Sermon: Walking In Wisdom

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Open your Bibles to Proverbs, book of Proverbs, chapter 4,

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Proverbs chapter 4, I have this beautiful new

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Bible and all the pages are sticking together so, it's actually my favorite part of new Bibles is breaking them apart.

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Proverbs chapter 4, this is the book of wisdom from God, Proverbs chapter 4, starting in verse 1, hear now the word of the living and the true

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God, hear O sons of fathers instruction and be attentive that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts, do not forsake my teaching.

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When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, let your heart hold fast to my words, keep my commandments and live.

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Get wisdom, get insight, do not forget and do not turn away from the words of my mouth, do not forsake her and she will keep you, love her and she will guard you.

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The beginning of wisdom is this, get wisdom and whatever you get, get insight.

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Prize her highly and she will exalt you, she will honor you if you embrace her.

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She will place on your head a graceful garland, she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.

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Thus far is the hearing of God's word, let's pray together. God I pray that Lord you'd bless us as a church, strengthen us, guard our hearts and minds, grant to us the strength

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Lord not to just pursue knowledge of you, but wisdom. Grant to us the ability to live with skill and godliness.

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Grant to us the strength Lord to be like Jesus, Lord Jesus you are wisdom incarnate.

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Grant to us the ability Lord to look to you and to walk like you, to bring you glory.

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You've saved us from our sin, grant to us the ability to daily be saved from our sin.

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I pray that you'd be glorified in all that you do to us as a church, Lord how you use us, how you give us a voice for your glory in your kingdom.

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I pray especially for us as a church you'd grant to us wisdom, in Jesus name, amen.

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So this is actually powerful, if you don't know this, the book of Proverbs is something you can really go through every single month, just read a chapter today and you're going through God's book of wisdom.

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And the Proverbs is, it's so amazing, it's of course not like the other books that we've been doing in the

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New Testament that are historical narrative or it's a teaching letter from the apostle to a church from a dungeon, it's very different and you can see the differences even for example in the book of Romans it's didactic, it's teaching literature, it's systematic, it's going from point

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A all the way to Z and you're working through an argument in a line, you're instructing and teaching, this is knowledge, this is truth and this is truth and this is how you know this is true, it's very different say from James, where James is so focused upon okay, you say that you believe but here's what

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I see and how do we know that you really believe? Well it's by what you're doing, is it a dead faith, is it a living faith and James is just packed full of wisdom, wisdom, skillful living and it's amazing, here's just, this is an aside but I truly think it's amazing that you have all these amazing things in the

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New Testament from the Gospels themselves, the historic narratives, the witnesses of what Jesus did and said and the resurrection, all of that's there but then you also have the letters that you know, it just, it'll transform your life or renew your mind, yes but it's an amazing thing to me that James, the

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Lord's brother, is the one that grew up with Jesus and we see such an amazing focus in his letter upon actually living like what you know is true and wouldn't you expect that from James who grew up close to Jesus, with Jesus, as Jesus' brother that his emphasis in his letter is so much not just on didactic teaching and systematic stuff, it's on if you really believe this, then live like it's true, stop being a hypocrite, if you really believe this, then walk with godly, skillful living and you see that in James and I just,

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I personally think that's just a mark of like well that's what I would expect because he lived with Jesus, knew

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Jesus so well, grew up with him, saw how he acted with his mom, saw how he acted with his family, how he acted with neighbors and strangers, how he lived his life and so James is zeroing in upon wisdom, living godly, applying knowledge, applying truth.

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It's an amazing thing to me, I think that we have that in Scripture, the book of Proverbs is just filled with godly wisdom, it's skillful living, it's so different than the narratives because you'll be going through a chapter and you'll have just this section that's emphasizing one aspect of wisdom, skillful godly living and then it switches to just another aspect, completely different but it's just full of just point after point after point, godly wisdom, get wisdom, get wisdom and I want to talk,

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I want to emphasize this as we talk today, very important as a church body because why do a message like this?

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It's important and I'll tell you why I think this is so vital. God has us involved in so many amazing things, to proclaim his truth, to serve one another, to raise our children in godliness, he has us involved in so many amazing things and I think we have to just be aware of the fact that when you are coming against darkness with light, there is a spiritual aspect to all of this, there is spiritual warfare that we have to be very, very vigilant about and aware of.

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We have to sort of expect it constantly that we are fighting something that is a spiritual battle so as we go out there to proclaim the gospel and to fight against darkness and to shed light where there is darkness, all of that, be salt and light to the world, there are spiritual attacks coming and sometimes as I said over the last couple of weeks, those spiritual attacks, they come from the outside, they come from those who hate

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God, they're enemies of God and it's so easy as a church, it's so easy as a church to see the unbeliever railing against God, railing against God's truth, you see that and you recognize the foundation, this person hates

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God, they're an enemy of God, they're not even standing on the word, they are trying to collapse the faith and so it's easy at times when those attacks come against any church from the outside to recognize where it's coming from, that's from the enemy, that's from unbelief and those sort of attacks and that sort of sin goes right off the back of the church most of the time, right, just like water off a duck's back, it's easy to recognize, you see it for what it is and it just goes right past you, those attacks come, you anticipate them and most of them are just simple parlor tricks of the enemy but the one thing that I think many believers are not always vigilant about and aware of is just the lack of wisdom within the body of Christ, within a particular church body where sin can be creeping in, jealousies, strife, disorder, broken relationships, gossip, slander and all the rest, these are tools of the enemy, they really are and the way to preserve your own walk with the

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Lord and the relationships within the body of Christ and the unity of the body is to always pursue wisdom, applying

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God's truth because God's truth has victory over the schemes of the enemy, so whether the enemy is working from the outside or working from the inside, godly wisdom and the pursuit of wisdom will preserve our church, any local church, there's a difference between knowledge and wisdom, now if you want to hear a main point of this message that I think is one of the most important aspects in terms of what are you saying

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Pastor Jeff, what are you trying to aim at, it's this, the difference between knowledge and wisdom, knowledge and wisdom,

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I want to just say I love the reformed faith, I love it, I love what's expressed in the reformed faith in terms of scripture as the ultimate authority, what's true, how do

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I know, it has to be God's revelation as the ultimate, you are to test your own inner monologue, you're to test the voice of the one who comes knocking on your door with another gospel, you're to test even your own pastor by the ultimate standard, the word of God, I love that the reformation has that, that core, that God's revelation is central,

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I love the story of reformed theology that shows us from the word of God that salvation is from beginning to the end, all to the glory of God, soli deo gloria, it is all to the glory of God, that it is by God's grace alone through faith alone that we come into this relationship with Christ, I love the reformed faith,

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I love that we emphasize that it is Christ alone for salvation, I love it,

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I love tulip, I grew up in Holland and they're everywhere, but I love tulip, what came out of that time of the reformation where a fight really was brewing over the issue of how gracious is

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God's grace, and essentially what tulip expresses is that it's real grace, from beginning to end, it's total grace, it's all to God's glory,

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I love it, but one of the things that I think is most damaging in the reformed community, most damaging, it isn't everywhere, you can't say it's always like this, but it has some hot spots where it just grieves my heart, is people who get into reformed theology that see these truths, they're consistent, they're everywhere, this is what

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God says, and so they pursue that knowledge, this section, this section, knowing this, knowing where it's at, being able to put the story together, being able to explain the trinity, being able to explain the deity of Jesus Christ, being able to explain the distinction and natures of Christ, he's

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God and man, being able to explain sola scriptura, but not able to live with wisdom, gossiping, slandering, trying to attack and bring people down constantly, being just mean people, mean.

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Some of the meanest people I've met in my entire life are reformed

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Christians. Some of the most unwise, ungodly people

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I've met in my entire life are people who claim to be in the same theological camp that I am.

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Having all this knowledge about God, being able to articulate these truths that are glorious and should break down any pride or haughtiness in anybody's life, being able to do that so well, pursuing knowledge which is so vital, and yet not able to live with basic godly wisdom.

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Not gracious, not humble, willing to entertain gossip, willing to just buy accusations, willing to just buy slander, passing along slanderous reports.

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You see it online all the time. All the time. So there's a difference between knowledge and wisdom.

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Wisdom is the application. It's the application of godly truth.

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How do I actually live with skill as a godly man or godly woman?

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It's very different than someone who says, I can explain and articulate all these things, here's where it comes from, this is the truth.

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We need to be those kinds of people that care about what does God actually say, but we need to also prize wisdom, applying what

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God actually says. That's what God calls us to, applying skillful living.

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And one of the ways I thought, this hit me last night, I thought it was a beautiful expression of this, is last night, so I think it's around 7 o 'clock, and for about two hours, we had some very qualified men, you guys know what

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I'm talking about, some very qualified men teaching the men at Apologia Church how to fight.

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Now, the interesting thing about this is that it was freezing in Prescott, so you had to contend with the cold, which tightens everyone's muscles up and everything else, so you're already kind of brittle because of how cold it is, and we're in this very small room with how many men?

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It was like 150 men, something like that, 150 men. So packed into a room with 150 men, there's barely any room to breathe or move in there because everyone's just packed in there nice and tight, and the men up front who were highly qualified to teach how to defend yourself and to hurt other human beings, if you have to, they're showing and they're telling, this is why you do it like this, and here's what you're going to do.

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And they explained, and they would go over it and over it, they would explain, this is the move, this is why you're doing it, here's what you want to do with your elbow, here's where you're bringing it in, and so they would explain, and they would impart the knowledge.

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They would say, this is true, this is why, and this is what you need to think as you're doing this, and then came the moment where everyone was going to partner up and start rehearsing it.

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And the guys said, they said, now be really careful and make sure that you know you're swinging an elbow at a man's face, so it's best maybe just to put your hand up, hit the hand, or lightly touch the chest, and I'm sitting there going, oh, this is going to be interesting.

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And it was amazing, because I think that if you would have taken the time that these guys explained, here's why you're doing this, this is the truth, this is the move, they would give them the knowledge,

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I bet you, you could have pulled most guys up there and said, okay, could you just explain real fast the basic points of knowledge that these men gave, right, before you actually apply it, can you explain what this is and sort of like why you're doing it?

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I think most of the men could have gone up there and done a pretty good job, you need to put your hand here, here's why you're doing it, they would have gotten all the knowledge, but now was the moment of application, and it was epic.

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First of all, that room stunk a lot. Some guys are just sweating profusely, and they're throwing the moves, and I watched about five men get clipped right in the nose with the elbow, right, because it was one thing being able to say,

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I know the move, I just saw it ten times, I had it explained to me, I can tell you what they said to do, but it was a whole different thing figuring out how do

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I get my body to move this way, and how do I figure out this range, some guys like thought they were a mile away, and they were this close, they were like whack, elbow right to the nose, and it was interesting to watch it, because, you know, it's

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Christian, you know, brotherly love, and you see guys just get smashed in the face with an elbow, and the guy's like, are you okay, are you okay, he's like, yeah,

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I'm fine, he's like clenching his fist, you know, oh, I love you, Lord, and I love you. But you saw guys get clipped with elbows, and guys get hurt and taken down, and it was amazing to go to watch that difference between the knowledge imparted, and then the guy's ability to actually do it, when they say, okay,

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I know what he said, but being able to actually get in there and maneuver the right way, they were backwards, they were facing the wrong direction, they were using the wrong arms, that's the difference, that's the difference between knowledge, knowing stuff, getting certain truths, and then wisdom, actually being able to apply it with skill, there's a difference, we should prize as God's people knowledge of God, truth from God, we need to care, what does

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God say about this, what is God's truth in this area, we have to care, and I want to say this, we should be the people that care the most and work the hardest, have you ever read the

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Puritans, ever tried to read the Puritans, the way that they talked about God, and spoke about God, and wrote about God, all of that, it is amazing, you can read an old guy named

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Stephen Charnock on the attributes of God, and you have to admit, nobody today living can write like this man, and think thoughts like this man, they thought long and hard, you have to read just a page of Charnock, and then take 30 days to eat it, to try to like contemplate and just meditate on, oh my goodness, you can't read straight through the book, it's just a page at a time, a day at a time, it's so much knowledge, and we have to be skilled in that, we have to care, however, we have to prize also wisdom, how do you actually live in a way that's pleasing to God, because you can say that God says, without holiness, no one will see the

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Lord, saved people are people that God renews and transforms, you will become more and more holy, you can say that as a theological, you know, claim, without holiness no one will see the

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Lord, that's in Hebrews by the way, but if you don't live like you're pursuing holiness, then you're not mature as a believer, you're not deep with God, I don't care how much you say you know about God and God's truth, if you don't act like Jesus and you're not pursuing wisdom and holiness, becoming more slow to speak, more patient, fighting against division, fighting against gossip and slander, then

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I would say you're not even stepping on the first step of Christian maturity, we have to pursue wisdom and prize it as deeply as we do knowledge, now you might see that I'm very passionate about this,

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I am, because my own experience as a Christian is very much like this, as a young man,

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I was so passionate about knowing God's truth, I don't like to put myself into sermons too much, but I just wanted to let you know where this is coming from in terms of passion,

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I was a young man that cared so much about studying and learning, I had heroes that I was looking up to, heroes like Dr.

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Walter Martin who seemed to know everything there was about history and church history and theology and he could just use it to like win people to the

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Lord and take down arguments, and then I got to know my hero, my friend, my mentor,

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Dr. James White, and I watched these guys, I looked up to them so much, I thought to myself, I need to be able to reason like them and think like them and so it was study, study, study, study and being able to explain and make sure that the explanations are sharp and clear and being able to actually engage even in fights with it against unbelief and the cults and all the rest, but what's amazing about that is if you would have seen me as a young man,

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I think I would have been able to actually go toe -to -toe with some of the best of them in terms of theology and like where's this at in the

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Bible, where's that in the Bible, and how do we know this, I would have been able to explain just over and over and over, page after page after page on particular doctrines of the

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Christian faith, but I was not wise, I wasn't wise,

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I wasn't patient with my wife, I wasn't slow to speak, I had a quick temper,

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I would entertain gossip, I didn't know how to manage when someone's accused, I was not a wise man, but I could debate the

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Trinity back and forth, I could explain all the differences in eschatology, all the historical pedigree of the eschatology and where they get this from and where they get that from, but I was not a wise man,

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I wasn't patient, I wasn't always loving and gracious, pursue wisdom, pursue wisdom, that's the call of Scripture, I want you to see this in terms of this is what's given to us over and over and over in Scripture, look at Proverbs chapter six,

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Proverbs chapter six, starting at verse 12, and this by the way, this is just, you'll see this in and out, in and out of the

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Proverbs, in and out, you'll get a section, it'll break for a minute and then it goes right back to these themes,

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Proverbs chapter six verse 12, a worthless person, stop there, take that in, take that in, that's the

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Word of God, a worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord, therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly, in a moment he will be broken beyond healing, there are six things that the

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Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to Him, worthless, wicked, abomination, are there stronger words in the entire

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Bible to express God's detestation? I don't think there are.

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Abomination to Him, haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, murderers, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breeds out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers, there's godly wisdom.

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Here is what God hates, not dislikes, not is uncomfortable with,

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God hates, we always talk about God as love and justice and mercy and unchanging and all that's true, but God does have this attribute of hatred for evil, and isn't it interesting that what

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God puts together with murderers, murderers, is a person who sows discord among brothers.

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If you are a person who lives comfortably in the realm of discord in God's Church, then

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God puts you in the same category of what he hates along with the murderers.

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He hates murder, he hates lies, and he hates those who sow discord among brethren.

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Just consider that. It's interesting, my experience within the church,

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I wasn't raised in the church, and so my experience in the church, you know, it wasn't from a young age, but it was, you know, teenage and young adult years, and I have seen so many churches just disappear, or split, get broken, wounded, hurt, and you would ask like, well how did it happen?

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You know what's amazing? Amazingly, the reason that sort of led to the the break and the split and everything else was gossip, factions, that kind of thing slips into the church, it seems so subtle, it seems so small, and yet when you have in my last church

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I was pastoring before planting Apologia, we had a massive break within the church.

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I was pastoring the college groups at the time and serving the church in a number of different ways, and that church to this day now no longer exists.

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It's not even there, it's not even on the map. Why? Because groups of women started with very subtle gossip about other women in the church, and then the pastor's wives started having their own thing in terms of gossip about the other pastor's wives, and then it started not with any forceful or serious big -ticket accusations, it was just typical gossip and taking down people's dignity, trying to ruin the reputation with, you know, small subtle jabs at their character or how they did things, and then what ended up happening ultimately is this faction building and gossiping within the church led to essentially a church split, and this church exists today.

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I was able to, by God's grace, with Pastor Luke, recover much of that, and then God called us ultimately to plant

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Apologia Church, but that church was just barely teetering because of what had been happening to them, and they were traumatized by the issue of gossip and factions amongst the women.

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It was a church that was like 750 people strong, it was one of the best churches I had ever been a part of, amazing pastors, and it doesn't exist today, and the ultimate answer is, well, how did it all happen?

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It started with gossip between women in the church. No big -ticket items, accusations, just subtle taking women down, degrading them, talking poorly about their group of women, those sorts of things, and so an entire church was destroyed and doesn't exist anymore, ultimately because of no wisdom.

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No wisdom. I want you to see this more. In Proverbs chapter 6, we were just there, go to chapter 10, just move over to the right, chapter 10.

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I want to again show you that this just weaves in and out of the story of godly wisdom. Proverbs chapter 10, 18 through 19.

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It says, the one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool.

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When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.

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The tongue of the righteous is choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth.

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Whoever utters slander is a fool. That has had such an impact on me personally, in terms of walking with Christ and understanding

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God's hatred for division, God's hatred of gossip, God's hatred of lying and slandering, and God actually saying, very specifically, if you utter slander, you are what?

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Let's say it together. You are a what? You're a fool. You are, from God's own mouth, a fool if you utter slander.

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Worthless, wicked, abomination, God hates it, you're a fool.

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That's how God tells us, speaks to us, about the issue of lying, disorder, breaking up unity, and slander.

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More. Proverbs chapter 10, 30. It says, the righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in a land.

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The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.

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The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse.

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Does that sound kind of familiar to anybody, in terms of anything you've read like that in the New Testament?

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There's a very famous section from the Lord's Brother, James. I want you to see it real fast. Go just quickly to James, New Testament, right before Peter, right after Hebrews.

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James chapter 1, verse 26. Famous, right? We all know this. It says, if anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.

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There it is again, worthless. What comes out of your mouth, those sorts of things, lead to the state of being worthless.

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Your religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

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That's wisdom. That's wisdom. Pure and undefiled religion before God is this, that you can quote

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Reform Dogmatics by Hermann Bavink, right? No, nothing there about that.

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It's all seen in what actually happens with your religion. You say you're religious.

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You say you believe in Christ. What does it look like? What does it actually affect and impact in the world?

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How does it move from here and here to out there? That's what James is saying. It's worthless.

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This is what pure and undefiled religion is. But he goes on, after this great section of James chapter 2, you know what

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I'm going to, James chapter 2, verse 4. He says, look at the ships also, though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder, wherever the will of the pilot directs.

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So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire.

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And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

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For every kind of beast and bird of reptile and sea creature can be tamed, and has been tamed by mankind.

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But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

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With it, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.

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From the same mouth come blessings and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

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Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grape vine produce figs?

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Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. Pause for a second here. Isn't this challenging? Think about what's being said here.

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This isn't a letter being written to unbelievers. Mark that down. This isn't being written to unbelievers.

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Who's it written to? Christians. Christians. Oh, we can't struggle with that.

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We're not going to struggle with cursing people and blessing God. We're not going to have that problem.

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I mean, is this really to me? It's written to the church. This is a charge being brought against Christians.

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People who profess the faith, they say one thing, and then they do another. They curse the brethren.

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They curse others while they're trying to bless God at the same time. How does this work? James is saying, how is this possible?

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What a deadly thing the tongue is. So make war with our sin.

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Amen? Yes. Make war with our sin. Make war with our own tongues. Be constantly aware of the fact

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God is sanctifying me. God loves me. God lives in me. And so I have to guard myself against myself.

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Against my own sin. Who in this room is not guilty of gossip and slander?

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To some degree, all of us. Maybe you're engaged in it now. Maybe you're sitting in the midst of it within this body.

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Don't be a worthless person. Don't be practicing what

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God calls an abomination. More. Proverbs 10. Proverbs 10.

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We were just there. Sorry. 11. Verse 1.

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A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.

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There's another of the many examples in Scripture you have. God even has them practicing this in Old Testament holiness code.

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He has them even practicing this in terms of how they do their weights and measures with their stuff. Just as a rehearsal to always have equal weights and measures.

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Equal weights and measures always. So we are to live with one another with a biblical balance.

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No partiality. No partiality. How would this come out in terms of the body of Christ and us living together in our marriages, in our homes, in our small group communities or whatever?

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How would this come out? Equal weights and measures. No partiality. We treat one another with honor and we treat one another the same.

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That is skillful living. I don't show personal favoritism to somebody.

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This happens. That's how factions are built, by the way, within the body of Christ. What happens? What happens?

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Just consider it. It starts with the subtle accusations. Then maybe the big -ticket accusations from someone that you really love.

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And so what do we do as Christians? We love these relationships. We love these people. And so what do we do?

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We fall prey to partiality. Unequal weights and measures. Meaning what?

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Is that I have such a close and deep relationship with this person, I am just going to be on their team.

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Be on their side. Right? This will be my team and that is their team. Right?

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And why? Because I really love this person. Because I really care for this person. And so what do I do? I show partiality.

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Unequal weights and measures. One of the things that I have tried my best. I know that I failed as a father in so many ways.

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But one of the things that I've tried my best to do with my own children is try to emphasize this.

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The standard is always the same for both of you. I love you both.

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But if one of you comes to me with a story and we have to manage this, I can't say, well, you're in my good graces today, so I'm just going to believe you over them.

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No partiality. Equal weights and measures. I will treat you both the same. I will give you the same justice.

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The same standards. Because what does God say? Pause here for a second. Don't we do this?

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Do we not do this? When we are coming against this culture with its perverse sexual ethic and they're saying, no, you can live with homosexuality.

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You can live in this lifestyle and be a godly person. You can do these things, these perverse things.

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You can do these things and still be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. What do we always do? We try to say, no, wait a second.

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You don't understand. The Bible is not muddy on this point. It is so clear to the degree that it uses the word toiva, abomination, when it actually describes this lifestyle.

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We actually emphasize that. No, the Bible is not unclear. How is it not unclear?

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Because it says toiva, abomination. It's an actual abomination to God.

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You know what God says also? We love to give that to the world. This sexual ethic is an abomination to God.

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God says here that a false balance, unequal weights and measures, is an abomination to God.

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So let's challenge ourselves. Are you ready to challenge your own heart and your own mind as a believer over this issue in life and godly wisdom in terms of unequal weights and measures?

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Are we just going to keep picking on the homosexuals with our favorite proof texts saying, abomination to you but never to me.

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Just consider it. How seriously we take that. That's an abomination. So is unequal weights and measures.

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So is showing partiality. Side note, important one, people often ask us.

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I'll tell you this. I'll tell you the story. It just happened. We had the opportunity.

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We're fighting this battle constantly. We had the opportunity. Someone suggested to us, hey, we'll put a bill into Arizona for you.

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We'll put a bill into Arizona for you, again, for the issue of abortion. Great.

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Equal justice for all humans, equal protection for everybody. Well, it'll say that, but the punishment for abortion will just be severe counseling.

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Brothers and sisters, that's an abomination. Why? Because it's partiality.

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It's saying in the state of Arizona, before God, and using his standards, you, if you kill this 10 -year -old boy, you will be treated as a murderer, you will be guilty of homicide, and this will be the punishment.

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But if a mother and a father dismember, disembowel, and decapitate their own child in the womb, severe counseling.

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What is that? Partiality. What does it do? It's saying, treatment for these people will look like this, and treatment for these people will look like this.

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One of the things we will never do as a church, ever, is support anything that shows partiality.

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Why? Because it's an abomination before God. God hates it.

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People have said that to us as a church. Guys, why won't you just support, say, a heartbeat bill? Why won't you support this bill of 10 weeks?

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Aren't we at least getting closer? And our answer is always, that is an, what?

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Abomination. Why? Because it's saying, you can be free to kill these human beings, but not these ones.

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So people say, why are you so committed to that? And my answer is, because the law word of God. Because godly wisdom doesn't practice like that, doesn't live like that, showing partiality.

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This goes, not just to the issue of personal relationships and showing personal favoritism to some, and not to others, but this moves throughout all of life.

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How do you apply the wisdom? How does it feel? What's it look like? How do you actually master this? It goes everywhere.

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No partiality. More. 11, verses 8 and 9.

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It says, the righteous is delivered from trouble, and the wicked walks into it instead. The righteous is delivered from trouble, and the wicked walks into it instead.

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With his mouth, the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.

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The righteous are delivered from trouble, and what are the wicked doing? Walking into it. Constantly walking into it.

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Getting themselves into conflict and trouble. And it says, the godless man destroys his neighbor with his mouth, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.

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More. 12 through 13. 11, 12 through 13.

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Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.

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But a man of understanding remains silent. Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.

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More there. Just constant. Isn't it amazing? It's a constant repetition of what this does, and what your tongue does.

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It's a constant emphasis in Scripture about what this does to belittle, to slander, to break down, to destroy.

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This. My mouth. My mouth. Keep a watch over my tongue,

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God. That's what we should be asking God for. Keep a watch over my tongue, God. Grant me repentance in this area.

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Let me not be like this unrighteous who is constantly going into trouble and destroying people with my mouth.

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Proverbs 12, 17 through 20. It says, whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit.

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There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

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Isn't that amazing? The contrast there between the wicked, the ungodly, who's always using the mouth in a perverse way and always revealing secrets and slandering.

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It says that this person uses their words like sword thrusts.

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Stabbing. But the righteous use their mouth to heal. To heal.

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It says, truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.

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Oh God, I want to be there. That's where I want to be. Proverbs 13, verse 3.

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Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life. He who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

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So much here about closing the mouth, being patient, slow to speak, not running into conflict, not slandering, not lying, not using our words in our mouths to wound and to create disunity.

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I'll show you one more. Proverbs 26, 17, then we'll go here to application.

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26, 17. Man, I'm getting closer and closer to thinking that our next full study is going to be the book of Proverbs.

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If we ever finish Matthew, no. Look at this. This is a convicting one.

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It is. Proverbs 26, verse 17. Whoever meddles in a quarrel, not his own, is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.

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I was talking to some guys, you know who, and they were explaining to me the special dogs that they have trained for what they do.

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He was just explaining how just incredible they are and just how just they're like machines and like they're playful with them and all that, you know, you can pet them and love them and they're just wonderful little cuddly dogs.

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And then the moment the kit comes out to put on the dog, the dog will be just doing its own thing.

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All of a sudden he hears the kit come out of the bag and the dog just goes, whoop, and leans forward, focused, just ready to do whatever he's told.

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Kit goes on the dog, dogs jump out of airplanes, parachutes, crazy stuff, right? They got like lasers in their ears,

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I don't know, like it's crazy. But this man was telling me that when they were training, when he was first training with the dog, they were like, you know, practicing with the dog, maneuvering with the dog, all kinds of crazy stuff the dog could do, like cameras on its back, literally cameras on the back and all this awesome stuff.

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He said that one time he had the dog and he was going into a room, they're practicing their training and there's people in the room they have to like, you know, practice against, shoot and kick and all that stuff.

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He says that like, come in, the guy's got the big bobo suit on, right, for the dog. And then he calls the command of the dog, he said it was the most unearthly sound.

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It was terrifying. When that dog released, he said it was scaring him and like destroying the guy over there with the big bobo suit on, just sort of like getting torn up.

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He said that he was like, oh my goodness, like he said he was terrified of the dog. And then he said for the first time he thought for a second, was there a chance he could turn around and start going after me?

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And so he said he went to ask one of the trainers, is it at all possible for him to actually turn on me?

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And the trainer was like, I don't think so. But no, listen, that reminds me of even this verse.

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We don't tend to think of our dogs like cute little dogs, you know, as real dangerous. I can take a little cute Pomeranian by the ears and, you know, it's like, what's it going to do?

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I can flip it in a circle. It's not going to do anything, right? But in this day, when you're talking about dogs and wild animals out there, you're talking about the things that maim and kill and they are dangerous.

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They will slaughter you, like the dogs going into these rooms. Terrifying. And it says that whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.

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Is that a good idea? No, you're going to get cut. You're going to get maimed.

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You're going to get hurt. It's not wise to meddle in a quarrel that is not your own.

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It's like grabbing a passing dog by the ears. Terrifying. And there's consequences. Now, let's just take for a moment now.

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Remember what I said at the beginning? Last night, the training with the guys? Here's the facts.

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Here's the facts. Here's the truth. Here's the why. Here's the information. This is the data.

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We got all that. Then it's the, okay, now I got to try to figure out how to apply this. I actually got to do it.

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It has to actually work. I can't just know it. I got to do it. It's one of the things I used to say to women.

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I taught a lot of, a lot of military, a lot of police, a lot of women, like pain compliance and like self -defense and things like that.

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And I used to say to women, I would say, you know, we have like four or five hours today together.

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And I just have to be honest with you. There is no way that in one day in this session,

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I can teach you how to fight a man. In terms of having victory over a guy that's much stronger than you,

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I can give you strategies and things that you need to know and be prepared to do.

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But if you don't rehearse what I'm showing you, you are not going to be able to fight a man.

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Don't delude yourself into thinking, I took Master Durbin's five -hour self -defense course, so I'm ready to fight a man.

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That is not true. I gave you the facts. I gave you the data. And now you better rehearse or you're not going to be able to do anything that I told you, especially when you're under fire, when you're being attacked, everything just goes out.

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You lose your ability to use your digits. I mean, it is all from that point. It is just very difficult to maneuver in a situation where your adrenaline is pumping.

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You had better have practiced this. It has to be muscle memory. You have to know it by touch and feeling.

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You have to just do this over and over and over again. But here's some data. No partiality, right?

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No personal favoritism. We can't show that to anybody. I mean, do we treat everybody equally?

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Always. Honor everybody. Treat everybody as innocent until proven what? Guilty. No partiality.

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Deuteronomy 16 .19, Exodus 23 .2 -3, Leviticus 19 .15.

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Some verses there on don't show partiality. Equal weights and measures. Verse on just weights and measures is

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Proverbs 20 .10. It's an abomination to God. Now, what do we know in terms of the data from Scripture?

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Accusations. This goes throughout the Bible. Old Testament, New Testament. What's the standard? We know this at Apology of Church.

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We talk about it a lot. Deuteronomy 19 .15, Matthew 18 .16, 2

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Corinthians 13 .1. In terms of accusations, what do you need to have? Two to what?

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Three witness. Two to three witnesses. Two to three independent lines of witness. By the way, real fast, do you ever think why two or three?

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Why not just two? Or why not three? I think one of the reasons is because there are times where you have two witnesses who are working what?

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Together. Maybe they're both deluded. Maybe they're mistaken. Or maybe they're malicious and they're lying.

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So two witnesses actually counts as what? One. And that's why you're going to need further confirmation somewhere down the line of independent witness and testimony because clearly these are working together.

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I mentioned to you guys when I saw a man get stabbed or I saw the after effects of him getting stabbed and he's bleeding out into the street.

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I try to help the man. I'm trying to pack him and keep him calm. Police show up. They put the tape out and they line everything up.

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And the officer moves me over to the side to take my testimony, get my witness. And one of the guys who was also witness tried to say something to me.

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And that cop in that moment snapped. He went from like, hey man, you have a gun on. You could have been here 30 seconds earlier.

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You would have gone. He was like, oh man, it's just always just 30 seconds too late. That's the story of our lives. You have a gun.

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You could have shot the guy who was killing him. Oh man. And the next thing you know, guy, witness tries to talk to me.

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That cop snapped. He turned. He said, no. He said, don't. Stand over there.

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Walk over there. He said, you cannot speak to him. Don't talk to him. And he came over to me.

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He goes, I'm sorry. He says, we have to have independent witnesses. If there's any talking between the two, then it's corroboration and it's going to blow this whole thing.

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And even that, that standard moves its way into 2021 at 24th street and baseline at eight o 'clock at night with the police officer, independent witness and testimony.

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So accusations, we know there has to be independent witnesses before you even receive an accusation.

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It doesn't mean that it's true. Big thing. What's this mean? Two to three witnesses. You have two to three people saying something.

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Does that mean it's true? Let's do it. Make sure we're all clear on this. Because two to three witnesses say something.

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Does it mean it's true? No. Godly wisdom says, okay, now I've got the appropriate level of evidence to maybe start bringing this up.

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What does scripture also tell us about witnesses? There has to be cross examination. We know the famous verse,

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Proverbs 18, 17. One person's case sounds true until what? Another one comes to examine them.

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You ever been in a situation like that where you'll hear a one sided story and you're like, dang, dang, that's awful.

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That's terrible. And then you actually hear the other person's side that totally annihilates their side.

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And you're like, wow, whoa, this person was lying through their teeth. Or totally mistaken.

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Because what I actually heard the other side. The thing about liars is this. They don't always look like liars.

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When people slander and people lie, they don't always look nefarious. People don't always come to you with horns on their heads and fangs.

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I want to remind us all within Jesus' own ministry, it was Judas who betrayed

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Jesus with what? A kiss. A kiss.

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Remember that, brothers and sisters. Matthew 18. Jesus shows us in terms of how do you do this, if there's an accusation, an accusation of sinful behavior, something's going on, the accusation has to be first brought to who?

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Who? The accused. The accusation has to be first brought to the accused.

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And if there's no repentance, then you bring the other two to three witnesses and bring those charges there.

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But it's always supposed to be solved by way of peacemaking, quiet unity.

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Don't you love how the Lord Jesus preserves the church's unity and peace by saying if you have something against your brother, what do you do?

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You go to them. You keep it as quiet as possible.

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You preserve that person's life, their testimony. They may be brought to repentance, but you do it privately.

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You do it privately. Now, just to deal with two issues we've been bringing up a lot, gossip and slander.

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Gossip and slander. What is the distinction? What's the difference? What's the difference between gossip and slander?

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Really important. I think one of the best ways to describe this was done by my friend recently.

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I thought that's a simple way to describe it. I think it's perfect how the Bible sort of expressed that. Gossip is low -level commentary meant to hurt or destroy someone's reputation.

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What would this look like? Let's say you got a couple women getting together.

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I'm not picking on the women saying gossip women. No, I'm saying it's men too. But what does it look like, say, with some women?

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Gossip would be like, hey, you know, did you see Jane got a new house?

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Yeah, I don't know how they're ever going to be able to afford that. I haven't seen her. She's very responsible to be able to take care of that.

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It doesn't seem like she knows how to manage her house very well. You see that? It's sort of like low -level strikes, right?

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No big -ticket items, accusations. There's no real accusations coming there. It's sort of like low -level, slowly, piece by piece, taking down someone's dignity, their reputation.

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You're trying to damage a person's reputation with those low -level strikes.

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Seems totally innocent, right? It seems just like maybe it comes from a place of deep concern.

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Like, I mean, does she even know how to breastfeed? I don't think she really does. You know what

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I'm saying? It's just like low -level, like, that's weird. Like, why would you say that?

56:22

It's funny. Doug, okay, listen, I think this is beautiful. Let's put this into practice.

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Doug said that his mom had a way. He has some really godly parents, really wise parents.

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You can see what it produced. Praise God for that. But Doug said that his mom had a practice where when she was like in, you know, circles with women, visiting with women, if a woman made an accusation against another woman, like, you know, sort of like privately with Doug's mom, she'd say, you know, did you know such and such did this?

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She would say, she did? Let's go talk to her right now. Right?

57:02

That's it, right? Not everyone wanted to do it. Not what

57:08

I was trying to do. If it was a real accusation and you were serious and trying to be part of the solution, that's what you would have done.

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Right? So when those accusations come, let's go talk to them. Let's go talk to them right now.

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That'll kill most gossip and slander within the church of God instantly.

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Really? Let's go talk to them right now. So gossip is that low level commentary meant to hurt or destroy somebody or their reputation.

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Slander is accusations. You're making claims. You're charging people.

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You're slandering them. Those are accusations, big ticket items. You're accusing them of sin, making claims.

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Here's what's important in terms of godly wisdom, brothers and sisters. Very important. Be aware.

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Be aware of your own tongue. Be aware of your own heart. Be aware of your own sin. I'm speaking to myself at the same time

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I'm talking to you. Be constantly aware of this thing that can set fire to a forest, that can stab your brother or sister for whom

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Christ died. Don't ever forget, Jesus loves his sheep.

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Amen? Yes? If you're becoming a person who is actually trying to denigrate and take down one of his sheep that he gave his life for, it's a dangerous game to play, brothers and sisters.

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It's a dangerous game to play. Remember that within the church, this is important,

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Judas comes and betrays Jesus with a kiss. Why? Because within the church of God, we all know the rules.

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We know the data. We know the law of God. We know that slander is sinful. We know that lying is sinful.

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We know that partiality is sinful. We know there has to be multiple witnesses and standards. It has to be handled in private.

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We know the rules. So, when people come into the body of Christ sinning with sinful gossip or slander, they never come with a sign on their chest that says, hey,

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I'm going to sin right now with my mouth. Or they don't tell you and simply say, hey,

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I'm feeling really dirty and dark today and I'm going to sin right now. Hey, I wanted to share some slander with you.

59:27

You ready to hear this? Never happens in the body of Christ. You won't see it. If somebody ever comes in like that, please tell me right away.

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Okay? We'll put them on the Bolo list, the be on the lookout list for our security, right?

59:44

Hey, I'm here to slander and gossip it up. No, no. It has never happened like that in the body of Christ.

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Why? Because we all know the rules. We know the standards. So, when somebody is slandering or gossiping in the body of Christ, it will always be ready for it.

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It will always be ready for it come with a Christian veneer.

01:00:03

It will always come with a coating of spirituality. Always. It'll come with, tell me if you recognize this, it'll come with things like, you know,

01:00:16

I'm just so concerned. I'm just so concerned for this person.

01:00:24

It'll come with, you know, I just really need some counsel. I really need some counsel.

01:00:32

And it is amazing when the I'm needing some counsel comes with a bunch of accusations of big ticket items of sin against people.

01:00:41

And they say, I just really need some counsel. Christian veneer always. Or they'll say things like, you know,

01:00:47

I'm just looking for some wisdom here. The question should be asked when someone comes like this is, why are you coming to me?

01:00:59

Why are you coming to me? Why are you coming to us? Why are you coming to this group? Why aren't you going to the accused?

01:01:06

Why aren't you going to the accused person? Why are you bringing me into this quarrel? I don't need to be bitten.

01:01:13

I don't need to be bitten. And if you need wisdom, why aren't you talking to somebody who can actually be part of the solution?

01:01:19

Why are you talking to me? Why are you bringing these accusations? Have you brought these accusations to this person yet?

01:01:28

That's the question to ask, right? Have you brought this accusation to them? And they say, uh, no.

01:01:36

What should you say? You need to repent. You need to repent.

01:01:42

You shouldn't have brought this to me. You should have already brought it to them. But let's say they say, yeah,

01:01:47

I did bring it to them. Then what should we say as we're halting the conversation? You did.

01:01:53

What did they say? Let's go ask them. Right? Accusations are being made against a sister in Christ, a brother in Christ, accusations, maybe slanderous comments.

01:02:07

Question is, did you go to them yet? You did. Okay, let's go ask, let's go talk to them together.

01:02:13

Or let's get some pastors involved or let's call one of our deacons and let's get them involved in this. Let's get somebody involved that can actually be a part of the solution.

01:02:23

And let's not spread disunity and disorder and slander. I want to say this. If we are comfortable with gossip and slander, we have in any reason to believe that we are mature and wise believers.

01:02:39

We have to say that to all of ourselves. That letter in James was written to me and you, for me and you.

01:02:48

The warning against my tongue and your tongue is for us. It's for us.

01:02:54

We have to always, within the body of Christ, be willing to put down gossip and slander.

01:03:00

We have to be willing to always war against disorder and disunity because God hates that.

01:03:07

Remember this, key issue, key issue. Satan in Scripture, there's a lot of names for Satan in Scripture, but some key names of Satan in Scripture is that Satan is the father of lies.

01:03:21

He's the father of lies. He's the originator of the lie. He loves to lie.

01:03:28

In the life and ministry of Jesus, you can see that he was sowing seeds of lies within the Jewish covenant community to hurt

01:03:35

Jesus. It was lie upon lie upon lie. He loves to lie. Loves it.

01:03:41

He loves to inspire people to lie. You can see that's his M .O.

01:03:46

He's the father of lies. So, that's what he does. So, when he tries to influence and sow disorder within the body of Christ, just know he tries to spread lies.

01:03:57

Always be aware of that. Just because somebody's making a claim doesn't mean that it's true.

01:04:03

He's the father of lies. Also, Satan is called the accuser of the what?

01:04:09

The accuser of the brethren. That's what he does. He lies and he accuses. That's his methodology.

01:04:17

So, we should be aware always. Godly wisdom would tell us, okay, if this is true about Satan, he's a liar, liar from the beginning, and he's the accuser of the brethren,

01:04:26

I need to be aware of the fact that it's always within the realm of possibility within my experience in the body of Christ and my own family that there could be lies being told or slander given.

01:04:36

So, I have to be heightened and aware, and I have to be able to not just know the data, but be able to apply techniques that I know well.

01:04:47

I can apply this wisdom. So, when I find myself in that situation where I'm dealing with the possibility of lies or slander coming in,

01:04:54

I don't just know what God says, I can apply that wisdom. Like, for example, if I'm in a group of women and I start to see slander and lies happening, what should

01:05:04

I say? Hey, this is sinful. We have to stop. Or, if you have people bringing you into a situation where they're attempting to make accusations or doing it unbiblically, you simply say,

01:05:16

I'm not going to sit here for this. I'm leaving. This is sinful. This is wrong.

01:05:23

This is unjust. This goes against God's law, and this is precisely the tool that the enemy would love to use to destroy our relationships.

01:05:35

And so, let's repent and repent together. Satan uses slander and lies against Jesus, the apostles.

01:05:43

It's seemingly his favorite and most effective tool to destroy relationships between believers and churches.

01:05:49

And I will tell you in my experience as a pastor, the thing that I've seen the most in terms of the work of the enemy over all my years being in ministry, the thing that I've seen the most in terms of the destruction of relationships is gossip, slander, lies, the tongue.

01:06:10

Like I said, that entire church that was a thriving, good church, gone.

01:06:16

Because of, get this, low -level gossip. Low -level.

01:06:22

No major accusations of slander and sin. It was just straight -up, low -level gossip that increased to larger and larger factions and practice of that gossip that finally just collapsed the church.

01:06:35

Low -level. Not even epic slander. So what should we get from reading the

01:06:42

Word of God here and godly wisdom? I think we all need to repent.

01:06:48

Amen? Yes? Do you feel it? I feel it. I read these texts. Brothers and sisters, as I'm preaching it with passion and I'm telling you with the law word of God, I am speaking to myself always.

01:06:59

Guard your tongue. Guard your tongue. Guard your tongue. Be cautious of your tongue. We have to take this into consideration.

01:07:06

Ask the question, where do I need to repent? In what part of my life do I need to repent? Who do I need to repent to? Put it to death.

01:07:17

That's what Paul says about our sin in Colossians chapter 3. Put it to death. Kill it.

01:07:23

How do you kill an enemy? You don't smack it. You don't jab it with your finger. If you're going to kill an enemy that you have to kill, you do what you can to actually end it.

01:07:32

So if this has been a part of your life and a practice in your life, maybe even for 10 years of your life, you've just been comfortable with low -level accusations and gossip and comfortable with slander or entertaining slander or spreading slander.

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Hearing it from one person and then just carrying it on through the church. If that's been a part of your practice, the answer is what?

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Repent. Turn from it. Turn from it. Give it to Christ. Rejoice in His forgiveness of all of us.

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Rejoice that He's sanctifying us as believers even right now within this room. Rejoice.

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Repent and rejoice. And the next thing is we should have a standard as brothers and sisters to preserve the order of the church and the body of Christ.

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We should have a standard where when we see these things taking place, someone's mouth causing wounds, someone gossiping, someone slandering, we should be so serious about what comes out of our mouths about one another that when we see sin in this area in our midst with brothers and sisters, we should come with love and humility and grace and boldness and say, hey, that's sinful.

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Turn from that. Don't do that. Turn from that sin. We should be willing to have the courage to say to a brother or sister who's engaging in this sort of a thing, that's not honoring to Christ.

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That's not godly wisdom. Let's live in a way that's pleasing to God. We should be willing to repent ourselves and rebuke brothers and sisters with love and grace who are engaged in it.

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Brothers and sisters, pursue wisdom. That's where life is. Amen? Let's pray. Father, I thank you so much for your love for us.

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Thank you for our salvation. Thank you for our life in you. We pray,

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God, that you, as we move as a body into this next year of service to you and our mission, we pray that you,

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Lord, would just fill us with strength to pursue wisdom, to apply what we know is true from you.

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Bless our body, our love for one another. Let us outdo one another with honor.

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Let's forgive one another as you have forgiven us. Give us the strength for that. Let's make sure we uphold justice for our neighbors.

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And we pray, Lord God, that you be glorified as the world sees what you do to change the lives of your people.