if you could open your Bibles and okay in the book of Matthew chapter 12 Matthew chapter 12 and we're looking at our last message on mission and conflict tonight let's look at Matthew chapter 12 it says right there verse 15 It says, but when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence, and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all. and charge them that they should not make him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Elias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, a smoking flag shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment into victory and in his name shall i'm sorry and in his name shall the gentiles trust heavenly father thank you lord for this passage of scripture thank you for your love and mercy and your goodness and thank you lord they opened and you opened the door for the gentile world to receive you as personal savior i pray in jesus name amen All right. John, you may be seated. You want to go to my office is my Bible in my seat there. And I just totally forgot. You may be seated. Okay. So a humble servant. That's the title of the message tonight. And we looking at mission and conflict it's our lesson eight on this and so in our last message we could see the pride and a great arrogance of the Pharisees that's the last time Jesus tried to teach them that the Sabbath was made for men and not men for the Sabbath but they failed to understand Jesus's words all right Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath and the Pharisees went out to plot how they could kill him So if you were Jesus, what would you do? Would you fight back? Do you gather the disciples and do some plotting and scheming on your own against the Pharisees and the Sadducees? Do you ramp up the conflict and expose the Pharisees of the murderous hypocrites that they were? Or do you respond with gentleness like Jesus did? You know, it's easy to look at these stories in the Bible and say, oh, I would act like that. You know what? In those days, the Bible was being written. What about what happened to us today? How do we react? When somebody comes and provokes you, how do you react? You know, it takes meekness or great self-control to keep your composure when somebody provokes you. Doesn't it? It takes great self-control not to say, okay, what do you want? What's your problem? It takes great self-control to actually to know how to walk away from a conflict. It takes great control to stand up when it's necessary. Because Jesus shows us that there are times It's this somewhere. There are times on which Jesus stood up against the Pharisees and the Sadducees. There were times when Jesus withdrew himself. So we have to, like Jesus, we have to be wise on how we respond to these adversities of life. So I know it wasn't on mine and yet that's exactly how Jesus chooses to respond with gentleness in this occasion right here. Yes, you will experience conflict when you are on a mission for God, but that doesn't mean you have to fight back. Thank you brother. Oh, he was over there. Thank you. I was leading him to the Lord early and it's okay. Okay. But anyway, you see, there was a time on which we were putting information on people's doors in East Providence. And I walk in this door, I mean this, this house was kind of long and I walk, the, the driveway was open and I walk, I went all the way back to this house and I put a bag of information right on the door and walked by, walked back. As I was in midway, walking out, this man called me from his house. I looked back, I couldn't see anybody. I stopped. This man was saying all kind of really mean things. You know, at that point, he was really putting my guard down and I looked back and I said, sir, if you don't like the package, you can give it back to me and I would take it. And he said to me, you're not supposed to take back to me. I didn't provoke him. I didn't yell. I kept my composure. regardless of what he is saying, because he was already calling me some ugly names. And I kept my composure and I said, sir. And he gave me the package back. But sometimes, you know, it is hard to keep your composure when somebody comes and purposely provokes you. So you need to be wise how to walk in and walk out. So let's look at these various aspects of Jesus' servanthood and learn from Jesus how we can learn how many we can enter or walk out in certain occasions. So number one, if you want to like to follow the outline, we see a humble servant. I believe that we can learn some great lessons right here. And the best way to learn is from our master teacher, the Lord Jesus Christ. so remember the pharisees are plotting to kill jesus so how does jesus respond look at verse 15 but when how he responded that he knew that he was they're plotting against him they're plotting evil against jesus but look what it says in verse 15 but when jesus knew it He withdrew himself from them, and great multitudes followed him." You see, he withdrew himself from them. So, one thing that we must learn and understand is to be aware of our surroundings. you know and my job we say all the time be aware of you i know it's for safety because my job is a lot of things that you can hurt yourself there is preached every day be aware of your surroundings make sure before you walk backwards you look behind you because somebody can just drop put something behind you and you walk and you fall you're gonna hurt yourself so it's for your good so it's in the back of your mind be aware of your surroundings well we christians too we have to be aware of our surroundings because we live in enemy territory satan is the prince of this world demonic forces in this world we have to be aware of our surroundings okay so be aware of what's going on around you because Jesus is teaching us to be wise, to respond to the kind of people we talk to. Jesus our master teacher teaches us to be aware of our surroundings. What a lesson we can learn from this tonight. To be aware where we are, to be aware of our surroundings, so we know who we are talking with. Listen, some people they're mad at the world. I'll give you an example. One day I get out of here, I mean like about two weeks ago, Saturday morning, after the food pantry, we went, after we closed the church down, I went, I went to Broadway to take the highway. So I stopped, there's a red light, I turn around, and of course there's a police station right there, and there's a red light, so I'm stuck in traffic, and my eyes just kind of look at the person next to me. And I saw this person just, arms up in the air, screaming, yelling. I was like, something is wrong with this guy. And I'm looking, and I'm looking, and I realize he's yelling at me. And it's like... So I opened the window and I said, Sir, what's, is there anything I can help you with, or a mistake that I made? And he's keeping spilling all kinds of stuff. I closed the window back up. I said, well, I still have no idea what I did. Obviously, some people is mad at me. You know what? Here's the thing. Some people think when they're inside their car, they can say what they want, do what they want, because that's their defense. They have these walls to defend them. You know, some people can spew all kinds of stuff on text messages because you cannot see them. And some of that people won't even say nothing to your face, but they would have that protection around them. But the Bible says, the Lord tells us tonight to be aware, whoever we talk with, so we'd be wise not to walk in and walk out. Okay, so letter A, avoid unnecessary conflict. The great reality of life is that there are some people who are conflict prone. You follow that? The great reality of life is that some people it is just, we say it doesn't matter. It just, they always go from one conflict to another conflict. They live that way. And you know, you have to be aware of those people, how you face them, how you talk to them, how you can withdraw yourself or you can stand because some people are like that. I have some people that I work with that you do not dare talk with them because when if you not be careful, it's like walking on eggshells, so to speak. Because they just blow up out of nowhere and you go like, are you okay? But that's how they do it. So they're conflict prone. It doesn't take much for you to find yourself in a conflict with this type of people. They are prone to make conflicts out of nothing. So jesus avoid unnecessary conflict with the pharisees right here when you become aware When he became aware of the pharisees that they what they want to do to him instead of fighting back jesus withdrew From that from that place. He knew those people are plotting evil against him. So at that time He moved away from them There was times on which he called them hypocrites and vipers and all kinds of names. He called them them. He needed to call them those, make them aware of their sin. Remember, those were self-righteous people. This were the people that they were better than God. They wanted everybody to know what they did in the synagogues. Whatever they did, they want everybody to know. Look how I do. Look how I dress. Look how I walk. Look how I speak. Look at the way I pray. They were the Pharisees. You know, and when Jesus came with this simple gospel message, he just didn't fit in there. They want somebody to throw away the Roman Empire. You know, but Jesus warned them and said, go search the scriptures, because in them, you will find me. If they read the scriptures, if they understood the scriptures, they knew exactly who Jesus was. Some people recognize Jesus. Some people did. Not everybody. Some people recognize Jesus. See, let me tell you something. Jesus was not afraid of conflict. And we should never be afraid of conflict. Sometimes we need to stand up. Sometimes we need to just move ourselves away. When the time was right, Jesus would march right into Jerusalem, knowing that a man is suffering in death. Jesus didn't shy. He kept going. But Jesus was on God's timetable right here. And Jesus knew that his hour was not yet come. And so rather than make things worse with the Pharisees at this time, Jesus humbly withdrew himself from unnecessary conflict. Listen, folks. If somebody provokes you and you walk away, that's a great sign of weakness, right? Absolutely not. It now is a sign of maturity. It's a sign of great maturity. You say, you know what? I have better things to do. It takes a lot of humility, a lot of self-control, a lot of strength to back down from a conflict because naturally for us humans is to defend ourselves. Isn't it true? You accuse me of something, I'm going to fight you back because I know what I, I'm not, I didn't do this. We that's naturally what we do, but it takes a lot of self-control a lot of strength and to back up down to back to back down and walk away Most people naturally respond to deal with the conflict right there and then Jesus was a humble servant and shows us by his actions here in this passage that it is wise to avoid listen to this unnecessary conflict some conflicts are necessary but some conflicts are unnecessary why am i going to waste my time i have better things to do okay so look at verse 12 look what it says but when jesus knew it he withdrew himself from them let it be avoid unnecessary attention to yourself Verse 16 again, Jesus also teaches that draw unnecessary attention to oneself. When Jesus withdrew from that place, many people followed him and Jesus continued on his mission. Remember, he was on a mission for God. He continued preaching and teaching and healing the people. Matthew tells us that he healed all the sick. Look what it says in verse 16, and charged them that it should not make him known. Jesus' mission was successful. There were no failures in Jesus' mission. Everything was moving right on schedule on God's time. Remember, Jesus was preaching the kingdom of God and He demonstrated the reality of God's kingdom by casting out demons and healing the sick. If only, and only, the Pharisees and the Sadducees would open their eyes. if they only opened their eyes and began to see that jesus literally was doing what was written in scripture it was in john the baptist to ask that question are you he that would come and i'm just paraphrasing and jesus didn't said i am he he just said what he said the the sick are healed the the dad is raised and and i'm paraphrasing right here and he says and the gospel is preached He's pointing him to the Old Testament and say, remember what was written of me? It's happening. And Jesus told the Pharisees, go search the scriptures. They did not. They did not. see but jesus right here very humbly did not draw unnecessary attention to himself right here it was exactly opposite of of the hypocrites or he spoke of early you stood in the synagogue like the the sadducees and the pharisees and street corners and did good deeds to be seen by men listen folks Listen, I don't know your heart. You don't know my heart. But I tell you what, if we do things to be seen of man, you're wasting your time. I see this with a sincere heart. If we do things in local church to be seen of man, we're wasting our time. God's not pleased with that. Everything we do is for the glory of the Lord, regardless if it's a Sunday morning, if it's during the week, whatever it is. We do it for the glory of the Lord, not for the glory of men. That was the Pharisees' problem. That's why when Jesus said, go search the scripture, they didn't want to go. They were too important for themselves. They want to be seen. They want people to see how important they were. see isn't that at the way the society is teaching today society says look at me look what I have done look what I can do but in the midst of all this prideful and arrogance we also find those who move the attention away from them I just love when I'm watching sports. It doesn't happen all the time. But I love when I'm watching sports. I love to watch sports. And when a player is in an interview, especially if it's a Christian man or a woman, and instead when they like some good players that did some good in that game, some of them I just... big stars of the sport that they're playing and instead of when the question comes about you know instead of saying how good I am they're saying I thank Jesus for all the ability that he gave me to play this game what a humble answer what a humble attitude you know they give glory to God not to themselves I heard this quite often from people that play the sport and are Christian people they realize the gift that they have are given from God and they don't take the glory And I mean, I hear this quite often. What a humble what a humble sign so jesus healing the people but rather than draw attention to himself jesus warned them not to tell Who he was jesus avoid unnecessary conflict with the pharisees and he not he didn't want to draw unnecessary Unnecessary attention to himself jesus was teaching a teaching teaching a teaching picture of a humble Servant he teaches us how to avoid unnecessary conflict and how to withdraw for unnecessary attention for ourselves listen When we worship, we should avoid all unnecessary attention to ourselves. You know why? Because at this moment, at this point, the glory goes to God. You and me are irrelevant because it's not for our glory, it's for His glory. You know, if we take that attention, try to get attention for ourselves, we are wrong. We are doing wrong. To God be the glory. We even sing that song. To God be the glory. This is a wonderful sacrifice unto our Lord. It goes from the very minute that the worship starts, everything that is involved in the worship is for the glory of the Lord. And if we don't do it that way, then we are in the wrong. So we see number one, we see a humble servant. Number two, we see a, what is number two? Oh, number one's a humble servant. I'm sorry, I didn't finish number one. Number two, we see a prophesied servant. So it should not be surprised to the Pharisees of who Jesus was. They were a man that knew the word of God very well. These men knew the prophecies of scripture and Jesus was doing exactly what was prophesied by the Messiah. I just mentioned this a minute ago, but instead of recognizing Jesus, they rejected him. they feel because of their own listen to this legalistic views they feel because of their own pride and arrogance they were looking for a military king or military leader not a humble servant and look what it says in verse 17 of our of our text that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by isaiah the prophet saying in letter a the under that second point we see an old quote Matthew quotes from the prophecy from the prophet isaiah around 700 bc Matthew loves quoting from the old testament and especially loves quoting from the prophet isaiah Isaiah was one of the greatest of the prophets and the book of isaiah contains many examples or details Of prophecies look isaiah lived and prophesied 700 years. Like I said before christ and yet he gives such specific prophecies and detail of the messiah who would come Predictive prophecy is one of the many evidence that God is God and that God's Word is trustworthy and true. In fact, this is one of the major themes of Isaiah. Only God knows the end from the beginning and only God can tell what will happen before it happens. Notice Matthew says these words were spoken to the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah wrote these down, but these words were God's words, not Isaiah's words. God speaking through this prophet Isaiah. Listen, let it be you see, the four servant songs of Isaiah. Matthew loves quoting, like I said, from the Old Testament. And we see, and this is the longest of all his Old Testament quotations here. this particular quotation is from the the first of what we call the four servant song of in isaiah each of these songs reveal a different aspect of god's servant who would come to redeem his people we know that today and each of these songs find fulfillment in jesus in the new testament for number one down to that point we see a gentle servant in isaiah chapter 42 verse 1 to 4 and in matthew 12 18 it says behold my servant whom I have chosen my beloved whom my soul is well pleased now if you go to Isaiah chapter 42 verse 1 says behold my servant whom I uphold my elect of whom my soul delights I have put my spirit upon him it shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles he shall not cry no lift up no cause his voice to be heard in the streets like recording Matthew isn't it So the first song, Jesus uh song jesus is is the gentle servant who brings justice to the nations isaiah chapter 42 verse 1 to 4 this song focus on jesus's ministry number two a song is the prepared servant you see this by isaiah 49 verse 1 to 6 the second song is prepared servant who brings god's salvation to the ends of the earth and today we know this look what says nazir 49 one it says listen oh islands unto me hearken ye people from afar the lord had called me from the womb from the bowels of my mother had he made mention of my name In verse 2 it says, And he had made my mouth like a sharp sword, and shallow of his hands had hid me, and made me a polished shaft, and a squiver had he hid me. And he said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain, yet surely my judgment is with the Lord and my work with God. And now, saith the Lord, that for me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob against him, through Israel be not gathered. Yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God should be my strength." And he said, it is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to rise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserve of Israel. I will so give thee for a light to the Gentiles. There it goes, that thou be my salvation unto the ends. of the earth you see right here what a wonderful passage right here you see we know today that jesus is the savior of mankind doesn't he whosoever call upon the name of the lord shall be saved what a wonderful song number three we see the obedient servant we see this in isaiah chapter 50 verse 4 to 9 the third song jesus uh song jesus is the obedient servant who trusts god to help him faces accusers this song focused on jesus obedience in the face of opposition the lord had given me that verse 4 of isaiah 50 and given me the tongue of the learned that i should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary. He awakened, I'm sorry, he awoke at morning by morning, he awoke at my ear to hear as the learned. The Lord had opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smitters, my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from the shame and spitting, You recognize these these words for the Lord God will help me therefore shall I not be Confound therefore will I have set my face like a flank and I know that I should not be ashamed We keep going on with this thing. So number four we see the suffering servant isaiah 52 13 to isaiah 53 12 And then finally in the fourth song isaiah is the suffering servant who dies for the sins and rises again triumphant over that let me tell you folks Without resurrection, we're wasting our time. Without resurrection, we're just looking at beautiful colors and beautiful trees with lights. That's it. Why we celebrate our Christmas? Because the Jesus of Bethlehem is the Jesus of Calvary. Because the baby that was born in Bethlehem raised again on Easter Sunday. That's why. You see, Jesus said to the Pharisees, go search the scriptures. You are the man's of the book. You know my word. You know what? When the Magi came to Israel, they asked the question very specifically, where is the place where the king of the Jews will be born? Oh, the doctors of the Lord, they knew exactly in Bethlehem of Judea. All right. They guide the Magi there, but they didn't go themselves. You follow that? They guide them there but they themselves stayed behind. Praise the Lord for the shepherds. Praise the Lord for those who are humble enough to go see a little baby born in the Lord of Stinky Hall. Praise the Lord for those today who still believe in this plan of salvation, in this gospel message and put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. There are thousands of people that refuse that. They're too smart for that. They think they have arrived. They don't need God. They don't need a salvation. They think it's too simple. I can take care of myself. I have one guy one time, I try to witness to him. This guy is in the seventies. And he said to me, listen, please, I want you to pay attention to me. I am my own God. He said, I was taken back on that one. I said, you are your own God. He said, I am my own God. I don't need God. Wow. I hope he changed his mind. I really do. You see, Jesus is the fulfillment of all four servant songs in Isaiah. Jesus himself said that he did not come to be served, but to serve and to give us life a ransom for many. When Jesus learned that the Pharisees were plotting to kill him, he withdrew from that place and warned the people not to tell who he is. Matthew tells us that this was a fulfillment that was spoken through the prophet Isaiah. Jesus is not only a humble servant, he is a prophesied servant. Number three, we see an anointed servant in verse 18. Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved whom my soul is well pleased, I will put my spirit upon him. jesus is the anointed servant in matthew that matthew's talking about here verse 18 he said it is so very sad that through the ages even to this very day there are thousands of people do not take the bible as the word of god and and who do not see jesus as the savior the messiah the one who can save them from their sin totally reject him many many reject him today you see some uh use his name with all kinds of filthy conversations and plug his name in there some throw his name to the shame some curse god in his face and laugh because they just use god's name in vain or use god's name in a curse word get this there are a lot of people who think they are better than god There are many, there are people who think that God is so insignificant, weak, and totally don't need Him. There are others that think that if they come to church, they do God a favor. If they come to church, they need to be recognized, and they are, because they are there, and they need people, people need to see they're there because they're important. You know what? Church is a hospital for sinners. Everybody walks in the doors of the church are needy people. So is the pastor. You follow that? We all have needs, all of us. We all have headaches of life. We have pains of life. We have discouragements of life. We all needy people. It's not one person who can say, I have arrived. Such person is arrogant and a liar. You know, we are needy people and a church is a place, a hospital like, say, for sinners and people who are aching with pain. Sometimes emotional pain, sometimes spiritual pain, sometimes physical pain. But you know what? That's why we have the local church. We can encourage, regardless of what we go through, we can encourage one another in the Lord. It is very sad that these days, the way people treat the Word of God. But get this, there are others that think that if they come to church, like I said, they do God a favor. Wow. Listen. None of us do God a favor by coming to church. Let me put it this way. Think about with me for a second. When man turns his back on God, God didn't have to go after man. He did not have to go after man, but because of his love, grace, and mercy, he promised the Messiah. It's not that God needs us, we need him desperately. People think that they don't need God, but in the bottom line is this, we all need the Lord. We all need his love, his mercy, and his grace. We do, because life is short. We need him for today and we need him for the future when we depart from this world. We do need him. But there are people who love Jesus. You want to live for him and strive to please him. Many people don't see Jesus for who he is, Emmanuel, God with us. They don't see Jesus for what he gives. For what he had done and continues to do the Almighty God the creator of all the sustain of all things. They don't see Jesus How did Jesus can help them because in their eyes he is weak and insignificant Like I said, they don't see the local church a place where they can learn from God's Word So they say many say the church is full of hypocrites. I love when people say that to me I say it's more hypocrites outside the church that in the church. I They just don't see that way. They use excuses. Some even say, if I go to church, the walls fall down. Really? You might fall on your knees. The walls will stay stand. You see, the local church is a place when we can learn about God, his word. We can encourage one another in the Lord. letter a on the second point we see the anointed call jesus was chosen loved and affirmed by god the father in matthew 12 18 says behold my servant whom i have chosen my beloved in in whom my soul is well Pleased I will put my spirit upon him and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles God is speaking in this verse and notice he calls Jesus my servant. Yes, Jesus came to serve us and to give us his life so he can be saved. Jesus came in the obedience to God the Father. He said that the Father told him to say and he did exactly what the Father asked him to do. Matthew 20 Isaiah tells us that Jesus was chosen in love and affirmed by God. Jesus was the object of divine choice, divine love, and divine pleasure. He is God's Son who was especially chosen for the task of redeeming God's people. We find these same words in God's love and affirmation of Christ at Jesus' baptism and at Jesus' transfiguration. Again, exactly in Matthew 3, verse 16 says these words, unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, enlightening upon him. Look what it says in low verse 17, a low voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Fast forward now to the transfiguration where Jesus speaks, when God speaks about Jesus again from heaven. We read in Matthew chapter 17 verse 5 says, It goes for us today. It is important when the Word of God is preached that we listen to. It is the Word of the Lord. Okay. Through the years, I threw you off with this one, but through the years, I have people that said to me, and many times I agree, okay, oh, Pastor, that teacher is kind of boring. Oh, you know what? Okay, I'll put it like this. Everybody have different style of teaching. Everybody have different style of teaching. What you do as a student, we find a way to get the best out of it. Okay, my pastor, Pastor Crichton, and some of you know who he was. He was very soft spoken and he read his messages. Didn't make a difference to me. You know what I used to do? I used to sit very in the very edge of the chair. And I used to get a notebook and listen to him so I could take notes. I was taking in what he was saying. He was a very, very, very good preacher. But you find a way to stay focused to the Word of God. If the Word of God means that much to you, then you listen to it. He that hath ears, let him hear, saith the Lord. let it be the Holy Spirit anointing Jesus was chosen loved and affirmed by God and Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit for his task as God's servant as God said through Isaiah I will put my spirit on him and he will and he will proclaim justice to the nation so you see this is we see this at Jesus baptism when the Spirit of God descended like I said like a dove upon him We read about in Book of Acts chapter 10 when the Apostle Peter is speaking to a group of people and he tells them, look what it says in Acts 10.37, after the baptism which john preached how god anointed jesus of nazareth with the holy ghost and with power who went out doing good and healing all that well oppressed of the devil for god was with him Jesus is anointed servant. He was chosen, loved, and affirmed by God. He was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power to fulfill His task as God's chosen servant. So we see right here, we see now, our last point is He was a gentle servant. This is a reality that is really the heart of the First Servant song right here is the heart of our message tonight. Back to Matthew 12. Look at verse 19 to 20. Look what it says. It says, He shall not strive, nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flags shall he not quench, till he sent for judgment. unto victory. This portion of the servant song above shows us Jesus' gentleness in two ways. First of all Jesus did not quarrel or cry out. Remember Jesus, remember Matthew's quoting this particular servant song from Isaiah to show how Jesus fulfilled this song in his response to the Pharisees who were plotting to kill him. To cry out as in to argue or to quarrel right here would have drawn further attention to himself, something which we have already seen Jesus did not want to do. This verse does not mean that Jesus kept complete silence. He did not. Jesus preached and thought, you know, but he spoke, he spoke up and he spoke out against evil, but he avoided conflict when it was necessary. Sometimes, like I said in the beginning, sometimes there are conflicts. The best thing you and I can do is just walk away. You turn your back around and you walk the other way and let the person speak by themselves And let me tell you it takes courage. It takes self-control to walk the other way Especially when some people are spewing your kind of nonsense walking the other way Well, they're plotting against Jesus was evil and Jesus just walked away Sometimes yeah, sometimes we need to stand up But other times, we have to be wise. I'd say like this, we have to be wise how to choose our fights. Is that worth it? Or should I just walk away? You see, Jesus' response to conflict is an example for us in this regard. How should we respond to conflict in our lives? When conflicts arrive, how do you respond? How do you act? I don't want people to say, I don't want to give them the peace of my mind. Sometimes it's better to keep your mind in the right place. Because instead of us making things better, we make things worse. So you need to be wise. Lord, should I open my mouth or Lord, should I walk away? Prayer goes a long way. The Bible says pray for it for everything. That too. That too. See, Jesus spoke up. And he spoke against evil. But he avoids unnecessary conflict as long as possible. He did it. with all the gentleness and humility of one who serves God and others rather than himself." So, Jesus' response to conflict is an example, like I said, for you and me. How do you and I respond to conflict? Jesus' shows gentleness and humility actually is a verse in the Bible. I have a man that used to work with me. This man, he was like an atomic bomb. He could not control his mouth. I led him to the Lord. But any little thing, this guy would explode in rage. It's not like, you know, it was rage, pure rage. And I said to him, I said, listen, you need to calm down. One of these days you're going to hurt yourself. And you know, actually he did. He did. He said something and he forcibly retired because he was going to lose his job. But anyway, it's another story for another time. But I said to him, I said, listen, you need to calm down. And he said to me, how do you do that? All right. You want to know? Go to Proverbs chapter 15. How you avoid conflict sometimes and how should you respond? the conflict and Jesus did it this way and the Bible teaches this way. Look at verse 1 of chapter Proverbs 15. Look what it says. A soft answer turned away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. You follow that? The Apostle Paul writes in 2nd Timothy 2.24, it says, You see right here, it says, you know what? We have to be meek, you know, because in the end of the day, we all We end up all in the priesthood. We represent Jesus wherever we go. A soft answer turns away wrath. And Lord forgive us when we forget this verse. Okay Only jesus fulfilled the servant song in of isaiah, but we also are called to be the lord's servants And here paul says we we we need to follow the example of jesus The sir the gentle service the lord's servant must not be one to start trouble Instead we must be kind to everyone. We must be gentle and instruct those who oppose us Listen, it is wrong when we are prone to conflict with others, to start trouble with others. That shouldn't be in our hearts. If there's a problem, we should ask the Lord to help us on this. Letter A, we see a caring servant. Jesus is the gentle servant, did not start any trouble with anyone or cry out. And Jesus is the gentle servant who cares for the helpless and hopeless. Look what it says in verse 20 of chapter 12. It says, a bruised reed shall he not break, a smoking flax shall he not quench, till he sent for judgment and to victory. Reeds were used for the variety of purpose in biblical times. They were cheap and plentiful. And so if you had a bad one or bruised one, no worry You just threw it out and grab another one, but Jesus doesn't do that with us Jesus cares for the helpless Jesus cares for those who are hurting and like a big brother. He comes over to help us Jesus cares about all the hurting, all the failures, all the rejects, all the dropouts, all the little people, all the weak links in the chain that everyone else sets aside. You know, when somebody's society says, you're not that good, you're not that important, you're not that relevant, God comes along and says, you are somebody in my eyes. That's where the world categorize people. He sees a little, uh, he sees, uh, I saw a sad thing the other day, actually this week. This lady had a broken leg. And she had crutches. And she was going up the stairs. And everybody's pushing and shoving around her that passed by. And one actually hit her so hard and one that the crutch fell down. And I said, where's the heart of men these days? You're so busy that you don't help a person with a broken leg up the stairs? I mean, not just, you know, okay, uh, she can do that. She seems like she wants to, but to a point, you're so, so rushed that you have to knock that crotch out of her, out of her body. And you can see how, how, uh, uh, worried she was and the tears began to fall out of her face. That's how sad the world that we live in. Believe me, folks, not everybody is like that. There's a lot of people out there like that. See jesus comes to the spiritually broken Spirit warns he comes to those who so bruised by sin and all as a fact that they are Unable to stand up for themselves. He comes to those who who flex and Flickering and they don't see any hope for living anymore And he says these words in matthew 11 28 come on to me All you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest But you know what? He goes on to say, take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. But you know what? You need to believe in the person that quote those words, Jesus Christ. He is the humble servant. He is willing to take you in and says, come unto me. But if you don't believe in his words, we're not going to be humble servants. we not? I conclude with this, folks. As a Christian, you are going to face conflict. Conflict is inevitable when you are on mission for God. But today's passage tells us we should respond, how we should respond to conflict. Jesus was gentle with others and we should be gentle too. We should purpose peace on our hearts and spread that peace to others around us and avoid unnecessary conflict. Listen folks, there are conflicts that we don't need to be there. We need to withdraw ourselves for our sake and for that person's sake. You follow that not just for our sake for their sake to You know that Jesus one of the Pharisees to receive him as Savior. Oh, yes Why did you just say go learn of me? They're human beings too besides the arrogance and pride and attack Jesus and plot to kill him in the end. Listen, it was still human beings and Jesus died for them and The only thing they have to do is receive Him as Lord and Savior, like many have done. Same thing today. The message of salvation is still the same, but for us, God's people, God wants to avoid unnecessary conflicts. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank You, Lord, for the lesson tonight, and thank You, Lord, for reminding us, Lord, we don't have to stay in the midst of unnecessary conflicts with people for our own sake and for their sake as well. What a learning tool for us as your servants. In Jesus name I pray, amen. If you could stand please, we're gonna sing a song of invitation tonight and we will go our way. All right, take my life and let it be 490, 490. Take my life and let it be 490. Page 400, let's sing a couple of verses right here. Like the verses says right here, be transformed by the renewing of your mind, Romans 12, verse 2. Take my life and let it be. ♪ Consecrated Lord to Thee ♪ Take my hands and let them move ♪ At the impulse of Thy love ♪ At the impulse of Thy love Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for meeting with us tonight. Thank you, Lord, for your love and mercy and for your goodness and help us, Lord, to avoid unnecessary conflict with people for their sake and our sake. Go with us, Lord, help us to be a blessing to someone and to you as well. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. You are dismissed.