So this particular message was one that was birthed out of a request from Keisha. Keisha had asked me to do a little write-up for one of our church meetings about resolving conflicts. And so when she had requested it from me, I was going through a lot on my job and my person. So I was like, I don't know if I can do this, but I do what I know to do, and that is pray. And I felt taken on. And so when I do, He always manages to give me the ability to get the message despite the obstacles and the hurdles that come in this way. How many of you know that we run oftentimes an obstacle course? So you can't just run a straight line and expect to get to the end because there are going to be hurdles along the way, and we got to jump over them hurdles, and so you got to pay attention, and you got to pray, and that's how we find victory. So this message, I took the message, and Pastor Jim suggested I bring it to the congregation, so I prayed about the right timing. And so I believe it's now. Now, what I'm going to do is break it up into two sections, one for today and one for a later point, not next week, probably because I have a couple of things I need to do. But here's basically what we're going to talk about today. We're going to talk about unity and how important is it? It's going to lay the foundations of the biblical teaching on unity within the church and then ultimately to talk about how to deal with conflict. And then second part for today is what are the impediments, the obstacles to overcome in achieving the unity? How do we make sure that this unity is actualized within our local assembly? Then I'm going to do another teaching the next time when we're going to talk about a case study in the scripture about two pillars that had a fallout, two pillars within the church at the foundation of the church and how that panned out, the final outcome of that. And then finally, I want to talk about practical biblical principles for dealing with conflict. So that's going to be on part two. But for today, we're going to talk about unity. How important is it? And what are the impediments or obstacles to overcome with it? So we're going to first start with, I usually tend to lean heavily on PowerPoint, but obstacle course. We know how to get over hurdles. So let's do Matthew 22, 37 through 40. You can write it down. I'm going to read it out so you guys can just write these scriptures down for the sake of expediency. But Matthew 22, 37 through 40 says, and he said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is a great and first commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the laws and the prophets. So there is a definite call to unity. God is relational. The first part of relationship to have right relationship is first, what is this, vertical or horizontal? I always get this mixed up, y'all. But between us and God, if we have right relationship with God, then it should and must spill over into right relationship with each other. And oftentimes right wrong relationship with each other is often a byproduct of not having right relationship with God. So when we put him in his rightful place, we put him on the throne and we allow him to deal with us in our hearts and deal with us about our character deal with us about our way of thinking. It should translate on how we affect our we relate to each other and the and the script that comes through prayer through the Word of God and the Word of God teaches us how to rightly relate to each other. Amen. So then I'm going to take you to John 17 16 through 22. I'm going to take you through a lot of Scripture. So we're just going to jump you can write this down John 17 16 to 22. This is often called the high priestly prayer before Jesus went to the cross. He prayed a final prayer and the prayer in the prayer. He says this in verse 16. They are not of the world just as I am not of the world. sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And for their sakes, I consecrated myself that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they may also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one. I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you love me. So in this prayer, Jesus is saying that there is going to be a unity. I'm praying for unity amongst the people that I'm calling to myself and it's through my word. So people are coming together and we have a quality of unity that is going to be distinct from the world. We have the potential for a quality of unity in our congregation. Now, whether or not that's actualized, we're going to talk about it, depends on us. I do believe that we can be a stumbling block or a stepping stone in that call to unity. But one thing we got to know from those two scriptures, it's in the heart of God. If you care about what God has to say about anything, then you're going to fight for that unity. You're going to prioritize that unity. So I'm going to go to John 13, 34 through 35. John 13, 34-35 says, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you. You also are to love one another. By all this, people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. Most of us know Matthew 5 and 9 says, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. So one of the things I want to say about this, this is supposed to be a key characteristic of a believer. It should be a key characteristic of a believer. Are you a peacemaker or are you a troublemaker? Do you come in and do you fight for the unity in the local assembly or do you stir up mess? You know, when you come in the room, do people go, here we go? Or are they glad to see you? You know what I'm saying? What is this? What is a key identifying characteristic? It's not just what you say out of your mouth, it's how do you represent? When you come in, how do people look at you? And if you're one who stirs up mess, then it's not that you're beyond redemption, just repent. Get in line with his mind. We all have divisiveness in us, and I'm going to go to that a little bit later. So my next point, and I hope this is kind of flowing pretty good, Lord. Who's really grown? A real question to ask. Who's really grown in the house? Because we got a lot of people talking about how grown they are spiritually. I'm a spiritual pillar in the church. Okay, who's really grown? Okay, in 1 Corinthians 1, he's talking to a church. And he says, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be saints, with all that in every place, call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. And then I'm going to drop down to 10 and says, now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Okay, so he's talking to this church. This church was filled with people who had a lot of gifts, but they were messy. They were some messy people, and they were divisive, And they had a whole lot going on up in that church. They had people going to court with one another, people, what is the word, what are some of the things that went down in that church? They had sin that was not dealt with, and they had to basically, he had to check them on that, so they had rampant problems. And so he tells them, he said, look, You need to endeavor for the unity, and I'm going to clarify that unity in a minute, okay? So one of the things he says in 10 through 16, I appeal to you, brothers, by the name, like I already said that, for it has been reported to me by Chloe's people, there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each of you says, I follow Paul, or I follow Apollos, or I follow Cephas, or I follow Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. I did baptize also the house of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else. And then he drops down in three, one through four, and he says, But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready. You are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, you are not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way. For when one says, I follow Paul, another, I follow Apollos, are you not merely being human? So here's the thing, maturity, this is not only a characteristic that we're supposed to have, but a maturity marker. How much are you really about trying to unite the people of God? It's not just about what you say. What do you bring to the table? When you come to the local assembly, do you sit like, and I use this example, and I'm old, so. But Siskel and Ebert, you know, some of y'all remember Siskel and Ebert, some of y'all too young. But Siskel and Ebert were one of the first critics of the TV shows, right, or movie shows, and so they'd sit up there, two thumbs up, thumbs up, thumbs down. Are we doing that? Is that how we, are we just analyzing you know, the flow, I mean, what's going on, are we contributing to the growth, the maturity, and the unity, if not anything else, by prayer. If you discern something, I'm not saying you don't deal with it properly, but we can just be critical for critical's sake. We're living in a time where everybody got an opinion, and you got social media, so now you got a platform where you can voice your opinion in a minute, and you can have a lot of people listening to you. So we're constantly being triggered to vocalize our opinion anywhere we get. What do you feel about it? What you think about it? You know, and so we can bring that to the table wherever we go just critical about everything and there's a right criticism. Don't get it wrong, but I'm saying but there's a critical where it's just it's just critical. You just everything's what you feel and what you think. Okay. Now, I'm going to take you guys to another thing. I just want to really make this point about how critical Unity is in a body. and how much it really is important for people within the body to prioritize this and also to for those in leadership to really step up to the plate if you're not participating in this properly. Okay, so the five-fold office, not for your entertainment purposes only, but they have a God-charged directive. And so this also applies to corporate objective for believers too. So let's go to Ephesians 4, 11 through 13. I'm gonna go to 16, but we're gonna start with 11 through 13 first Ephesians 4 11 I'm going to go ahead and go. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and the teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building of the body. And I want you to put this, number 13, to this end. Okay? Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So we as leaders, anyone who's got called out leader, you got a mission objective. And your objective is not to tickle the ears of the people. Your objective is not to come and be the entertainment spectacular wonder of the world, the next, you know, preaching wonder. It really is to accomplish a particular goal. We got to come together. We got to unite and we got to mature in that. Okay, but we got to unite and we got to unite right. We got to unite and we got to unite right. What do you mean there? A lot of biblical terms are being hijacked. People hijack the biblical terms unity. There's a real unity. There's a counterfeit love. There's a real love and there's a counterfeit. So when you're talking to people, let's define terms. And what is our source of defining one versus the other? Well, ours is scripture. I'm going to read this in Ephesians 4, 14 through 16. And 14 says, So the leadership is trying to pull them together, unite them, and also mature them. So that you may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. So what they're saying is we gotta teach you and mature you while you're swimming in a sewer of lies. Okay, so we're trying to get you. Okay, you're going to be swimming in a sewer and I'm going to tell you this. There are some old rehashed formerly debunked heresies that are being recycled and swimming in. So you're swimming in a sewer cesspool of lies and unless you're equipped properly, and that's why I love what Pastor Jamie was saying earlier about equipping the children early. You're going to easily get swayed and you're going to be swimming in that sewer and drinking the water. You know what I'm saying? So we want you to don't go in the sewer. There's a swimming pool for that. We ain't got to do that. Let's stop a minute. Let's reassess this. So that's the goal of uniting and maturing. Rather, this is what you should do. Rather, instead of being tossed in truth for all with every wind have dropped it, rather speaking the truth in love We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint, that which is equipped, and when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. So the leadership is trying to get us all together, getting us all together on one chord, getting us all maturing with the right perspective. And that has to be spoken in truth, the word of God, and I'm going to talk to you for two seconds about that. And it was have the goal of bringing every member to the table, growing and maturing, because every member matters. Every member matters. Every member matters. It's a body, and every member matters. Amen? Okay, so I told you about defining terms biblically. We're not just uniting just for the sake of we are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who make a brighter day, so let's start living. There's a choice we're making. We're saving our own lives. It's true we make a brighter day, just you and me. No. We're trying to come together. Truth is not subjective. We believe in objective truth. Now we believe the way the culture is going, it's all a matter of what you feel, what you think. All truth is relative. It's moral relativism. Depends on where you grow up, where your culture is, what your experiences are. But that doesn't make any sense whatsoever, because somebody's got to be in charge of version control. I work at a bank. and we do a lot with testing code. And they had to have somebody in charge with controlling the versions because otherwise you'll get out of sync and you'll build up on things and you get results that you don't expect. So, if all truth is relative and subjective, that means that we can't argue with the truth brought to the table by serial killers. by racists, by tyrannical government leaders, by slaveholders past or present, by eugenicists. Everyone can come to the table with this is my truth and bring their argument as to why their truth matters. You know, it's birthed out of the situation. So somebody's got to say, wait, hold on. All truth can't be, there cannot be contradictory truth claims. If you're saying one in here and I'm saying something radically different here, somebody's got to be wrong. Somebody's feelings got to get hurt. No, boo. Sorry, but you're wrong. You can get it together, but you got to realize you are wrong. Anyways, it's not like the iPhone software, I like Marshmallow and you like Apple iOS, whatever. There is a real truth. You can't qualify what is the greater good because by whose definition? All, most, some, few, privileged few. You can't define it by no harm done because that can come into question, is it short term, long term? Because a lot of times people would just say, okay, you know, there's no short term effects, well will we, and so we're sometimes in a big old social experiment, you know what I'm saying, where people are saying, we're gonna try this. We've never done it before, but we're gonna eradicate gender and we're gonna just make everybody just, gender is whatever you feel. I mean, what is this? A big old social experiment, and we're going to see where the chips land. You know what I'm saying? Because why? It's politically, it's all about politics. There's a political agenda attached to it. But we aren't supposed to go along with the social experiment. Our truth has been tried, trued, and tested. You know what I'm saying? I don't need something. I don't need your new improved version. You know, if anything, I need to pray to get in line with the truth that has already been supplied. Okay, so now hopefully, so there are three things that you've got to be mindful, three obstacles to progress and victory in experiencing this unity. And it's the same three things that you're going to have to deal with within the course of your life. One is your flesh, our flesh, your flesh, our flesh, right? The second is the world system. And the third is Satan and his kingdom. The flesh, the world system, and Satan. And so one of the things that, okay, hold on, I gotta do this. Let's talk about the flesh first. Believers in Christ are new creations. However, this is a completed work while simultaneously a work in progress. So it's an already not yet done thing. So you're born again spiritually, you are placed in right standing with God, you're justified, you know, he's the one that makes you a new creation. But yet and still, you still have not been fully...it's not been fully actualized. There is a time called glorification when Christ will come, and we will meet Him, and we're going to be translated. So in the meantime, in the meantime, we still have to deal with this old, sinful, rebellious nature. Okay, and that's why he tells you stuff like if anyone want to follow after me let him deny himself daily take up his cross and follow after me. In other words, you're going to have to do something about that old nature in your day-to-day walk. Once I give you a new nature, you still got to deal with that old nature. Okay, so if you have a struggle and the struggle is real you are it's okay because at least you have a struggle. There was a point in time when we did our dirt and felt good about it. And would recruit other people to do it. And we would brag about it, tell everybody how good we did it. I'll let her have it. You know what I'm saying? They know not to mess with me. I'm not the one. You know what I'm saying? We would want bragging rights. We would want every, we want the amen corner. We would rally up support. Come on, y'all. We going to get them. They know after they get done with me, they got got. You know what I'm saying? It's all these things where we're at. Now there's a thing like, I'm going to say it. Lord, I want to represent you more. And sometimes it comes out and be like, Lord, forgive me. Now, we can be careful about that, too, because a lot of people like that. Please be careful with me. God is not through with me yet. Come on, y'all. Let's sing it together. No, I'm just kidding. No, but really, we can get to the point where we use that as an excuse to just stay calm. God ain't through with me. Well, it don't sound like he started with you the way you asked. You know what I'm saying? Let me see some progress here. I mean, baby steps are steps, right? Let's work together. Baby steps are steps. But you look like you ain't even trying to crawl to the destiny. You know what I'm saying? Let's see some movement. Let me see some life in this thing. You know what I'm saying? You know, so we got to make a, it's an intentional daily realization that in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. And I have reminders that every now and then, and if I'm not in my word and I'm not praying, oh, it's like a pit bull, I know, I'm not, a rabid pit bull or a vicious lion that will rip everyone apart, including myself, if I don't deal with it. Okay, so let's talk about it. He tells us to deny ourselves daily. One of the worst things, and I had to put this in here, one of the worst things within the church that people can bring to the table is that I'm already arrived mentality. Oh, I've seen people. You know, I'm there. And everything you do and think and feel is always sanctified. A person like that thinks they got a better quality of flesh. They're the ones that are going to be the problem. They're going to be the ones that are the problem. And it's an epic fail. It's determined to be a failure. Because all of us need to come to the table humbly, We all need to be constantly in a state of self-examination with the Lord. A mirror is something you use daily. The Word of God, one of the metaphors is a mirror. You don't get up and look at a mirror today and think you're going to be good with what you see two months later. You're going to walk outside looking raggedy and rough in front of the people if you don't make it a point to regularly look in that mirror, see how you're doing, and take the appropriate steps to wash and get it together. Well, in the same sense, when we read the word, we should be reading to see how raggedy our motives are, because we can all get off. We can get raggedy motives, we can get raggedy intentions, we can get raggedy attitudes. You know, especially if you're going through a lot and we are going through the refiners fire and the trials get increasingly intense, you know, I can get moody sometimes when the trials come up. And if I'm not in that word and praying, I'm like, Lord, fix my attitude. Fix my attitude. There was a point in time where I used to think, that my attitude flashing on people when I was in a bad mood was okay. Because you should have known better. You should have sensed the red flags around me. I'm not in a good mood. It's not a good day. Okay? Walk around, you know, just say hi, keep it moving. You know what I'm saying? It's not, you know, you should have kind of picked up on it. You know what I'm saying? And my voice will say it, you know, everything will come out and I'll say things sometimes and I'll be like, well, they deserve it. They shouldn't have came on me at that particular time. And the Lord was like, you justify, you can't grow from something that you won't admit is a problem. If you don't surrender things to God, he gives the humble grace to grow. But if you're full of yourself and high-minded, there is no grace for that. All he can do is take you down. So you can go through some trials and tribulations extra because he's taken the belt to your butt. He's not one of these new school parents that think that, you know, you got to reason with Johnny. Come on, Johnny, let's sit down and talk. No, he don't mind using the belt. Johnny gonna get the belt today. Johnny gonna feel this little pain, so Johnny know he don't need to have that attitude when he walking around. Okay, so let's go. We got two natures, we got an old simple nature. So wake up, be intentional. They're hostile to each other, so you have to make up your mind. I'm going to crucify my flesh. What did Paul say? I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I liveth. Yet not I, but Christ liveth within me. So I got to make up my mind. I'm dead. And I got to remind myself, because I did that a long time ago. I said, OK, Rick, you're dead. The old Rick is dead, the new Rick is alive. I did my own little emotional announcement, you know, benediction. What do they call it, eulogy? You know, old Rick is dead, now it's the new Rick. Well, and it worked for a while, but I got to remember that I got to constantly because old Rick still want to come back. You know what I'm saying? So I got to remember old Rick is you know, he still come back swinging sometimes and I got to remember got to put old Rick in his place. You don't live no more Christ lives in you. So I'm going to read you Galatians 5 through 13 13 through 25. 13, verses 13 through 25. I'm gonna go ahead and read. For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say this, but I say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh. For those are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the spirit, you're not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these, I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law. And those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, Let us also keep in step with the spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. So, I'm just going to call out a couple of things in here. Okay? Love and service, the potential is there. Okay? And I want you to see the contrast hopefully in this. For you were called to freedom to serve. You were called to freedom to love your neighbor. But, There's a contrast there. If you bite and devour another, watch out that you're not consumed by another because there's a difference. We have the potential to love and serve on each other, but we can also rip each other apart. We can be ravenous lions and we can rip each other to shreds. So he tells you this. Now, let me tell you the distinction. Here are the works of the flesh. These things will cause you to be a pit bull on, you know, ready to attack. These are the fruit of the spirit. This is what will cause the unity in the body. I want you to pay attention to come with a lot of times we do the sexual morality and rightly so impurity and things of that nature orgies. We hone in on those but we don't necessarily pay as much attention to strife, jealousy, fits of anger, divisions, envy. Those are the things that are within our flesh. that if we don't deal with it, those things will cause friction in the thing. Sometimes you gotta take, like I said, you gotta do a prayer inventory because we can slip into jealousy. We can slip into rivalry. We can start to become envious of other people. We can become angry. These are all things that are very possible within us. even after we're born again. But what we learn how to do is through our prayer life, through our communion with God, through our study in the Word of God, one of the things the Word of God does, and it's not just outward, because sometimes we'll assess ourselves by our conversation and conduct, but it also gets down to motive and intentions. The Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the vital center of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It's a discerner. It's a revealer of the thoughts and the intent of the heart. I believe a lot of times if we're spending our time in the prayer closet, in our word, everything doesn't have to come to light before we confess it. I don't have to cuss you out before I repent. You know what I'm saying? I can start to see the cussing coming out. You know what I'm saying? The cussing's forming in me. And before it comes out, let me get down to my motive and intention. What's going on within me? Oh, you starting to get a little jealous. You know, the Holy Spirit will start to show you. You're starting to start, you're starting to become a little diabolical. You're starting to get a little cutthroat. Amen. So that's why we want to be in the word and we want to be prayer. We want to be humble and we also want to what is the word be constantly in surrender because the Holy Spirit is the ones going to bring just in the contrast to the flesh. He brings love joy. Peace patience patience. kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. So you're going to start to, you should start to have a little attitude adjustment. You should start to be a little bit sweeter. Should take off a little bit of that edge. You know, you know what I'm saying? You should be ready to just go off on everybody. People shouldn't think of you as tick tick, boom. You know, oh, here we go, tick, tick, boom. You know what I'm saying? They should look at you as more calmer, more patient, more loving, more kind. Okay, one of the things that prayer does, it's a word, I told you guys, and I'm gonna say this, it should be a filter. That's one of the reasons why. Being in the mirror, it should start to filter things that come up. And that's what I'm talking about. Searching your heart. Everything you feel and think, it's like a filter. You start confessing those things and renouncing, okay, Lord, I don't like this person, but I'm asking you to give me a love. It's not just don't help me to not like them or act like I don't like them. Don't help me to be fake and phony around them. Help me to genuinely love the unlovely. Amen, and so start to filter out some of the things that you would otherwise be stuck in. Okay. So what this does is highlights the need for consecration. You got to starve your flesh of the things that will feed it. I'm going to talk a little bit about that again a little bit more but the world system now, you got the world system Babylon. It promotes a way of interaction that runs contrary to the word. Any of us who read the Old Testament know that Babylon was a place where the people of God came together in the Old Testament where God said, go be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. And they decided, no, we don't want to do all that. So they stopped in one place and said, no, we're going to build a monument to ourselves. And we're going to sit up here, and we're going to expand. And the Bible said they were fruitful. They were able to actually accomplish a great bit. So all productivity, you can't determine success factors by the outcome. Just because it's successful doesn't mean that God is in it or God agrees with it. Oh, yeah, this is taking off. God has to be in it. We're riding the wave. No, not necessarily. Not necessarily. Okay, because you could be operating off of Babylon. So one of the things about Babylon, there's two things that I felt pressed to write on it. It could be overtly divisive. You know, kind of like you just, you don't even try to sugarcoat it. You just cut throat. individualistic, using, self-promoting, self-seeking, self-glorifying. So it's just about I don't even care how I look doing this. I'm going to let you know I'm about me. I'm about me getting to where I want to go and I don't care who gets in my way. I don't care how it comes off. I'm going to be, I don't even, I'm not even trying to hide it for y'all. I'm on a mission, and if you get in my way, I'm going to bulldoze you in the process. And some people will respect that nowadays. There was a point in time where it was like, that's not respectable. You don't do anything, everybody. But a lot of people will say, well, they bought that paper, you know, and they will be getting paid. So if they got paid, that's the success factor. It don't matter what, you know, you got paid. No. Okay. Then there's the covertly divisive. At the end of the day, I look like I'm about unity, but it's really about me. It's cooperation that outwardly presents as concerned about the group's interests, but it's really about self-interest. I put myself in a group if you're going to be about my agenda. And then the success factor in justifies the means. It's productive, so seems very effective, but doesn't please God. It's not worried about godly character. It's not worried about godly fruit. It's just whatever as long as we get there. And then it can be pretentious. Now, many of us who work in the corporate world, I know I'm sure it's in the music industry, people know how to be fake. And I've been in meetings and there's this tone. It's an irritating tone. But you show up in the meeting and everyone just sounds like, oh, you know, we're all going to get a rate. But at the end of the day, it's fake. and they don't even sometimes care about it. Let me talk, so it's a counterfeit. So how do we not fall into, how do we go get tricked? Once again, you're in the word. The word is a mirror. I think I've preached a message before on the king of counterfeit. And I talked about how when you have a diamond, right? A diamond, you need a special device to be able to determine a diamond from a cubic zirconia. You need that special device. I think Doretha had showed me the device. And you have to be able to determine the flaws, and you have to be an expert to be able to determine it. You can't tell by looking at the surface. In the same way, if we're not in our word, if we're not praying, we can fall for the counterfeit. And like I said, there's a lot of terminology going out there and you will not know that you will get tricked if you're not using the appropriate tools that God has given us to be able to do it. Now the last of the three things, so I talked about the flesh, the world system, and then the last one I can leverage off of what Pastor Jamie did earlier and what is Satan. the spirit of the actual demonic influence. Now, not only did he influence the infrastructure of the world systems, the various world systems, but he's also a spirit actively working in the midst. And so if you're not doing what the Bible says, armoring up, because the Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood. If we're not being the house of prayer, That's a primary description. That is a supposed to be a primary descriptor of the church when it is a you should call my house a house of prayer. We should be a praying people men ought to pray always pray without ceasing. We're also supposed to watch and pray, so we should have discernment. If we're not, we're just praying, but we're not paying attention, we won't be as effective. For vigilance, there's a price for freedom. Vigilance is the price for freedom. Okay, I'm gonna go into, how much more? Okay, let me just read through some of these real quick. You're on one side or the other. Matthew 12, 24 through 30, just write it down, I'm gonna read it. Matthew 12, 24 through 30. But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, it is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons. Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he's divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sins cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judge. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone else enter a strong man's house So all I can say is, this is the only thing I want to put in here, don't be a double agent. Now, one of the things about the kingdom of God, and Jesus said it, there will be plants in the midst. There'll be fake people in the midst who are really not converted, who really don't have the kingdom agenda at heart, and they're going to grow up. And he said, let the wheat grow up the tares. You can't determine that. We got to let the weak grow up into terrorists. But you don't be a double agent. That shouldn't be your modus operandi. That shouldn't be your MO, that you come in and you play on both sides of the fence. And then I'm going to do one last scripture because I know it's hot. I know y'all are getting tired. It's hot up in here. 1 Corinthians 13, 14 through 13. Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It's not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoings, but rejoice with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away. For tongues, they will cease. As for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in the mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide. These three, but the greatest of these is love. The only note I put in this is this kind of love is killing me. This kind of love is killing me because it should. You should be dying in order to express this kind of love. You can't stay intact and express this kind of love because you're going to be tried. And in order to really, you're going to have to learn how to die daily if you really want to exemplify this kind of love. But some of the things that we're going to deal with is a mindset that most of us have. Don't disrespect or dismiss me. When you feel disrespected and disregarded, Your pride or ego will not allow you to be someone else's doorman. So most of us and a lot of us may have come into the table with that kind of childhood offense. We still carry the battle scars of being disregarded or disrespected when we were young and coming up through the ages. So we're like, I'm not going to do that no more. You draw a line in the sand, ain't nobody going to disrespect or disregard me. And the fact of the matter is, I'm not saying, there is a thing called healthy godly boundaries, and you do have to have that. But at the same time, if you're really going to soldier up and you're going to represent the Lord, you've got to let that ego go. You've got to bring that to the Lord, and you've got to let him heal you, you've got to let him deliver you, and you've got to let him mature you so that you're not constantly acting from that place, and you're acting from the place that he intends. Maturity, we have to put away childish talking, thinking and reasoning. Okay. And I put this down and I'm really done, but I'm going to put just a couple of two things. There are maturity markers and I brought this don't beat down the toddler. Because sometimes people come in and they're really just spiritual children. You're born again. You grow and mature. You don't beat down the toddler. The mature people should know how to deal with a toddler. They should know how to deal with a newborn. If a newborn comes in and he acts a certain way, it's maybe, okay, I got to be a little patient. I got to be the mature one. Yeah, okay, yeah, you talked about me, but I'm not going to take internalized a two-year-old's critique of me. So you got to realize you ain't mature. So I'm not going to internalize but you got to pray to get there because all you see is this grown body coming at you talking to you crazy and like you a spiritual toddler, but all I see is a grown man talking at me crazy and I got so I have to pray. You know what I'm saying? You know, so in order to remain calm when others are acting up, our ability to show love when someone else is acting unloving, our ability to turn the other cheek, to bless them that curse us, to love them that hate us, to pray for them that despitefully use us, you can't do that without praying. And don't come to the table with issues from your past, because it definitely won't happen. If you got issues with disrespect and abuse, you're going to have to pry through some of them issues. You might have to get some help. You know, so that you can represent. Because that is the goal. Because we all sit about talking about, I surrender all. I surrender all. All to thee, my blessed Savior. I surrender all. Have thine own way, Lord. Have thine own way. For thou art the potter, and I am the clay. Mold me and shape me after thy will, while I'm standing, I don't know, waiting, yielded, and still. Okay, we sing it, we get emotional, but as soon as someone comes at us... Cotter, what? You know what I'm saying? Clay, what? You know what I'm saying? Okay, let me get to the next one. Reality TV doesn't help. Reality TV is often marked by sensationaling of unbridled displays of aggression, violence, that beat-down mentality. If you're watching a whole lot of stuff where everyone is just triggered 24-7 and the way they handle their triggers, then don't be surprised if you're triggered too. Because it's a cliche, but it's true. You are what you eat. You are what you eat. So whatever you're feeding on, that's that consecration thing. Okay, then I'm down to the wire. Road rage, tensions increasing. You know, I was watching, you know, in the news, they had news clips, and across the country, all these people were talking about road rage, road rage, tensions are increasing in the land, and folks was getting mad. And they have all these video clips. I saw one video clip where this guy, I guess he was so mad, and this was in California. He was driving his truck, and I guess he had gotten into it with the person who was driving the truck beforehand, and he was just, Ramming, you saw that one? Ramming his truck with the person who was out of it, right? A parked car. He was so mad, he didn't care if the person was in it. It's like, I'm just mad, right? Hitting it over and over again. It was parked on the sidewalk. It ended up in the middle of the freeway. He's still hitting it. He just ramming, ramming. Gets out and just starts just kicking it. I mean, And road rage is becoming more prevalent. I saw one where they got this guy with a sledgehammer. And they got into it. You guys seen this? You know, because we go and see all these viral videos and they slamming into, just breaking up the windows. And one dude jumped out. I don't know if he jumped out or he fell out. And then he came at him with the sledgehammer. So the thing is, is that tensions are high. Anger is increasing. But we should be coming calmer. I said should. Okay? And then I'm going to say one last thing. The more rebellious in the land, the hardening of the hearts. The love will wax cold. Conflict is inevitable. But it shouldn't be showing up in here. Or if it's showing up in here, it should be lessening or it should be dealt with. We shouldn't be getting hardened. Our hearts should not be coming cold and callous. We should be coming fleshly while the world becomes hardened in their hearts. But we got to be plotting. So let's see, because he's coming back for a church without splatter or blemish. So what he's trying to do is take us through the refiner's file. And we gotta have our anchor and our priorities in the Lord. Remember, there's two kingdoms going on in here. There's the world and there's a kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is an invisible kingdom. Both of them are invisible kingdoms, but the kingdom of this world has a visible manifestation right now. But the way you see the kingdom of God is in the individuals that are yielding to God. Despite the fact that the culture is going in one direction, they're like, look, and all you can see is by their character, their conduct, their conversation, and their confession. Something happened to them because they don't act like the way they used to. We used to call her tick, tick, boom, and look at her now, she's just as sweet as she want to be. Something got a hold of her. Come on now. And the last thing, even the land is angry. even the land is angry. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the creation awaits the eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subject to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope, that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption, and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption of the sons of the redemption of our bodies. We had two volcanoes happen. We had Hawaii, then we had Guatemala. Guatemala was worse than Hawaii. But these, I mean, it's like, it never fails. We got ecological calamities coming in, and we get used to it a while. Before, it would be like, you'd have these things, and the time span between them, we're far few and in between. Now, we're just kind of like, first you're shocked, you're like, dang, did you see that? That was crazy. And the next week, dang, did you see it? Still crazy. But after four times, you're like, here we go. It becomes commonplace. Okay, so one of the things about it is that even creation is waiting for the makeover, the big reveal. There was a show one time ago, you know, they were doing all the makeover shows, and then they'd have the big reveal, and the girl would come out, and she'd be all done up, and you'd be like, wow, and you'd see the before and after. So there's a big reveal coming out, and all creation is crying out, even so come Lord Jesus, but it's crying out for the maturing and the ultimate display of the sons of God. We are being sanctified. We are being refined through the refiner's fire. And we're going to be put on visible display when he comes back for a church without spot or blemish. So in the meantime and in between time, we should pursue peace with all men and holiness without which no man can see the Lord. That means earnestly. We got to strive for peace. We got to be intentional, radical, aggressive. We have to have an aggressive resolve. Bless the Lord. Amen. Let's all stand to our feet. I'm going to pray real quick.