the way home and turn everything down to one lane for no reason, just to put out bollards and bring them back in. You know it's going to take twice or three times the time to get home and you're going to be tired. But you know what, you look forward to it, don't you? You look forward to being just around that united church, that unity of brothers and sisters in the church. Even though we should be so different, shouldn't we? We've got all these different backgrounds, nationalities, different interests and everything else, but there's a great unity, isn't it? What's that unity? Well, it's because we are family. Galatians 3.26 says, For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. That's why we call each other brother and sister, why we look forward to family get-togethers. We should all be looking forward to those family get-togethers. And like I said, I look forward to the family get-togethers. And isn't it nice that those family get-togethers aren't like once at Christmas or at Easter? No, those family get-togethers are every week. In fact, those family get-togethers are twice a week. And one of those family get-togethers is like a full day on a Sunday and another, and then we, just in case, because we love our family so much, we get together on a Wednesday evening as well. And not only that, not only are we family, but we're indwelt by the same spirit too, aren't we? But it's even better than that, isn't it here? It's even better, because has anyone been at a dead church where there are seemingly saved people? They seem to believe the gospel, but it's just really awkward anyway. Anyone been at those sorts of churches before in the past? Yeah, the conversations are awkward. You just kind of, you talk about something that should be fairly normal and it's just met with kind of weirdness and everything's just weird. You feel like you can't really be honest about things. It's just weird, isn't it? And ultimately, what is that? What is that? Well, I think the difference is I look around a church like this and I just see a load of people on fire for the Lord. Yeah, you see a lot of people where the spirit's not quenched. They're full of the spirit and then that spirit is just linked, isn't it? We're not nervous about talking about just a clear doctrine from the Bible in case that offends them. We're not nervous about talking about how we try and apply that to our lives and how we just try and live for God and everything else, thinking that they're going to feel like you're being a holier than thou just because you're talking about the fact that maybe you think it's bizarre watching TV or you think that maybe your kids, it would be better if they grew up maybe reading books instead of watching TV and doing things like that. Or maybe you think homeschooling is probably pretty biblical or maybe you think that maybe it's a bit more suited to your wife to be at home or maybe you look at dress standards which are pretty clear from the Bible and other things like that and you can't talk about any of that with these people but you can amongst your brothers and sisters, can't you here? And isn't it great? Isn't it great to just kind of not, oh, better not mention that, better not talk about that, just get your mouth shut and then you might not offend someone, they might still get offended somehow because you haven't agreed with them that going off to see the latest release at the movie is a great idea and you just kind of keep quiet or something else. So look, it's great, isn't it? You see all these Christians on fire for the Lord, filled with the spirits, strong on doctrine, strong on faith, all loving the Lord and trying to keep his commandments. It's great, it's a blessing, it's lovely to be around and look, that's something that you need to remember when the division is getting to us, when the non-church siblings are whispering about you behind your back because that happens to a lot of people, doesn't it? Your brothers and sisters, your physical, your, you know, your from birth brothers and sisters end up whispering about you behind your back. You end up being that odd one out, you end up being that little bit different, you have family members turning on you, family members trying to find fault in you. Maybe you've even had to move on from a strange land and settle in somewhere, sorry, to a strange land and settle somewhere like Wickford or somewhere similar. Maybe all of that, it can get to you sometimes, can't it? But don't forget, you've gained houses, you've gained brethren, you've gained sisters, you've gained mothers, you've gained children, you've gained lands. That's what we have to do, we have to focus on what we've gained, not mourning what we've lost and you will lose, okay, you will lose these people eventually because we have more in common with each other than we'll ever have with the unsaved, don't we? Turn to 2 Corinthians 6. And if you're struggling with this concept, if you're sitting here thinking, yeah, but I'm still best friends with my unsaved sister, my old childhood buddy, my best mates from school, we still have that friendship circle, nothing's changed at all, brother Ian, what are you talking about? My question is, well, where are you compromising then? Where are you compromising? Are you trying to get them saved? Are you really being honest about what you believe? Are you really being honest about the word of God? Amos 3.3 says, can two walk together except they be agreed? Is it even possible? With time, that will come. Now, I'm not saying cut them off, okay, but I am saying that you're unequally yoked. That if you're living how God wants you to, if you're serving the Lord, if you're preaching the gospel, something will give sooner rather than later, that's going to happen and it will be them that start to separate from you. We don't need to force that separation unless they're clearly some wicked reprobate and look, they're still fewer and further between than probably it will become in the future. But most people aren't and you don't want to just decide someone is for no obvious reason just because it makes it easier to just cut them off. But look, that separation does come. 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 14 says, be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers? For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion hath light with darkness? So unequal yoking would be partnership, marriage, a best friendship. Like I said, look, you've got old friends from the past, cool. Meet up with them, don't compromise, don't get into sin. Try and get them saved and that might not be every time you see them. I know you see them to give them the gospel. Look, maybe you need to have them round for a meal and try and have them put a bit of faith that you're not just going to be on them on them but ultimately your goal is to get them saved, isn't it? We're soul winners, aren't we? Our goal is to pull them out of the fire. And you might have a way that you think the Spirit's guiding you to do that as long as it's not coming from shyness, as long as it's not coming from fear of preaching the gospel, fear about opening boldly your mouth, but they should be your best friend, shouldn't they? Yeah? If you're yoked together, something's up there, isn't it? Something's up. Verse 15 says, and what concord hath Christ with Belial, or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? Belial is another word for the devil. And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, I will walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate. Sayeth the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. Now, this is spiritual separation, not behaving like the world, not yoking up with the world, not getting involved with the sins of the world. And look, like I said, we don't have to give up on them, okay? We still want to get them saved, but if you're living right, that relationship is going to change, isn't it? Look, if you used to, however you used to run with your old friends, with your best friend's sibling, or whoever else it is, that's going to change. Whatever old pastimes you used to do with your unsaved mum or dad, or wherever it is, it's going to change, isn't it? Because let's be honest, so much of that is sinful. So much of what you used to do, I'm sure, centred around some sin or other, some sort of thing that really, you shouldn't really be doing so much. So that is going to change, right? It's going to change. Verse 18 says, And look, that could be hard, yeah? That could be hard. And I'm not saying it's easy. Oh, right, you're not right with God if you don't just go, yeah, great, great, my best friend for 20 years doesn't want to see me anymore. Great, my best, you know, my twin brother or sister, or my whoever it is, just doesn't want to be around me. I'm not saying that's going to be a happy time, but what a blessing it is that there are other sons and daughters to be around. What a blessing that is, right? That's what we need to focus on, to share life with, to have unity with others that believe like us, that are spiritual brothers and sisters. Now, we have that unity, right? We have that unity here. And like I said, it's not just with other saved people, because there are other divisions that come, aren't there? There are other divisions that come, because it was Jesus Christ's sake and the Gospels. And it's the going out and preaching the Gospel and the believing the word of the Lord, then you have people that are saved, that eventually the separation comes as well, doesn't it? Like, I talked about those at old churches, but there are those that we've been friends in the past that seem to believe like us. That seem to, you know, that claim to be King James, that claim to be Solomon, that claim to be independent Baptist, where you've probably watched the separation grow, where you've grown in a church, where you're in a church and they've just tried to find fault, tried to find an issue with our church, tried to find anything they can to criticise our church, to make an excuse to justify why they're not coming to church, why they won't even visit the church or anything else. That division comes, doesn't it? And that could be hard for some as well. Well, maybe it's such a, well, look, the division comes whether it's with the unsaved and sometimes even with the saved, but we now have some unity here and we want to maintain it because that can easily change. What's one of the mode of operandums for the devil with the church type cars? Causing division, yeah? Divide, divide and conquer, okay? And you see that all over the world, divide and conquer, but no, we want to divide and unite, right? We're dividing from those, and again, they're really dividing from us, but that comes from the word of God. The word of God causes a division and it causes a unity. And the unity we have here, we want to maintain, right? And we do have a unity here. How do we maintain it? Well, turn to Romans chapter 12. Firstly, we have to appreciate each other because it's easy, it's easy to take it for granted, okay? It's easy to take your brothers and sisters in Christ for granted. And if you could just go back a couple of years before we had this church, it was hard going for those that were trying to grow and live for the Lord and going to these churches, like I said, where it's just awkward, it's uncomfortable, there's just something missing, isn't there? And now we have a church, we don't want to take that for granted. Look at Romans 12 and verse 9. Romans 12 and 9 says, Let love be without dissimulation, abore that which is evil, cleave to that which is good. So basically, no fake love. So this isn't one of those kind of big smiles whilst insulting people kind of a place, okay? This is not what we want here. And you get that, where, oh, well, being loving is just smiling at everyone while you're, like, making little gnarly comments, you know? You haven't been around those sort of types, you know? It's like a big smile when I go, oh, you haven't been here much, have you? You know, something like that. Oh, a big smile while they're saying something like, oh, you're still doing that job, are you? We were talking about this the other day, I used to get this with the Thai boxing, you know? When are you going to give it up again? By this old pastor who, looking back, was probably unsaved, right? And I think Brother Adam used to get that a lot, you know, oh, still doing the thumping, people, are you? Oh, but the big smile makes it all right, doesn't it? No, it doesn't. The big smile doesn't make it all right. We should hate the evil, we should love the good, yeah? OK, we should hate the evil, love the good, there's no love with dissimulation, we're not trying to fake it, we just want to love each other, right? It says in verse 10, be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love in honour, preferring one another. Now, here's the thing here, notice how this is a command. Notice how this is a command, right? Be kindly affectioned one to another. He didn't say, you will automatically be kindly affectioned one to another because you're saved and you're hopefully following a clear doctrine that I'm sending you letters about, right? No, he said, be kindly affectioned one to another. Because it's not always automatic, is it? See, the flesh wants to be around the old friends, doesn't it? The flesh wants to be sometimes, I'm not saying you're all just sitting and going, I can't wait to get out and hang around with my old drunkard mates or my old drug addict mates or my old gossiping mates or whatever it is that was your issue, your problem, your sin from the past. I'm not saying you're all sitting there like that, but the flesh does sometimes want that. And the flesh at least sometimes wants to get away from the people of God because then it can just be that little bit more fleshly again, you know? And part of where the church division causes can sometimes thrive as well is because sometimes people feel drawn to those people that are so openly sinful, that are so openly just in sin and doing just wicked stuff because it makes them feel a bit better about themselves, yeah? Well, the flesh sometimes wants that. And being kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love isn't always automatic. The filthiness, the foolish talking, the jesting which is not convenient, that stuff is a lot of the time automatic. That's the stuff that you're often looking for. But we should be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love. So what's this talking about? This isn't talking about man hugs, okay, in case anyone's wondering. This isn't sort of, well, as long as we man hug each other and have a good cuddle and everything else when we come in the church, that's the brotherly love, isn't it? Again, we have people here that that was their idea, that was what they were trying to push and promote on the church, that was brotherly love, while during that hug they would have happily just put that knife in the back at the same time, yeah? Okay, that's not brotherly love. That's a fake love, that's love with dissimulation, isn't it? Brotherly love is a giving, it's a wanting what's best for each other, okay? And that can sometimes be, and not all the time, but that can sometimes be straight talking with someone, can't it? That can sometimes be a bit of straight reproof at times. But often that can just be from praying for each other, by wanting what's best, by not being irked by someone's success in some way or another, by not having some sort of little bit of envy towards someone, by just wanting what's best, by getting your heart right, by checking yourself and wanting what's best for each other, okay? That's how we should be. In honour, preferring one another. So this is basically giving the highest respect to each other, preferring one another, giving that respect to each other, rather than the unsaved family, the unsaved friend or whatever else, yeah? Because I'm sure there are people here that if that person from your childhood, came to you and they, oh, I just so need help today, something's happened, my car's broken down, I need you to just come and help me do this. A lot of people would jump up and do that, but maybe wouldn't for the person from church. Maybe, oh, someone else will deal with that. Well, yeah, I don't really know him that, look, I don't know him that well. But we should be, we should in honour, prefer one another, shouldn't we? Okay, we should give that extra respect for each other. Some people here would, well, I wouldn't let down so-and-so because I've known them for years. I wouldn't let down that person, but yeah, well, I did say I was going to meet that church member for X, Y and Z reason, but I'm a bit tired today, I'm just going to blow them out, I'm going to cancel it. No, in honour, we should prefer one another, yeah? We should put each other up here, okay? Put each other up there, their respect level should be up here, right? Okay, that's how we should in honour, prefer one another. Turn to 1 Corinthians 13 though, because it's this love thing, this brotherly love, which 1 Corinthians 13, obviously a famous chapter, which describes the sort of love or charity that the Bible is speaking of. Okay, it's not a mushy, I'll never tell you the truth type love, okay? It's not a mushy, well, I'll just always say kind of, you know, things that sound very pretty and, you know, and everything's just kind of always just a surface level, just, you know, lightness and everything else. That's not what real love is, is it? So the world's love is that sort of thing, the world's love is never offending anyone, the world's love is never saying anything that's straight talking, but that's not what God's love is. 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 4 says, charity, and obviously we can call it love or charity here, charity is a great word for love because it's really showing us what love really is, isn't it? Love is a giving to other people, because love is something that you're giving, that you're doing to someone. It's not just a responsive love. Oh, well, I love them because they make me feel X, Y and Z. No, I love them because I'm told to love them. I love them because I'm going to purposely love them. And here we've just had in, here we've just had back in Romans, be kindly, effectual one to another, with brotherly love in honour preferring one another. And here in 1 Corinthians 13 we're going to see that love. And charity suffereth long and is kind, charity envieth not, charity vaunteth not itself is not puffed up. So when we're giving brotherly love to each other, when we're all loving each other like we should in a church like this where we have this unity, we want to maintain this unity, we suffer long. Sometimes you're going to have people say something which you feel is maybe a little bit offensive. Sometimes they might say something that you're a bit unsure about, the sort of thing that you would pull up quickly. Maybe we suffer long in those situations. You know, a lot of the time when people say things, it's not always with an agenda. It can feel like it, can't it? You go back and reflect in a conversation, they said that for this reason, they must have been trying to make a dig about this. It's not always like that, is it? Now, when it happens time and time and time and time again, maybe you'd be wise to think, OK, maybe there's an issue here. But we suffer long. Charity is kind, right? Charity is you want to do things for each other, don't you? You want to do nice things. You want to be good to each other. Charity envieth not. So, you know, that's something you'll often see in a church, you'll see in groups of any people in any walks of life is the envy. OK, envy is a big problem, isn't it? And envy always just ends up getting worse and worse, resulting in other sin and hatred and other issues like that. I remember I preached a sermon on envy and just the result of it in the Bible all the time is it's so bad, isn't it? But envy, charity, real love, you don't have that envy. So, if you're sitting here, you know, and again, you've got to recognise it's envy because a lot of people don't like to admit that they're envious, do they? So, they like to, you know, justify it with something else. So, I just really hate the way so and so does this or says this. And really it's because you're envious, yeah? Really it's envy. So, you've got to cut that out, yeah? You've got to recognise that and you've got to just learn to understand why it is, why your emotions feel like they do, right? And we have to reflect ultimately, don't we? Get down on our knees and pray to God. When you feel a hatred or dislike to someone in the church and there's not an obvious reason for it, and obviously if they're just, you know, clearly just a kick out waiting to happen and you can see they're clearly just wicked as hell, that's slightly different, right? But when you're just feeling a hatred to one of your sister in Christ and you can't really understand it, you need to get on your knees and pray to God and ask for help with that and be honest with yourself. Why is that? And so often it's envy, isn't it? So often people get envious in life. But charity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself is not puffed up. So, if you're trying to lift yourself up compared to your brother or sister in church, that's not really very loving to them, is it? Yeah, because really you're trying to make them feel small by lifting yourself up. And again, we've had experience of a lot of this, yeah? We could do a lot of case studies of sort of puffed up and vaunting up yourself. But it's so unloving to others, isn't it? Because basically you're trying to make them feel small. You're trying to make them feel small compared to yourself, yeah? So we shouldn't be doing that. Does not behave itself unseemly, okay? This is sort of unseemly being not appropriately, okay? And there are many ways you could interpret that, behaviour itself unseemly, basically just behaving properly. And again, we all have different backgrounds and different cultural norms and okays and things that we think are okay. I think it's pretty obvious most of the time. You just kind of check yourself. You kind of learn, see how other people behave and try and just behave like that, yeah? Now we have a good core of just people that are just regular Christians in this church, yeah? So that's not hard to see. Behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own. So if you're in church just thinking about, what can I gain? What can I get from that person? What can I get from them? What can I get? Again, that's not love, is it? That's not charity towards others. It's not easily provoked. Thinketh no evil. So again, we should be long suffering. We should be patient. We shouldn't be kicking off with people. I just can't believe they said that. Look, just don't be easily provoked, yeah? Don't be easily provoked. Thinketh no evil. So that's just thinking bad things about people all the time. We should try and see the best, shouldn't we? Try and give people the benefit of the doubt, right? Rejoiceeth not in iniquity. Okay, so we shouldn't be sort of celebrating bad things, should we? You know, getting happy about sin, basically. Sin and wickedness and other things like that. But rejoiceeth in the truth, yeah? And that's something that if we're all doing that, all rejoicing in the truth, we're going to have even more unity because of that. Beareth all things. Okay, that's just putting up with things. Believeth all things. Obviously talked about the truth here. Hopeth all things. Talking about the truth here. Endureth all things, okay? And again, talking about, I believe, just following on from rejoicing in the truth and the word of God and all those things that come from being a Christian, yeah? And what a unity we can have. And that comes from that brotherly love, from that charity, from that love for each other. And that sort of love that we should be aiming for to have for each other, right? Turn to Ephesians chapter four. We're just going to finish up here in a second. Because if we all love like that, what a unity we would have. And that's what God wants of his local church. He wants unity. I believe we have that right now, okay? So this isn't a sort of, this isn't a reproving sermon. This is a sermon just saying, let's just keep up what we've got. Because, you know, this right now, this, you know, this is something I kind of imagined, yeah? When I, you know, it looked like we're going to have a church's country, I imagined what it's become over the last few weeks. And just that conscious people happy to see each other, just seeing that warmth and just having that just relaxed atmosphere and not feeling like I'm just constantly having to tell people off, constantly moaning from the pulpit, constantly having to try, constantly like, right, am I going to preach on that one? Am I going to preach on that sin right now? Am I going to just constant, just man, you know, just watching just wickedness. And it's not like that. And it's so nice, okay? It's so nice. And like I said, it's not just me, just seeing the way everyone is together is great, but we want to maintain this, right? So this, hopefully this is a, you know, this isn't a negative sermon. This is a sermon just saying, let's keep this up, guys. Let's make sure that we have that, that we can continue to have that. Because sometimes it comes when you, obviously you have a storm, you appreciate the dry, don't you, after the storm. So right now, I think a lot of people are just appreciating, you know, having just a proper church with God's people in it, but that can quickly change, right? So we're in a kind of honeymoon period right now. So let's make sure we keep that up. Ephesians 4, okay, the Holy Spirit through Paul. So God is writing here. He says in Ephesians 4, because he's written the whole Bible, isn't he? But let's see what he's saying. And verse one says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you. So he's pleading, he's, you know, just pleading with us really, because although he's talking to the Ephesian church here, this can apply to all of us, that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love. Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Okay, that's our goal, isn't it? Our goal is unity. We're endeavouring to keep it. We have it. We're endeavouring to keep it. We're going to do our best to keep it. And if we all do that, we all think like that, this would just continue to be a great place to be, a great place to meet up and obviously to serve the Lord and to help each other and keep strengthening each other as well. And it's a blessing to have it, isn't it? And on that, we're going to pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this church. Thank you for this great group of people. Thank you for all the many blessings you've given us and that first one, just to have a church, to have a church of like-minded people on fire for the Lord, who just want to serve you, want to follow you, want to follow your word, don't want to just make it a pick and mix, just want to do our best for you. Look, yeah, we're all sinners, yeah, we're all going to get things wrong, but help us to all just love each other despite that, to just want to just do things for each other, to want the best for each other. Please just bless our church, Lord, protect our church as well. We're not under any illusions here that there's going to be more problems come in the future, more attacks, but help us to just be united as a strong church. Lord, help us to do what a church should be doing and go out this afternoon, preach the gospel, get people safe, Lord, and help us to all return back for this evening's service. In Jesus' name we pray all of this. Amen.