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Welcome to the Liberty Baptist 
Sermon Archives. 

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The message you're about to hear
was preached at Liberty Baptist 

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Church in Easton, MA. 
You can find out more about us 

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or contact us at my 
libertybaptist.org or just look 

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us up on Facebook. 
And now we hope that this 

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message from God's Word will be 
a blessing to you. 

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First Corinthians Chapter 3 this
evening. 

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We'll be finishing First 
Corinthians chapter 3 tonight in

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our message. 
Have you ever, maybe at a fair 

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or some other place? 
You ever played a game of Whack 

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A Mole before you ever played 
that? 

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Yeah, I, I remember the first 
time I played Whack A Mole, I 

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was a kid and we were at a fair 
or something like that, and my 

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dad had a camcorder. 
And some of you are old enough 

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to remember those camcorders. 
I'm not talking about like what 

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we have on our phone or even 
those little mini ones, the ones

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you had to put over your 
shoulder and carry around. 

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You thought you were doing 
really good at a whole VHS tape 

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inside just to record. 
And I don't know why my dad 

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thought it would be good to 
record his five year old playing

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Whack A Mole, but he did. 
So I remember this very well 

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because not because I 
necessarily remember doing it, 

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but because I watched the video 
so many times and you've seen it

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before on the Midway or 
something like that, the buzzer 

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rings and all of a sudden those 
little moles start popping up. 

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You get that, you know that 
hammer or whatever it is and you

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get the aggression out, you know
what I'm saying? 

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And little 5 year old Adam was 
really excited to play Whack A 

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Mole. 
But when I watched that video 

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and I've watched it several 
times, I don't know where it is 

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now. 
That's probably for the best. 

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I was about a second too late on
every single one of them. 

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And so up, down, pow, up, down, 
pow, up, down, pow, over and 

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over and over again. 
The next thing you know, about a

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minute later, the buzzer goes 
off again. 

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And my dad zoomed in on the 
score, and it was 000. 

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And yeah, so it's like, these 
are why we have, you know, This 

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is why we record things, right, 
for these precious family 

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memories like this. 
I've gotten a little bit better 

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at it over the years, 
thankfully, but it's pretty bad.

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But, you know, the whole idea of
the whack A mole, something pops

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up and you got to hit it before 
it pops back down. 

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You know, I feel like First 
Corinthians chapters #1 two and 

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three, Paul has been playing 
whack A mole, if you will, with 

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the issue of division within the
church. 

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Because, you know, we'll be 
preaching for a few messages. 

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We're reading through these 
first 3 chapters. 

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And there comes this idea of 
division and he whacks it down. 

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And then we read a little bit 
more in a few chapters or a few 

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verses later, the idea comes up 
again that they're divided. 

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I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollo's, 
I'm of Cephas, and I'm of 

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Christ. 
And Paul wax it down again. 

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This has been happening directly
or indirectly throughout the 

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first 3 chapters of this book. 
Well, we're going to get to the 

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place tonight where the buzzer 
is about to sound. 

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I mean, the closing buzzer in 
the sense that not the book is 

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about to end, but really this 
discussion that keeps popping up

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over and over again about 
divisions within the church. 

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And Paul is going to make one 
more mighty strike against it. 

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And this is going to be the one 
that's going to really finish 

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the discussion. 
And it's important because Paul 

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really wants to get across the 
idea that if you live life with 

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a certain mindset, if you live 
your Christian life thinking a 

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certain way, that the idea of 
divisions really should be not. 

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So that if as a church even more
specific, that Paul's not just 

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talking to random Christians, 
but he's talking to the church 

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at Corinth. 
That if a church behaves itself 

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in such a way that if a church 
decides that they are not going 

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to have divisions, that they 
won't be divisive, that that can

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be achieved through what Paul 
gives us here. 

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In fact, there's going to be 
kind of an equation that we're 

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going to see that if you don't 
want division, then there's some

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things you need to subtract from
your life. 

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If you don't want division in 
the church, well, there's some 

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things that not just you, but 
that all of us have to subtract 

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from our lives. 
So we're going to read about 

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this starting at verse #18 And 
it says this, Let no man deceive

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himself. 
If any man among you seemeth to 

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be wise in this world, let him 
become a fool that he may be 

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wise. 
For the wisdom of this world is 

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foolishness with God. 
For it is written, he taketh the

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wise in their own craftiness. 
And again, the Lord knoweth the 

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thoughts of the wise, that they 
are vain. 

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Therefore let no man glory in 
men, for all things are yours, 

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whether Paul or Apollos or 
Cephas, or the world, or life or

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death, or things present, or 
things that come, all are yours.

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And look at this. 
And ye are Christ, and Christ is

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God. 
So while it may not be readily 

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apparent from what we just read,
Paul makes it clear that the end

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of division is all about 
subtracting some divisive 

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thinking in our lives, that 
there's some mindsets that have 

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to be totally eradicated if 
we're going to be unified as a 

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church body. 
And, and after all, if we're 

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going to be a church and we're 
going to gather together and 

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we're going to be together three
times a week, I mean, isn't it 

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good that we're unified? 
All right, good. 

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You agreed with that. 
I was a little bit worried about

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how that was going to go. 
All right. 

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But isn't it? 
And it's not just effect. 

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Well, as long as we're going to 
be together, we might as well 

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get along. 
No, it's more than that. 

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We are here together espousing 
that we believe in Jesus Christ.

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We're saying that we're Bible 
believers. 

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And so aren't we not to just 
live out the Bible together? 

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And if we can't live out the 
Christian life together here, 

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how on earth are we going to do 
it out in the world where people

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are constantly trying to test us
and anger us and trying to get 

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under our skin? 
Listen, if we can't do it here, 

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where can we do it? 
And so Peter Paul, not Peter 

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Paul is going to give again that
last final hit to this issue 

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that just keeps to seem popping 
up over and over again. 

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And he says there's three things
that we need to subtract if we 

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don't want to be divisive within
the church. 

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There's three things that we 
ought to subtract. 

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And again, if you have a prayer,
then you can write these down on

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the back of that bulletin. 
And the first is this subtract 

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all worldly wisdom. 
Now this has come up again over 

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and over again in chapter 1, 
chapter 2 and chapter 3, hasn't 

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it? 
That really wisdom is all about,

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well, the Lord is that that 
knowledge is coming from the 

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Lord, that knowledge is all 
truth, and that wisdom is 

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knowledge applied rightly. 
And that there is a form of 

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wisdom that may seem to be wise,
but it's not really wisdom that 

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the world has this idea that 
it's so wise and it's so 

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knowledgeable, but yet we see 
over and over again that it's 

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quite the opposite. 
So our text tonight starts with 

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this. 
Let no man deceive himself. 

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And, and the verbiage there 
where it talks about let no man 

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deceive his self. 
If you were to, to look at it, 

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the verbiage there really states
that really that they're already

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deceiving themselves and they 
need to cut it out. 

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It's not just saying necessarily
that this is a preventative 

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measure. 
And really the, the whole idea 

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of what we've read so far in 
First Corinthians gives us that 

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idea. 
They think they're being wise. 

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Lies. 
And he says this. 

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Stop fooling yourself. 
Stop kidding yourself. 

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You think you're doing well. 
You're not doing nearly as well 

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as you think. 
You think that you're wise, but 

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you really aren't. 
And really, that's a great way 

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to explain the wisdom of the 
world today, isn't it? 

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No, I'm not talking about the 
wisdom from the Word of God. 

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I'm talking about the wisdom of 
the world. 

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The wisdom of the world thinks 
that it is so intelligent, and 

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it really isn't as smart as it 
thinks it is. 

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What do we see from academia? 
Academia has a disdain for 

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anything else other than worldly
wisdom. 

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Do you want to bring up what the
Bible says about the creation of

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the world? 
Do you want to bring up what the

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Bible says about morality? 
Do you want to bring up what the

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Bible says about even 
archaeology and history? 

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Because we see there's truths 
about those things in the Word 

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of God because, well, whatever 
the Word of God talks about is, 

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well, truth. 
And you try to bring those up in

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academic holes today. 
And what do you get? 

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A nose that's turned up? 
You get someone that'll laugh at

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you. 
Oh, you believe that old book 

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was like, well, I believe that 
old book a whole lot more than I

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believe the books that they're 
pushing on us today. 

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And when those books they're 
pushing on us today disagree 

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with this book. 
Yes, I do disagree with those. 

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Why? 
Because it's worldly wisdom. 

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Hollywood regularly shows a 
disdain for Bible morals and 

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Bible standards. 
What do they say? 

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Oh, you live as a believer. 
Oh, oh, you believe that, that 

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there's just one God. 
You believe in Jesus Christ, 

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that he's not a curse word, but 
rather he's someone to be 

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honored and to be worshipped. 
No, Hollywood has no time for 

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that. 
What do they do? 

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They pat themselves on the back.
They have big galas like they do

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even just last week or a few 
weeks ago where they walk down a

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carpet and they all pat each 
other on the back and they all 

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talk about how wonderful they 
are. 

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But what do we find out in the 
end? 

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It's all worldly wisdom. 
And you start to talk to some of

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those people in those quiet 
moments. 

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You start to talk to some of 
those people when they're not in

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a pack all together. 
And they will start to admit to 

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you, as they have throughout 
history, that that life they 

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live is pretty empty. 
That's why they roll through 

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substances. 
That's why they roll through 

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marriages. 
That's why they roll through 

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work after work, after work 
situation, because they don't 

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want to stop and think about how
really unfulfilling their life 

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is. 
You say, well, pastor, if I had 

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that much money, life would sure
be fulfilling. 

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Well, if money life was about 
money, it would be fulfilling. 

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But life's about a whole lot 
more than money. 

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And they've come to find out 
that they might be signing rich 

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contracts, but that's just 
worldly wisdom. 

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That's not the wisdom that comes
from the Lord. 

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We see over and over again that 
the world has this idea and 

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they're and they're haughty 
about the worldly wisdom that 

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they have. 
And you know, those of us who 

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are old fashioned enough to 
believe the word of God. 

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And again, I keep using that 
word old fashioned, but I don't 

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even like to call what we 
believe old fashioned because 

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what we believe from the word of
God is not about a time period. 

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It's not about an era. 
It's not about when we live. 

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It's really the timeless truths 
of the word of God. 

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They don't change depending on 
society. 

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They don't change depending on 
the era or the time period. 

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No, what the Bible people says 
today is as true as it was the 

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day it was penned in, the day 
that it was inspired of the Holy

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Spirit. 
And that's what we are to 

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believe. 
This wisdom, this worldly wisdom

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is dangerous. 
And it's like a poison that at 

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almost the lowest, most 
undetectable levels as such, 

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that if you're not careful, you 
can digest it for a while and 

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you don't even realize it until 
you've taken in enough that it's

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got you. 
James talks about this in James 

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chapter 3 verses 15 and 16. 
This wisdom descendeth not from 

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above. 
What's what? 

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It's earthly, it's sensual, it's
devilish. 

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For we're envying and strife is 
there is confusion and every 

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evil work. 
Now listen, I'm not telling you 

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to be afraid of the world 
tonight and the world's wisdom. 

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Listen, we need not be afraid of
the world and the world's 

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wisdom. 
Listen, the Bible says greater 

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is he that is in you than he 
that is in the world. 

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We don't need to be afraid. 
But I will say this, you better 

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be wise in your own thought 
process, not the worldly wisdom,

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but the wisdom that comes from 
God meaning this, that you need 

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to be aware that this thought 
process is out there. 

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You need to actively avoid this.
Listen, you don't need to be 

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influenced by worldly wisdom. 
Listen, there are times that you

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might have to say, you know 
what? 

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00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:24,320
This influencer, it's even in 
the word on social media. 

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This influencer, I don't need to
be influenced by him or her. 

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00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:30,600
This podcast, I don't need to be
influenced by him or her. 

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00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:33,360
This television show, I don't 
need to be influenced by it. 

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These books, I don't need to be 
influenced by it. 

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You say, pastor, you just don't.
You just think we just need to 

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read the Bible all day long. 
Well, I would say this. 

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That's not necessarily the case.
But if we did, it wouldn't hurt 

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us. 
But I also say that when we do 

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consume these other things that 
we ought to make sure that it's 

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not in violation of this word. 
Why? 

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Because all wisdom comes from 
God. 

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And yes, there are those who are
outside of a church building 

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that can speak truth, but when 
they speak truth, it's only 

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because it comes from God. 
Because he is truth. 

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00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:07,000
No, no, he's not just the, he's 
not just the espouser of truth. 

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He's the literal embodiment of 
truth. 

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His very essence is truth. 
There is no error in Him. 

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00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:16,160
And So what do we see? 
No, no, all worldly wisdom, you 

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00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:19,360
got to put it off to the side. 
Let no man deceive himself. 

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00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:23,520
If any man among you seemeth to 
be wise in this world, let him 

249
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become a fool that he may be 
wise and said, listen, if you 

250
00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:29,840
think that you're wise and 
worldly wisdom, you need to 

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smarten up. 
That's what he says. 

252
00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:35,280
You know how you smarten up? 
You become a fool. 

253
00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:39,040
The Greek word for fool there is
moross. 

254
00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:44,080
So you just made the connection.
I didn't have to make it. 

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00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:47,480
That's great. 
But basically it, it says this, 

256
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that fallen man's best wisdom is
moronic compared to God's 

257
00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:57,200
perfect wisdom. 
That God's perfect wisdom is 

258
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everything and anything else 
pales in comparison. 

259
00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:02,920
And even Paul understood this 
because he said in First 

260
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Corinthians chapter 4, verse 10 
basically says this, we're fools

261
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for Christ. 
He said I'm willing to look like

262
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a fool to the world. 
I am willing to let myself out 

263
00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:15,600
there. 
I am willing to just say the 

264
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truth. 
And if it makes me not be 

265
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respectable, then it makes me 
not be respectable. 

266
00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:22,040
But I'm just going to speak the 
truth because of what it is. 

267
00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:26,800
Listen, if we go outside of this
building and tell people what we

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00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,800
believe from this word, people 
will think that we're one of 

269
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those people all those years ago
that had those sandwich board 

270
00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:35,520
signs and it's walking out there
and it's like the world's going 

271
00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:36,560
to end. 
The world's going to end. 

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00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:38,120
And listen, I'm not saying the 
world's going to end. 

273
00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:41,080
I know this it will end one day.
But that's not the message that 

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00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:43,400
I have for you. 
We found out yesterday that the 

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world was supposed to end. 
You hear that? 

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00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:46,400
Some. 
Did you all hear that the 

277
00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:47,440
world's supposed to end 
yesterday? 

278
00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,560
No, I missed it. 
Yeah, you missed it, Rick, but 

279
00:13:51,560 --> 00:13:52,600
we're still here. 
What happened? 

280
00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:53,200
You know? 
So. 

281
00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:55,920
But that's worldly wisdom, is 
what I'm saying. 

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00:13:56,360 --> 00:13:57,320
And what do we get? 
No. 

283
00:13:57,880 --> 00:13:59,680
No. 
We seem like we're the lunatics 

284
00:13:59,680 --> 00:14:02,000
going out there. 
But listen, we can't diminish 

285
00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:04,080
the message. 
We can't drop the flag. 

286
00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:07,960
We can't dim the light because 
we might look like kooks out in 

287
00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:09,800
the world. 
Why? 

288
00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:11,480
Because we really get down to 
it. 

289
00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:12,960
Who are the ones of the kooky 
ones? 

290
00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:16,520
I mean, I can go right down the 
line of all the things the world

291
00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:19,240
says is normal that we know is 
not normal. 

292
00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:24,880
And we're the ones that say, oh,
we better just not give them the

293
00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:26,680
whole message. 
They might think we're crazy. 

294
00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:29,120
Let them think we're crazy for 
Christ. 

295
00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,360
You know, I know I'm not talking
about trying to be a lunatic for

296
00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:36,640
the sake of being a lunatic. 
I mean, I well, some of you 

297
00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:38,560
just, we could bow our heads, 
have the invitation right now. 

298
00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:39,760
How many of you? 
No, never mind. 

299
00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:45,440
But what I'm saying is this, 
just speaking truth will put you

300
00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:47,520
outside of the norm in the 
world. 

301
00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:50,840
But that should not 'cause us 
diminish speaking the truth 

302
00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:55,640
because we're afraid of that. 
Listen, there are times we may 

303
00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:58,200
need to soften our tone, but we 
never need to soften our 

304
00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:00,600
message. 
You know what I'm saying? 

305
00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:01,920
Soften our tone. 
And it says, I'm not talking 

306
00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:04,600
about being soft, but I'm 
saying, but we don't need to be 

307
00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:06,720
pointing our fingers in 
someone's face and tell them no,

308
00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:09,040
no, I think we need to show him 
Jesus Christ. 

309
00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:13,720
We don't diminish the message 
one bit, not one iota, but when 

310
00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:18,760
you show Him Christ and then 
Paul in verses 19 and 20, he 

311
00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:22,000
uses some Old Testament verses 
to explain this principle. 

312
00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:26,360
Look at verse #19 it says this. 
For the wisdom of the world is 

313
00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:28,600
foolishness with God. 
I think that just reiterates 

314
00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:30,480
what we're just talking about. 
Ford is written. 

315
00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:31,720
I'll stop there for just a 
moment. 

316
00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:34,560
And I want to remind you, just a
Bible reading principle, a Bible

317
00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:36,880
studying principle. 
When you're in the New Testament

318
00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:39,960
specifically and you see Ford is
written, what does that mean? 

319
00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:42,960
It was written somewhere else 
before it's being read right 

320
00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:44,480
there before it's being written 
right there. 

321
00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:48,240
So you can go into a 
concordance, you can find cross 

322
00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:50,920
references if your Bible has 
them, and you can just find out 

323
00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:54,160
where that was written. 
And the text that Paul is 

324
00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:58,640
talking about is Job 513. 
And what does it say in Job 513?

325
00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:01,920
He taketh the wise in their own 
craftiness. 

326
00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:05,840
You see, no matter how clever 
the wise are, God will still 

327
00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:09,720
catch them in their own 
craftiness, no matter how much 

328
00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:12,440
the world. 
It's as if the world is setting 

329
00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:15,160
a trap with their wisdom. 
But they don't realize that the 

330
00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:20,080
prey is them because they teach 
these types of ideologies. 

331
00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:23,000
They teach these types of 
thought processes, but they come

332
00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:26,240
to find out that the goal at the
end of the rainbow is actually 

333
00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:29,240
an empty pot. 
They teach you to follow your 

334
00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:31,680
heart until they realize that 
the heart is evil and 

335
00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:33,240
desperately wicked. 
And who can know it? 

336
00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:36,560
And they get to the place where 
they realize this isn't exactly 

337
00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:39,240
what I thought it would be, but 
that's the world's wisdom. 

338
00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:42,760
And it says, listen, the world 
will get caught up in the snare 

339
00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:45,720
of their own wisdom. 
That was true in Job's time, in 

340
00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:47,560
the patriarchs. 
That's true now. 

341
00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:49,600
It'll be true till Jesus comes 
back. 

342
00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:53,840
And it says this in verse #20 
again, the Lord knoweth the 

343
00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:56,400
thoughts of the wise that they 
are vain. 

344
00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:01,160
You know that word vain? 
We use that word vain a lot. 

345
00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:04,200
Usually when we use the word 
vain, we use that it's saying 

346
00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:06,200
don't take the Lord's name in 
vain. 

347
00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:10,240
But you know that word vain when
we say it's really the word 

348
00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:15,160
empty, meaning this don't make 
God's word, the word of God 

349
00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:17,480
empty. 
If you're speaking the name of 

350
00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:20,560
the Lord, it ought to have some 
real meaning behind it. 

351
00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:24,920
So that's not just saying 
necessarily, Oh my God, because 

352
00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:27,440
I believe that's very clearly 
taking God's name in vain. 

353
00:17:27,599 --> 00:17:31,320
But there are other ways we can 
make light of God's Word, and we

354
00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:36,400
shouldn't do that or God's name.
But it says here that emptiness 

355
00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:39,680
the Lord knoweth the thoughts of
the wise, the thoughts of the 

356
00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:46,080
wise are empty. 
The world's wisdom, you mount it

357
00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:48,800
all up. 
It says if God took his cosmic 

358
00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:52,880
scales out, if you will, and he 
weighed all of the world's 

359
00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:59,880
wisdom against his wisdom. 
And spoiler alert, he wins every

360
00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:02,760
single time. 
Do you realize that you have the

361
00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:05,200
wisdom of the world in your 
hands this evening? 

362
00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:08,000
Now, I know there's other things
that we need to learn about. 

363
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:09,680
I understand that we go to 
school. 

364
00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:11,880
You don't just study the Bible, 
but there's other things that 

365
00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:15,160
you need to study as well. 
But listen, even all of that 

366
00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:17,200
learning branches out from 
biblical truths. 

367
00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:21,240
Do you know why 2 + 2 = 4? 
Because there's some immutable 

368
00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:23,920
truths in the world. 
You say 2 + 2. 

369
00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,280
I mean, nobody would question 2 
+ 2 = 4. 

370
00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:30,080
Have you been around the last 
few years when people would even

371
00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:35,640
question the very basics of 
logic, the very underpinnings of

372
00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:39,560
society, the very underpinnings 
of of mathematics and and 

373
00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:43,840
science and language? 
No, all of it. 

374
00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:48,040
It's worldly wisdom. 
It's to be discarded, to be able

375
00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:50,320
to be said, no, this is not what
it is. 

376
00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:52,400
Imagine the Boston Public 
Library. 

377
00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:54,920
I, I go there every once in a 
while to study, and it's a 

378
00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:57,880
wonderful place to study. 
I love the reading room. 

379
00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:00,360
That's unlike pretty much 
anywhere else that you could go 

380
00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:03,120
to be able to see just how 
ornate, how beautiful it is. 

381
00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,560
I was just looking this up. 
The, the Boston Public Library 

382
00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:08,720
has somewhere around 10 million 
books. 

383
00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:13,240
That's just at Copley Square, 
about 10 million books. 

384
00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,640
A repository of the world's 
wisdom. 

385
00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:20,360
But you're better off with what 
you have in your hand right now.

386
00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:24,400
And I'm not saying that every 
book in the library is wrong. 

387
00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:27,280
I'm not saying that. 
I'm just saying that God's 

388
00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:30,880
wisdom is supreme and the 
world's wisdom should be 

389
00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:32,800
avoided. 
And when you're not sure if 

390
00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:36,120
something is God's wisdom or the
world's wisdom, you know how you

391
00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:38,040
find out? 
You check it out from the book. 

392
00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:42,160
Because this is the arbiter of 
what is wise or not, not your 

393
00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:46,960
feelings or my feelings or 
society's desires or the latest 

394
00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:48,960
polling from whatever company it
is. 

395
00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:52,040
No, no, whatever God's Word says
it is. 

396
00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:55,160
And so any kind of worldly 
wisdom, he says, get it out of 

397
00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:57,280
your mind. 
Stop thinking about it. 

398
00:19:57,560 --> 00:20:00,600
Don't, don't entertain it. 
Don't allow it to enter into 

399
00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:03,080
your mind, your heart, your 
thought process. 

400
00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:04,600
Make sure it's not on your 
phone. 

401
00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:06,440
Make sure it's not on your 
television. 

402
00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:08,720
Make sure it's not on your 
computer. 

403
00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:11,520
Make sure it's not seeping 
through the cracks of your 

404
00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:16,240
walls. 
Whatever you do, subtract the 

405
00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:19,040
world's wisdom. 
But we also see this not just to

406
00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:23,280
subtract world's wisdom, worldly
wisdom, but if we are to make 

407
00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:26,160
sure we're not divisive as we 
ought to be, we're also to 

408
00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:30,040
subtract all glory to man. 
Any kind of glory that goes to 

409
00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:33,800
man just needs to be discarded. 
Look at verse #21 just the first

410
00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:37,720
few words there. 
Therefore, let no man glory in 

411
00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:40,400
men. 
I mean, I think that covers it, 

412
00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:45,320
huh. 
We live in a society really. 

413
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:50,040
It's a an issue that's crossed. 
I imagine all societies where 

414
00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:56,880
man worship is at its peak to 
extol the virtues of men. 

415
00:20:57,160 --> 00:20:58,640
One commentary is reading said 
this. 

416
00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:01,920
We are more excited about being 
with the influential and famous 

417
00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,560
of this world than about being 
with God. 

418
00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:08,400
We value the gifts and honors of
men more than the gifts and 

419
00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,680
honors God gives. 
How we need to hear. 

420
00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:18,200
Let no one glory in men. 
Man worship is a real thing. 

421
00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:24,360
Someone has even just a very 
minute amount of celebrity to 

422
00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:26,120
them. 
What does man do? 

423
00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:29,160
They flock to him. 
Everybody wants to know them. 

424
00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:31,040
Everybody wants to know all 
about them. 

425
00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:33,800
They want to know what they do 
with their lives. 

426
00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:36,600
That's why there's shows like 
Entertainment Tonight and Access

427
00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:39,120
Hollywood and those, because we 
want to know what the stars eat 

428
00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:42,600
and we want to know what the 
stars drink and we want to know 

429
00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:46,440
what they drive and we want to 
know all the intimate details 

430
00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:48,280
about their life. 
And really, a lot of it is, 

431
00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:53,680
well, who cares? 
They've made a living lying to 

432
00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:55,800
us. 
Also called acting. 

433
00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:58,560
What are they doing? 
They, they're just playing a 

434
00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:01,880
part of the stage and they do so
and it's filmed or they play a 

435
00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:04,800
part on the stage and people go 
and see it in the theater and 

436
00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:08,240
all of a sudden that that makes 
them to be of a greater level 

437
00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:10,720
than someone else. 
No, why do we do that? 

438
00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:13,520
But it's, it's something that's 
been done throughout the ages. 

439
00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:15,840
We're always trying to elevate 
other people. 

440
00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:18,680
But here's the problem. 
It's not just about glory being 

441
00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:21,160
given to other men instead of to
God. 

442
00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,600
If we're not careful, we like to
get the glory. 

443
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:28,040
It's nice to get a little bit of
glory, isn't it? 

444
00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:32,400
It's nice to be noticed. 
It's nice to be seen and listen.

445
00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:34,560
It is good to be able. 
Somebody does something nice for

446
00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:37,400
you, you should compliment them.
You should thank them. 

447
00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:39,680
You know what that is? 
That's just Christian kindness. 

448
00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:45,440
But I will say this, if you live
life to get those attaboys, then

449
00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:48,880
you're probably trying to take 
glory that belongs to the Lord, 

450
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,520
that doesn't belong to you. 
Well, do they know what I did 

451
00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:55,560
for them? 
Well, the only reason you could 

452
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:57,680
do anything for them was because
God gave you the strength to be 

453
00:22:57,680 --> 00:22:59,000
able to do that for them in the 
first place. 

454
00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:03,120
So maybe we ought to just say, 
when someone does bring us 

455
00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:05,600
glory, what do we do? 
We reflect that glory to where 

456
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,200
it belongs to the Lord. 
Often times people will say 

457
00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:10,960
something to me in a 
complimentary fashion. 

458
00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,360
You'll hear me say something 
like praise the Lord, praise the

459
00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:14,680
Lord. 
And I try to say that, not 

460
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,200
flippantly. 
I try to not say that in a vain 

461
00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:18,920
or empty way. 
Why? 

462
00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:22,480
Because really, if you find 
something praiseworthy of me, 

463
00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:25,120
where'd it come from? 
Listen, I know the pastor of 

464
00:23:25,120 --> 00:23:27,720
this church. 
I know him. 

465
00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:30,560
I know my flesh. 
Listen, if you find something 

466
00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:33,280
good in me, if you find 
something valuable within me, if

467
00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:36,240
you find something helpful 
within me, listen, the glory 

468
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,320
doesn't go to me. 
It belongs to Him. 

469
00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:40,800
And I'll tell you where 
divisions start to happen, where

470
00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,800
people start to give glory to 
people who don't deserve it. 

471
00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:48,040
And people want to receive glory
when they don't deserve it and 

472
00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:49,320
people start getting bent out of
shape. 

473
00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:54,640
Listen, I've seen it in churches
over and over again. 

474
00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:57,280
You know, the pastors that I 
gravitate to, quite honestly, 

475
00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:01,680
the elder pastors, the elder 
pastors that I gravitate to are 

476
00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:04,920
the ones that have pastored big 
churches. 

477
00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:07,960
But you wouldn't actually know 
they pastored big churches 

478
00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:14,000
because they just act like, 
well, God's servants instead of 

479
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,360
celebrities. 
Maybe you've heard Sam Davison 

480
00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:20,080
preach here before. 
He was my pastor for Diane's 

481
00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:21,720
pastor for four years while in 
Bible college. 

482
00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:23,520
He was Kaylee's pastor for one 
year. 

483
00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:26,200
Still, no, he's not dead, but 
he's retired. 

484
00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:27,960
So Brother Gaddis is your 
pastor. 

485
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:32,240
Anyway, moving on to where I was
anyway, so he's our pastor for 

486
00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:33,280
four years. 
I mentioned that. 

487
00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:34,560
All right, I need a drink of 
water for a second. 

488
00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:37,560
All right, sometimes the mouth 
moves faster than the brain is 

489
00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:40,760
engaging. 
And some of you've been long 

490
00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:42,440
enough to say, yeah, pastor, you
didn't have to explain that. 

491
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,720
We already know that. 
So our pastor for four years 

492
00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:50,200
pastored somewhere around 1718 
hundred people any given time. 

493
00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,400
You know what? 
I could always talk to him if I 

494
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,640
needed something. 
And you know what? 

495
00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:00,360
I thank the Lord that when I'm 
around him, I don't feel like 

496
00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:02,320
he's big time. 
You know why? 

497
00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:05,120
Because he knows who he is. 
I'm just a servant of the Lord. 

498
00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:11,080
Tatos had an opportunity to meet
a, a couple, a Christian couple.

499
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:12,800
They say, hey, don't they look 
like Christians at a hotel? 

500
00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:14,960
And they said they started 
talking and, and it ended up 

501
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:18,280
being Carter Folgers 
grandparents. 

502
00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:22,680
And we talked for a while and 
they got to meet him and, and, 

503
00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:25,080
and the, and the Folgers, some 
of you met the Folgers when they

504
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:28,280
came over here in, in June and 
they went and I think, I think 

505
00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:29,920
they were your Uber drivers for 
a few days, weren't they? 

506
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:31,760
They're driving you around all 
these different places and all 

507
00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:35,240
that stuff. 
And just just I, I mentioned 

508
00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:36,560
him. 
Do you know, he pastored a 

509
00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:38,760
Church of around around 2000 
people or so. 

510
00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:43,880
And you know, never was the 
aura. 

511
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:46,520
I use that word lightly, but you
understand what I'm saying. 

512
00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:51,720
Never was the the the idea that 
this was a big time person. 

513
00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:55,800
Why? 
Because Kevin Folger, a Sam 

514
00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:58,440
Davison would tell you if we did
anything. 

515
00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:00,960
Thank worthy. 
The glory belongs to the Lord. 

516
00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:05,440
That type of attitude you can 
see on a man and on a woman, 

517
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:09,040
that type of attitude. 
But when you have a church and 

518
00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:12,040
listen, I've seen churches of 15
people where there are people 

519
00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:13,600
that walk in and think they're 
big time. 

520
00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:17,680
And it's like, listen, you're 
just a servant. 

521
00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:22,320
And if you are at a Church of 
1500 and you walk in, you're not

522
00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:25,520
big time. 
Because are any of us big time 

523
00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:28,400
compared to the Lord? 
He is the great one. 

524
00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:32,880
We are the created ones. 
We we are the ones that are are 

525
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:36,480
unworthy, that we're sinners on 
the road to hell until he saved 

526
00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:38,600
us. 
Listen, glory goes to him and 

527
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:42,480
not to us. 
And, and when glory starts to be

528
00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,120
given and received and place 
doesn't belong, that's where 

529
00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:47,680
fractions and factions start to 
occur. 

530
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:51,720
James 3, verses 8 through 10. 
But the tongue can no man tame. 

531
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,160
It is an unruly evil, full of 
deadly poison. 

532
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:56,960
Therewith blessed we God, even 
the Father, and therewith curse 

533
00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,280
we men, which are made after the
similitude of God. 

534
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:01,640
Out of the same mouth proceeded 
blessing and cursing. 

535
00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:03,640
My brethren, these things ought 
not to be so. 

536
00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:08,440
Listen, we can't bless the Lord 
and then turn around in His 

537
00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:10,360
church and not bless His 
creation. 

538
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,720
We better make sure that we are 
on the same page. 

539
00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:17,240
And that means that we give 
glory to where it belongs. 

540
00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:19,200
It belongs to Him and to Him 
alone. 

541
00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:22,200
Don't take His glory. 
So if we want to make sure that 

542
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:26,520
we are not being in a type of 
divisive situation, what do we 

543
00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:29,480
need to do? 
Subtract the worldly wisdom. 

544
00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:34,840
We subtract the the glory that 
goes to man. 

545
00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:37,720
And then #3 in case you're not 
sure where we go from here, 

546
00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:41,320
subtract all other allegiances. 
Everything else. 

547
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:45,640
That's it, you say, pastor. 
Everything else. 

548
00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:47,040
Well, follow me for just a 
second. 

549
00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:50,440
We just stopped in verse #21 in 
the middle of the verse. 

550
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:54,080
But we really need to continue 
to the second-half verse #21 and

551
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:59,240
then read #22 and 23 All things 
are yours, whether Paul or 

552
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:04,120
Apollos or Cephas or the world 
or life or death or things 

553
00:28:04,120 --> 00:28:07,760
present or things to come, all 
or the all or yours. 

554
00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:11,000
Now it means this. 
What it's saying here is this. 

555
00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:14,360
Why would you just glory in one 
man? 

556
00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:17,080
Why would you just glory in one 
group of men? 

557
00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:20,720
Why would you just glory in one 
subset of creation? 

558
00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:23,000
Why would you just glory in one 
thing? 

559
00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:26,560
Why wouldn't you just glory in 
the one who created it all? 

560
00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,920
Why would you just give that 
glory that all belongs to him, 

561
00:28:31,120 --> 00:28:36,400
to Paul or Apollos or Cephas or 
life or death or anything else? 

562
00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:38,880
Listen. 
Don't just give glory to this 

563
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:39,520
one. 
Listen. 

564
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,280
All are yours. 
All of it belongs to you in the 

565
00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:45,320
sense that you are a created 
being yourself. 

566
00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:48,600
God has created all of this. 
So what do we do? 

567
00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:52,000
We look at it and say, God, I 
can't give glory to any of these

568
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:55,120
one group of people or any of 
these individual things. 

569
00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:56,880
God, all the glory belongs to 
you. 

570
00:28:57,080 --> 00:28:59,240
All my allegiance, all my 
everything. 

571
00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:01,200
I'm not aligning myself with 
Paul. 

572
00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:03,240
I'm not aligning myself with 
Apollos. 

573
00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:05,080
I'm not aligning myself with 
Cephas. 

574
00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:08,160
I align myself with my Lord and 
Savior Jesus Christ. 

575
00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:10,760
Now listen, I'll say this this 
evening. 

576
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:16,080
Well, yeah, I'm your pastor. 
I don't know if any of you knew 

577
00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:17,400
that, but yeah, I'm the pastor 
here. 

578
00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:22,000
I'm glad to be the pastor here. 
Your allegiance isn't to me. 

579
00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:27,520
It doesn't matter what man 
behind this pulpit that your 

580
00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:31,720
allegiance needs to be, not to 
the man, but to God. 

581
00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:36,760
That's the way it ought to be, I
guess, where my allegiance needs

582
00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:38,360
to be. 
Well, pastor, you to be on our 

583
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,200
side. 
I love you all, but my 

584
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:42,520
allegiance doesn't start with 
you. 

585
00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:46,440
My allegiance with him. 
You know why that's important? 

586
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:50,040
Because if my allegiance is to 
you and not him, then my 

587
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:54,520
preaching can reflect what I 
want you to hear instead of what

588
00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:58,680
He says for you to hear. 
It would be easy for me to just 

589
00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,400
take the Word of God. 
Well, this guy may not like this

590
00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:03,920
because I think he's living this
way right now, so I'll delete 

591
00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:05,440
that. 
Well, she won't like this 

592
00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:07,920
because I know this is something
she struggles with, so I better 

593
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,320
not talk about that. 
And I can't bring up this issue.

594
00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:12,640
I can't bring up that issue, or 
I can't bring up this doctrine 

595
00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:13,800
because there might be 
dissension. 

596
00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:16,640
I can't listen. 
When it comes to the Word of 

597
00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:19,080
God, when it comes to the 
preaching of the Word of God, 

598
00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:21,520
when it comes to whatever we do 
in the church, what do we do? 

599
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:24,480
Our allegiance belongs to God 
and God alone. 

600
00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:27,960
You say, well, aren't we 
supposed to obey the pastor and 

601
00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:30,120
honor the pastor? 
And the answer is yes. 

602
00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:33,360
Oh, wait, that was a little too 
emphatic. 

603
00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:34,960
Probably I should calm that down
a little bit. 

604
00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:39,400
Listen, has authority has been 
granted to me? 

605
00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:43,240
Yes. 
But where did that authority 

606
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:47,320
come from? 
And who commanded you to follow 

607
00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:51,360
that authority? 
Are we supposed to obey the 

608
00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:52,720
government? 
Yes. 

609
00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:55,640
Where did that come from? 
God? 

610
00:30:56,440 --> 00:30:58,680
And what happens when the 
government gets out of step with

611
00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:02,800
God's word? 
We ought to obey God rather than

612
00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:04,120
man. 
Hey, I didn't make that up. 

613
00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:07,960
We're going to see that on 
Sunday that Peter was arrested 

614
00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:10,200
and he gets back out and they 
say stop preaching. 

615
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,400
And he goes well about that. 
Jesus told me to preach. 

616
00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:18,200
You told me not to preach. 
My allegiance is to Jesus, and 

617
00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:20,840
that's where our allegiance is 
to Him and to Him alone. 

618
00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:25,240
I'm not saying that we shouldn't
have an affection, a love, or 

619
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:27,880
that even that we should obey 
those authorities who are around

620
00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:28,880
us. 
No, no, I'm not saying that. 

621
00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:31,840
But I'm saying where does that 
authority come from? 

622
00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:33,680
Where does that authority stem 
from? 

623
00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:35,080
Where, where does that come 
from? 

624
00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:37,840
It comes from the fact that our 
allegiance is from God. 

625
00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:40,480
Listen, I think when your 
allegiance is with God, you 

626
00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:44,600
become better at obeying others.
Listen, when you listen to the 

627
00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:48,160
Lord as you should, you ought to
be a better citizen, you ought 

628
00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:50,880
to be a better employee, you 
ought to be a better church 

629
00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:53,640
member, you ought to be a better
family member, whatever sphere 

630
00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:56,680
God has put you in. 
No, no, you're better at what 

631
00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:00,000
you're doing, even as you're 
following fallen man, because 

632
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,000
you were really following a 
perfect Lord and Savior. 

633
00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:05,680
That's where it's all about. 
That's where it's at. 

634
00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:08,720
And it says this, Ye are 
Christ's. 

635
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:11,360
That settles the matter, doesn't
it? 

636
00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:15,440
You're Christ's. 
You are not your own. 

637
00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:20,080
You've been bought with a price,
the precious blood of Jesus 

638
00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:22,600
Christ. 
Well, I think that I, I think in

639
00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:25,000
my life I should. 
Well, first of all, it's not 

640
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:29,280
your life, it's his life that 
he's granted you and your 

641
00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,760
thought process, and my thought 
process is secondary to whatever

642
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:36,120
is in his word. 
Say, well, that that doesn't 

643
00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,360
make a whole lot of sense. 
Well, worldly wisdom would tell 

644
00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:40,680
you to strike it out on your 
own. 

645
00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:43,320
And how does that typically work
out for people? 

646
00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:46,400
And in fact, I think a lot of us
would have testimonies of times 

647
00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:48,640
in our life before we got saved 
and maybe even after we got 

648
00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:50,800
saved when we struck it out on 
our own because someone 

649
00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:52,960
whispered in our ear that there 
was a better way. 

650
00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:55,200
And what ended up happening? 
Did your life get better or did 

651
00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:57,760
it get worse? 
Why? 

652
00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:01,200
Well, because we didn't give our
true allegiance to God and say, 

653
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:04,200
listen, whatever you tell me to 
do, I'm going to do you're 

654
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:05,240
Christ. 
And what does it say? 

655
00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:09,680
And Christ is God's Christ is 
our example in this. 

656
00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:14,600
Whatever he did in his earthly 
ministry, he obeyed the Father's

657
00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:16,920
will. 
I'm gonna give you some verses. 

658
00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:20,400
Luke 249 And he said unto them, 
How is it that you sought me, 

659
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:23,320
wished ye not that I must be 
about my father's business. 

660
00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:24,800
He's 12 years old. 
What did he say? 

661
00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:26,280
I got to be about my father's 
business. 

662
00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:29,880
And Joseph kind of probably went
like this me and I imagine Jesus

663
00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:35,200
said, no, not you. 
John 638 For I came down from 

664
00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:38,640
heaven not to do mine own will, 
but the will of him that sent 

665
00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:41,280
me. 
John 829 And he that sent me is 

666
00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:43,320
with me. 
The Father hath not left me 

667
00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:47,080
alone, for I do always those 
things that please him. 

668
00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:50,840
John 9, verse four. 
I must work the works of him 

669
00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:53,800
that sent me. 
Jesus was always about doing his

670
00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:55,720
Father's will. 
And so it says right here, 

671
00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:58,400
Christ is God's, you are Christ 
meaning this. 

672
00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:00,320
What are we to do the Father's 
will? 

673
00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:03,640
All of our allegiance, all of 
our everything, all of our, all 

674
00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:07,240
of our breath, our blood, our 
sweat, our tears, everything. 

675
00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:10,960
We are what it belongs to him so
we can bring glory to God. 

676
00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:13,520
No, no, your life isn't about 
bringing glory to yourself. 

677
00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:16,480
Your life isn't about self 
pleasure, self love, or self 

678
00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:18,920
congratulations or any of the 
things the world says. 

679
00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:21,480
No, your life is about this and 
this alone. 

680
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:25,080
Bringing glory to God. 
You say, well that's an awful 

681
00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:27,159
way to live. 
It's the best way to live. 

682
00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:31,040
There is no other way to live 
because every time I bring glory

683
00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:35,400
to myself, I mess things up. 
But when I just live, Lord, what

684
00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:38,120
would You have me to do? 
He leads me in the paths of 

685
00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:40,440
righteousness for His name's 
sake. 

686
00:34:41,679 --> 00:34:45,320
And everyone loves to quote 
Psalm 23, but they don't like 

687
00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:48,520
live in Psalm 23. 
They like to quote Psalm 23 when

688
00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:52,239
things are bad, but they don't 
heed the message of Psalm 23 

689
00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:55,760
that He will lead us in the 
right way in the paths of 

690
00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:57,840
righteousness for His name's 
sake. 

691
00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:01,320
Our allegiance are everything. 
It belongs to him. 

692
00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:04,920
Again, that's not to say that 
there are no other loyalties in 

693
00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:07,760
life, that there are no 
authorities in life, but it's 

694
00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:09,560
saying this. 
All of our loyalties and all of 

695
00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:12,480
our authorities stem from Him 
first. 

696
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:19,240
So let's bring this back to the 
context of the church for a few 

697
00:35:19,240 --> 00:35:23,760
moments, in context of the 
church that we were just talking

698
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:27,080
about in the beginning, Corinth 
was divided. 

699
00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:31,000
They were a mess. 
They were broken up into all 

700
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,200
these different factions. 
Paul is dealing with the final 

701
00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:38,040
word to division within the 
church, and the end of division 

702
00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:39,960
is subtracting divisive 
thinking. 

703
00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:43,600
These items, that subtracting 
worldly wisdom, subtracting 

704
00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:46,800
glory to man, subtracting all 
other allegiances, that when you

705
00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:51,640
get to that place, that real 
true unity within a church can 

706
00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:54,360
be achieved. 
And why is it so important? 

707
00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:58,760
Because when we bring together 
many ideas, it only brings 

708
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:02,040
confusion. 
But a single vision brings 

709
00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:06,360
results. 
Many ideas bring confusion in 

710
00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:09,240
the church house. 
Many ideas bring confusion, but 

711
00:36:09,240 --> 00:36:13,480
a single vision brings results. 
Jesus said this in Matthew 622, 

712
00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:15,000
that the light of the body is 
the eye. 

713
00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:18,520
If therefore thine eye be 
single, thy whole body be full 

714
00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:20,880
of light. 
You know the world understands 

715
00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:22,480
this. 
A single vision. 

716
00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:25,440
I was looking this up, I 
couldn't believe this. 

717
00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:30,880
Do you know companies spend over
$2.6 billion a year in the 

718
00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:35,640
United States on team building, 
You know, team building like 

719
00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:39,280
getting together and, you know, 
making sure that everyone's on 

720
00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:41,160
the same page. 
And sometimes they go out to 

721
00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:45,240
exotic locations or they do 
role-playing situations where 

722
00:36:45,240 --> 00:36:47,880
they talk about how to work 
through difficulties or maybe 

723
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:51,200
they even go to a place where 
they can participate in 

724
00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:53,480
activities or games or stuff to 
bring everyone. 

725
00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:56,600
What are they saying? 
Listen, we want you to drop your

726
00:36:56,600 --> 00:37:00,360
own ideologies and we want you 
to have one ideology. 

727
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:04,440
When you're here, the company, 
the company, and by the way, 

728
00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:05,680
they're paying you. 
You probably ought to be doing 

729
00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:06,760
what the company's telling you 
to do. 

730
00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:11,960
This is the ideology, the 
company and and and the world, 

731
00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:15,520
even the world in their wisdom, 
and I use wisdom in quotes. 

732
00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:20,480
They spend a lot of money to 
make sure that everyone is 

733
00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:23,880
together and there's Fortune 500
companies that say this. 

734
00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:26,280
If we're going to succeed, we've
got to be together. 

735
00:37:26,720 --> 00:37:33,600
Now listen, if that's for 
temporary worldly non entities 

736
00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:38,360
like that, how much more in 
God's church should we all be of

737
00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:43,160
the same mind that we all are on
the same page when when each 

738
00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:46,200
person comes into a church with 
their own agendas, their own 

739
00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,480
ways of doing things, the church
cannot fulfill its mandate. 

740
00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:52,040
What's our mandate, the Great 
Commission that we're to reach 

741
00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:55,560
as many people as we can while 
we still have time, as long as 

742
00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:58,160
we are here on this earth that 
we're to reach as many people as

743
00:37:58,160 --> 00:37:59,720
we can. 
And again, I know we have 

744
00:37:59,720 --> 00:38:01,760
different personalities. 
I know we have different thought

745
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:03,560
processes. 
I know we come from different 

746
00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:06,400
ways of living, but we check as 
much of that as we can at the 

747
00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:09,040
door where we we come in here 
and we say this, listen, when 

748
00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:12,240
I'm in this building, I'm 
reminded at every junction, at 

749
00:38:12,240 --> 00:38:15,840
every corner, at every thought 
process, I'm reminded I belong 

750
00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:17,880
to God. 
Everything that I do within this

751
00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:20,200
church, and it should be this 
way outside this church too. 

752
00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:24,040
But when we're here together, 
it's all about him, not about 

753
00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:28,600
anything else. 
Jesus said this, you love me and

754
00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:32,520
you love others and all of the 
law and the prophets basically 

755
00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:35,080
hang on that, you know, if you 
love God the way you're supposed

756
00:38:35,080 --> 00:38:37,400
to, you would love others the 
way you're supposed to. 

757
00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:40,280
And if you love God as you show 
us to and others you're supposed

758
00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:41,760
to. 
That pretty much covers 

759
00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:45,440
everything, doesn't it? 
It's why unity is so important 

760
00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:47,920
that we love each other the way 
that we ought. 

761
00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:51,080
Listen, there are times that 
petty squabbles in the church 

762
00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:52,400
house, they just ought to be 
ignored. 

763
00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:56,760
Just let it go. 
Proverbs 1911 says this. 

764
00:38:56,760 --> 00:39:00,320
The discretion of a man defereth
his anger, and it is his glory 

765
00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:04,080
to Passover transgression. 
You know, the world takes the 

766
00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:07,440
smallest and magnifies it in the
church house. 

767
00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:10,520
We ought to take those things 
that are bigger, and if we can, 

768
00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:14,240
we lessen them. 
But there are times that things 

769
00:39:14,240 --> 00:39:15,680
have to get taken care of, don't
they? 

770
00:39:16,240 --> 00:39:18,320
There are times that there are 
things that have to be talked 

771
00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:20,520
about between brothers and 
sisters in Christ. 

772
00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:23,120
What do we do when we do that? 
We handle it in a way that 

773
00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:26,600
pleases the Lord. 
We handle it in Matthew 18 type 

774
00:39:26,600 --> 00:39:29,400
fashion where we go to someone 
who's offended us and we talk to

775
00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:30,960
them like brothers and sisters 
in Christ. 

776
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:33,240
If that doesn't work, we bring 
someone else with us to make 

777
00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:35,720
sure we can talk together 
because that's what Christians 

778
00:39:35,720 --> 00:39:39,360
are supposed to do. 
You say, well, I don't, I, I 

779
00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:41,360
don't really practice that. 
Well then you're practicing 

780
00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:46,960
worldly wisdom because the Bible
says we're supposed to handle 

781
00:39:46,960 --> 00:39:51,080
things as he says, are you going
to rule the Kingdom? 

782
00:39:51,240 --> 00:39:53,280
And you can't even rule amongst 
yourselves. 

783
00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:56,800
How are you going to do that 
which God has for you future, if

784
00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:59,600
you can't even do what he's 
calling you to do amongst other 

785
00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:01,600
believers? 
We're going to find out later 

786
00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:04,680
that people in Corinth are 
taking each other to court. 

787
00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:09,800
They're suing each other. 
And basically, Paul says this, 

788
00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:13,760
listen, you're going to go to 
the world to handle your petty 

789
00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:16,000
squabbles. 
You're going to take two 

790
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:18,120
believers and you're going to 
drag yourself in front of a 

791
00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:20,200
Pagan and let him decide your 
fate. 

792
00:40:20,720 --> 00:40:24,000
Why can't you guys, as believers
who have the Holy Spirit inside 

793
00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:26,960
of you, figure it out? 
And that's what we're supposed 

794
00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:29,480
to do before we come to the 
church house. 

795
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:32,120
Agendas are supposed to put off,
be put off to the side. 

796
00:40:32,680 --> 00:40:35,880
Personalities should neither be 
reviled or revered. 

797
00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:38,840
Meaning this that someone's 
personality doesn't match with 

798
00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:43,280
us, that we don't revile them or
have some level of disdain for 

799
00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:45,600
them. 
But if there's someone who our 

800
00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:48,520
personality does work out really
well with, we don't Revere them,

801
00:40:48,520 --> 00:40:50,360
meaning this. 
We talk to them and no one else 

802
00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:53,800
being this that you should be 
able to before church, after 

803
00:40:53,800 --> 00:40:55,280
church. 
I was about to say in the middle

804
00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:57,680
of church, but don't talk in the
middle of church, before church 

805
00:40:57,680 --> 00:40:59,760
or after church. 
Have a conversation with anybody

806
00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:02,120
in this building and it ought to
be blessed. 

807
00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:05,840
It ought to be good again. 
Do we get along Personalities 

808
00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:08,520
click better some with others, 
that's just natural. 

809
00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:13,320
But we all be brethren with one 
another and we ought to be able 

810
00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:15,720
to handle a conversation with 
one another. 

811
00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:19,640
This is church. 
Pride has to be put off to the 

812
00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:21,520
side. 
You know what kills most 

813
00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:24,800
churches is pride, pride and 
arrogance. 

814
00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:27,800
People that don't want to be 
wrong, they don't want to admit 

815
00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:30,120
they're wrong. 
They won't be rebuked. 

816
00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:33,920
They won't even be talked to in 
Christian love because they have

817
00:41:33,920 --> 00:41:36,280
to be right. 
And there's nothing, there's 

818
00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:39,480
nothing godly about that. 
I'll say this, even our own 

819
00:41:39,480 --> 00:41:43,000
timidities and fears ought to be
discarded as well, that we ought

820
00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:46,200
to serve the Lord with gladness.
Listen, don't be afraid to serve

821
00:41:46,200 --> 00:41:49,200
the Lord in this building. 
I'll say that again. 

822
00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:50,960
Don't be afraid to serve the 
Lord in this building. 

823
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:54,120
You ought to be able to sing in 
this building and know, hey, 

824
00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:57,000
you're amongst believers. 
Say, well, I don't have a good 

825
00:41:57,000 --> 00:41:58,240
voice. 
Well, you know what? 

826
00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:01,120
When we all sing together, it's 
a beautiful thing to the Lord. 

827
00:42:01,720 --> 00:42:03,840
It really is. 
Sing out, sing out. 

828
00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:06,240
Listen. 
If someone listen, if somebody 

829
00:42:06,240 --> 00:42:08,520
has a problem with your singing 
voice, guess whose problem it 

830
00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:09,600
is? 
It's theirs. 

831
00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:11,880
You sing unto the Lord. 
All right. 

832
00:42:12,040 --> 00:42:14,040
Now, I'm not talking about, you 
know, singing like you want 

833
00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:15,880
everyone to hear you. 
That's a pride issue, all right.

834
00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:20,040
But I'm just saying sing, sing 
with joy and rapture in your 

835
00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:22,160
heart. 
You know that That's what we 

836
00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:24,640
ought to do. 
Don't, don't be afraid to listen

837
00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:29,080
to to talk amongst the brethren 
and to, to give a testimony or, 

838
00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:31,960
or to do those things. 
Listen, If we can't support and 

839
00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:33,640
encourage each other here, who 
will? 

840
00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:38,040
It's OK that we can pray with 
one another and talk with one 

841
00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:41,360
other and serve with one another
and do so without fear of, of 

842
00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:45,440
ridicule or any other thought. 
Man. 

843
00:42:45,840 --> 00:42:47,960
That's what we got to do. 
We got to work together. 

844
00:42:48,800 --> 00:42:53,560
And these things right here, 
they only enhance division. 

845
00:42:55,360 --> 00:42:57,800
If they're not taken care of 
when you subtract them, what 

846
00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:00,160
does it do? 
It brings unity. 

847
00:43:01,040 --> 00:43:03,280
I want to give you a Bible 
principle and reference to this 

848
00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:08,880
and we'll be done. 
I have a diagram here. 

849
00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:10,680
If you're watching online, 
you'll be able to see this in 

850
00:43:10,680 --> 00:43:12,880
just a moment as well. 
I got 3 church members here. 

851
00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:14,720
I don't know who they are, but 
it doesn't seem like they're 

852
00:43:14,720 --> 00:43:16,440
very unified. 
Look at how far apart they are 

853
00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:18,400
from each other. 
It's kind of like what's kind of

854
00:43:18,400 --> 00:43:20,000
like a church service. 
People don't want to sit next to

855
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:22,080
each other, right? 
But these folks, they're, 

856
00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:23,960
they're not getting along with 
each other very well. 

857
00:43:23,960 --> 00:43:27,160
And these are, there's some 
disunity between these church 

858
00:43:27,160 --> 00:43:29,320
members here. 
There's some division between 

859
00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:31,680
these three people here. 
But when they come to church, 

860
00:43:31,680 --> 00:43:32,720
who are they supposed to be 
serving? 

861
00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:38,280
Supposed to be serving the Lord?
Well, how do we bridge the gap? 

862
00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:44,120
How do we get these people to be
unified in the House of the 

863
00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:45,280
Lord? 
It seems like it's 

864
00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:48,160
irreconcilable. 
And you know what often happens 

865
00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:51,160
at other churches? 
That people just give up or blow

866
00:43:51,160 --> 00:43:53,200
up or something along that 
nature. 

867
00:43:53,200 --> 00:43:54,960
No, but what does God expect 
from us? 

868
00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:57,320
What does God want from us in 
this situation? 

869
00:43:57,560 --> 00:43:59,520
Well, you know what this church 
member needs to do? 

870
00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:02,760
The one at the end, the one on 
the left, they need to grow in 

871
00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:05,080
the Lord. 
You know what the church member 

872
00:44:05,080 --> 00:44:07,760
in the middle needs to do? 
They need to grow in the Lord. 

873
00:44:08,400 --> 00:44:09,680
Guess what? 
You know what the church member 

874
00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:11,000
on the right side here needs to 
do? 

875
00:44:12,400 --> 00:44:14,520
You guessed it. 
They got to grow in the Lord. 

876
00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:19,120
They got to grow in their 
relationship with the Lord. 

877
00:44:19,440 --> 00:44:22,360
This one growing in the Lord. 
This one growing in the Lord. 

878
00:44:22,360 --> 00:44:25,200
This one growing in the Lord. 
But here's something incredible.

879
00:44:25,480 --> 00:44:30,480
When this one and this one and 
this one grow in the Lord, what 

880
00:44:30,480 --> 00:44:35,360
happens to them? 
They grow closer to each other. 

881
00:44:37,640 --> 00:44:39,920
They're not even worried about 
growing closer with one another.

882
00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:42,120
They just want to grow closer to
the Lord. 

883
00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:44,760
And as they grow closer to God, 
what do they do? 

884
00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:47,800
They grow intimately closer with
one another. 

885
00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:50,280
By the way, this is a good 
principle for marriage too. 

886
00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:55,880
I mean, take out one of those, 
you know, because you got to be 

887
00:44:55,880 --> 00:44:58,880
clear about that nowadays, 
between a man and a woman. 

888
00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:00,160
Amen. 
All right, You got to get all 

889
00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:01,640
those things out of the way 
nowadays. 

890
00:45:01,640 --> 00:45:03,400
But listen. 
But the idea is you want to 

891
00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:05,960
improve your marriage is both 
draw closer to the Lord. 

892
00:45:06,840 --> 00:45:08,720
They're just naturally going to 
draw closer to one another. 

893
00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:13,280
So as we start to subtract some 
of these things from our lives, 

894
00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:15,600
what do we realize? 
We're drawing closer to God. 

895
00:45:15,880 --> 00:45:18,840
As we draw closer to God, we 
naturally draw closer to each 

896
00:45:18,840 --> 00:45:20,800
other. 
Do you know what make Liberty 

897
00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:23,200
Baptist Church the most unified 
church on earth? 

898
00:45:23,200 --> 00:45:24,560
I think we're pretty unified to 
this. 

899
00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:28,160
But you know what make this 
church so incredibly tight and 

900
00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:33,840
unified? 
Revival, a revival spirit within

901
00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:36,520
our church. 
You can't help but love one 

902
00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:39,600
another. 
You can't help but care for one 

903
00:45:39,600 --> 00:45:40,240
another. 
Why? 

904
00:45:40,520 --> 00:45:42,600
Because we're all following the 
Lord. 

905
00:45:42,760 --> 00:45:46,720
And when we have that little bit
of bad feeling within us, that 

906
00:45:46,720 --> 00:45:49,320
Holy Spirit that's inside that 
we're really listening to, we 

907
00:45:49,320 --> 00:45:50,720
realize, oh, I got to get that 
right. 

908
00:45:50,720 --> 00:45:53,080
I got to get that right with 
them. 

909
00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:56,000
And if somebody comes to you and
wants to get something right in 

910
00:45:56,000 --> 00:45:59,600
the James chapter 5 style of 
manner to restore a brother, 

911
00:46:00,160 --> 00:46:02,080
then they will have the right 
attitude of saying, you know 

912
00:46:02,080 --> 00:46:03,400
what? 
I'm a little bit embarrassed 

913
00:46:03,400 --> 00:46:05,640
that you had to come to me. 
But thank you that you came to 

914
00:46:05,640 --> 00:46:08,520
me because I'm going to act like
a mature believer and realize, 

915
00:46:08,520 --> 00:46:11,720
you know, that I'm not perfect 
and I don't even see this coming

916
00:46:11,720 --> 00:46:12,840
until you brought to my 
attention. 

917
00:46:13,040 --> 00:46:15,920
But God use you, brother. 
God use you, sister, to bring 

918
00:46:15,960 --> 00:46:17,160
this into my life. 
Thank you. 

919
00:46:17,160 --> 00:46:21,080
But what, what could God do with
a church that's unified like 

920
00:46:21,080 --> 00:46:24,160
that? 
What could God do with a group 

921
00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:28,760
of people that drew close to him
and then just as a happy 

922
00:46:28,760 --> 00:46:30,080
byproduct, drew close to one 
another? 

923
00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:34,480
So with the point tonight, well,
let's just hold hands and sing 

924
00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:37,360
kumbaya with each other. 
Well, no, because I don't want 

925
00:46:37,360 --> 00:46:39,680
to hold your hand and some of 
you don't want to sing. 

926
00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:40,960
So we Can't Sing kumbaya, all 
right. 

927
00:46:41,200 --> 00:46:44,760
And so we can't do that. 
The issue is not let's find 

928
00:46:44,760 --> 00:46:47,440
corny ways to get closer to each
other. 

929
00:46:48,600 --> 00:46:52,320
Let's just truly and honestly 
get close to Christ. 

930
00:46:53,280 --> 00:46:55,080
Let's subtract the worldly 
wisdom. 

931
00:46:55,680 --> 00:46:57,880
Let's subtract glory that goes 
to man. 

932
00:46:58,120 --> 00:47:00,040
Let's subtract any other 
allegiance. 

933
00:47:00,200 --> 00:47:03,080
And if you do that and I do 
that, what happens? 

934
00:47:03,320 --> 00:47:08,720
We all grow unified together. 
Thank you for listening to this 

935
00:47:08,720 --> 00:47:11,280
sermon from the pulpit of 
Liberty Baptist Church. 

936
00:47:11,720 --> 00:47:14,880
If this message was a blessing 
to you, or if there's any way we

937
00:47:14,880 --> 00:47:18,000
can serve you, please let us 
know by contacting us at 

938
00:47:18,160 --> 00:47:22,920
info@mylibertybaptist.org. 
Or you can visit us this Sunday 

939
00:47:23,080 --> 00:47:26,800
at 800 Washington St. in Easton,
MA. 

940
00:47:27,080 --> 00:47:29,880
May the Lord bless you as you 
grow in His Word.