WEBVTT 00:00.020 --> 00:01.940 Man, the title of my sermon this evening 00:01.940 --> 00:04.180 is withdrawal from the disorderly, 00:04.260 --> 00:06.700 withdrawal from the disorderly. 00:06.760 --> 00:08.260 But in the process of preaching on this, 00:08.340 --> 00:11.200 I'm actually gonna go through this entire chapter. 00:11.800 --> 00:12.680 But beginning verse number one, 00:12.780 --> 00:14.160 the Bible reads, finally brethren, 00:14.560 --> 00:16.760 pray for us that the word of the Lord 00:16.760 --> 00:20.260 may have free course and be glorified 00:20.260 --> 00:22.100 even as it is with you. 00:22.240 --> 00:25.840 And this is what we want as pastors, preachers. 00:25.900 --> 00:26.880 This is what we want as a church. 00:26.880 --> 00:30.840 We just want the word of God to have free course, right? 00:30.940 --> 00:34.240 We want the Bible, the word of God, the truth, the gospel 00:34.240 --> 00:37.380 to just be able to go out and freely do its thing. 00:37.580 --> 00:39.600 But what you have to understand is that the devil 00:39.600 --> 00:41.520 and his minions and wicked people, 00:41.800 --> 00:44.620 they're always trying to stop the Bible 00:45.080 --> 00:46.900 from being preached and from going forth. 00:47.320 --> 00:49.940 And think about all the obstacles that we've faced 00:49.940 --> 00:51.840 as a church here at Faithful Word 00:51.840 --> 00:55.720 and other people have faced just constant impediments, 00:55.720 --> 00:59.740 just constant social media bans or shadow bans 00:59.740 --> 01:03.580 or country bans or banking bans. 01:03.780 --> 01:06.740 The enemy is always trying to shut us up, 01:07.000 --> 01:08.840 censor us, quiet us down. 01:09.040 --> 01:11.500 And we just want the word of God to have free course. 01:12.280 --> 01:13.100 And just to be able to just, 01:13.180 --> 01:14.560 everybody just be able to hear the truth. 01:14.900 --> 01:15.420 And you know what? 01:15.500 --> 01:18.500 It doesn't bother me if somebody hears the gospel 01:18.500 --> 01:20.620 and rejects it, that doesn't bother me. 01:21.140 --> 01:22.820 But you know what bothers me is the idea 01:22.820 --> 01:25.320 of people not hearing a clear presentation of the gospel 01:25.320 --> 01:29.440 and they're not even really being given a strong chance. 01:29.640 --> 01:30.740 That's what bothers me. 01:31.080 --> 01:33.240 I just want the word of God to have free course. 01:33.600 --> 01:35.220 I want everybody to hear the gospel. 01:35.620 --> 01:38.040 I want all of our soul winners and all of our preaching 01:38.040 --> 01:41.020 to just go out there and just flow freely 01:41.020 --> 01:42.100 and get the work done. 01:42.320 --> 01:43.920 But unfortunately there are enemies 01:43.920 --> 01:45.600 that try to stop that from happening. 01:45.900 --> 01:47.000 And that's why it says in verse two 01:47.000 --> 01:49.800 that we would be delivered from unreasonable 01:50.260 --> 01:53.140 and wicked men for all men have not faith. 01:53.400 --> 01:55.000 So you have people who don't believe 01:55.620 --> 01:58.140 and they want to stop the gospel from going forth. 01:58.180 --> 01:59.920 Instead of just saying, well, I don't believe in it, 01:59.960 --> 02:01.320 but whatever, preach on. 02:01.740 --> 02:03.700 No, no, no, they hate the word of God. 02:03.800 --> 02:06.140 They hate the gospel and they want to put a stop to it. 02:06.440 --> 02:08.860 Now it's interesting that he says unreasonable 02:08.860 --> 02:12.640 and wicked men because a lot of unbelievers out there 02:12.640 --> 02:15.580 will try to act like, well, it's faith versus reason. 02:16.120 --> 02:19.280 And they try to act like faith is unreasonable 02:19.740 --> 02:22.360 and that if we would just use reason and logic 02:22.360 --> 02:24.860 and look at reality, we're just going to end up 02:24.860 --> 02:27.360 being some kind of an atheist or humanist 02:27.360 --> 02:30.320 or a naturalist or whatever you want to call it. 02:30.700 --> 02:32.220 But nothing could be further from the truth 02:32.220 --> 02:35.260 because truly atheism is unreasonable. 02:35.940 --> 02:38.100 It's not reasonable to believe 02:38.100 --> 02:42.120 that this magnificent complex creation came from nothing. 02:42.700 --> 02:46.080 It's not reasonable to think that non-living material 02:46.080 --> 02:47.380 can come to life on its own. 02:47.700 --> 02:49.120 That's never been demonstrated, 02:49.360 --> 02:50.740 that's never been observed and seen. 02:51.040 --> 02:53.280 It goes against everything that biology teaches 02:53.640 --> 02:56.600 to think that life could originate on its own. 02:56.860 --> 02:58.700 It's actually much more reasonable 02:58.700 --> 03:00.420 to believe that there's a God, 03:00.680 --> 03:02.080 to believe that there's a creator. 03:02.460 --> 03:04.220 And at the end of the day, obviously, 03:04.640 --> 03:07.580 I believe that the Bible is the final authority 03:07.580 --> 03:09.740 in all matters of faith and practice 03:09.740 --> 03:13.460 and that is the rock upon which my life 03:13.460 --> 03:17.520 and my worldview is build the Bible, the Word of God. 03:17.620 --> 03:19.660 But here's the thing, when I approach the Bible though, 03:20.160 --> 03:22.680 yes, I'm following the leading of the Holy Spirit 03:22.680 --> 03:25.140 but I'm also approaching the Bible 03:25.140 --> 03:28.460 in a logical, rational, reasonable way 03:28.460 --> 03:31.000 because God is a reasonable God. 03:31.380 --> 03:34.640 God does not expect us to put our brain aside, 03:35.080 --> 03:39.300 to put our logic aside, to put reason and rationality aside 03:39.300 --> 03:41.480 because honestly, the Bible makes sense. 03:41.900 --> 03:43.780 The teachings of the Bible make sense. 03:44.120 --> 03:46.720 The things in the Bible match reality 03:46.720 --> 03:50.760 so I can be regional and rational and logical 03:50.760 --> 03:52.740 and still be a Bible-believing Christian. 03:53.280 --> 03:54.140 In fact, I should be. 03:55.080 --> 03:57.660 You know, God says, come and let us reason together 03:57.660 --> 03:58.900 in Isaiah chapter one. 03:59.220 --> 04:02.500 God's not against logic, reason, intelligence. 04:02.800 --> 04:04.920 No, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, 04:05.180 --> 04:07.660 the beginning of wisdom, the beginning of understanding. 04:07.660 --> 04:10.440 God commands us over and over again in Proverbs 04:10.440 --> 04:13.200 to get more learning, to increase learning, 04:13.440 --> 04:15.900 to gain instruction, wisdom, knowledge. 04:16.140 --> 04:18.040 He's not just saying, hey, just blindly 04:18.500 --> 04:20.760 and just dumbly, just follow whatever. 04:21.000 --> 04:22.900 No, no, no, being reasonable 04:23.320 --> 04:25.220 and having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ 04:25.580 --> 04:27.340 can go hand in glove and they should. 04:28.140 --> 04:31.120 The Bible says that it is the unbelievers 04:31.120 --> 04:33.380 and the wicked who are unreasonable. 04:34.200 --> 04:36.680 Their worldview doesn't make any sense. 04:36.680 --> 04:39.200 Their explanation for how we got here 04:39.200 --> 04:41.180 is unscientific and wrong. 04:41.600 --> 04:44.720 Their way of life is unreasonable and foolish 04:44.720 --> 04:46.220 and stupid and makes no sense. 04:46.460 --> 04:48.200 And look, I can just prove it to you right now 04:48.200 --> 04:50.360 because these same people that are sitting there saying, 04:50.560 --> 04:53.220 science is real are the same people 04:53.220 --> 04:55.000 that are coming at you with love is love. 04:55.680 --> 04:56.960 And so what are they promoting? 04:57.400 --> 05:00.040 They're promoting a sick perverted death style. 05:00.320 --> 05:03.080 Look at the CDC's own statistics. 05:03.420 --> 05:06.840 This is gonna shave an average of 20 years off your life. 05:07.580 --> 05:10.940 This is a disease-filled, gross death style 05:10.940 --> 05:12.300 and that's what they're promoting 05:12.300 --> 05:14.640 and pushing in the name of science. 05:15.600 --> 05:17.580 What science is telling you 05:17.580 --> 05:19.720 that it's healthy or normal to be a faggot? 05:20.020 --> 05:20.740 That's not out there. 05:21.460 --> 05:22.980 And so what we have to understand 05:22.980 --> 05:25.920 is that the world is gonna try to gaslight us 05:25.920 --> 05:27.720 like we're the ones who are unreasonable, 05:28.180 --> 05:29.840 we're the ones who are illogical 05:29.840 --> 05:33.120 and act like we're supposed to choose faith over science 05:33.120 --> 05:34.800 or faith over whatever. 05:35.140 --> 05:36.560 Now, of course, at the end of the day, 05:36.700 --> 05:38.120 yeah, if that's the choice, I'll take faith. 05:38.440 --> 05:40.220 Amen, but here's the thing, 05:40.540 --> 05:42.720 God's not telling us ignore reality, 05:43.080 --> 05:45.680 ignore science, ignore logic, ignore reason. 05:45.960 --> 05:47.400 No, we can have both 05:47.940 --> 05:50.620 because God is a God of knowledge, 05:50.980 --> 05:52.760 science, wisdom and understanding. 05:53.120 --> 05:54.180 That's what the Bible teaches. 05:54.760 --> 05:57.460 It's the unreasonable wicked man who don't have faith. 05:57.880 --> 05:59.960 Verse three, but the Lord is faithful 05:59.960 --> 06:02.720 who shall establish you and keep you from evil. 06:02.980 --> 06:04.900 And we have confidence in the Lord touching you 06:04.900 --> 06:07.440 that you both do and will do the things 06:07.440 --> 06:08.740 which we command you. 06:09.760 --> 06:12.380 And the Lord direct your heart into the love of God 06:12.800 --> 06:14.560 and into the patient waiting for Christ. 06:14.680 --> 06:16.500 Now, here's where we get into the meat of this chapter 06:16.500 --> 06:18.620 about withdrawing from the disorderly. 06:18.680 --> 06:19.560 He says in verse six, 06:19.800 --> 06:21.040 now we command you, brethren, 06:22.120 --> 06:23.720 in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 06:24.160 --> 06:27.320 that you withdraw yourselves from every brother 06:27.820 --> 06:29.280 that walk at disorderly 06:29.280 --> 06:33.140 and not after the tradition which he received of us. 06:33.260 --> 06:34.520 Now, the first thing I wanna point out 06:34.520 --> 06:36.120 is that the Bible is saying that 06:36.120 --> 06:38.340 just because someone is a saved Christian 06:38.340 --> 06:40.800 does not mean that we should have fellowship 06:40.800 --> 06:41.500 with that person 06:42.060 --> 06:43.400 or that we should be friends with that person. 06:43.480 --> 06:45.020 And I can't even count how many times 06:45.020 --> 06:46.420 people over the years have said, 06:46.740 --> 06:48.020 well, if someone's a brother in Christ, 06:48.360 --> 06:49.740 you should be friends with that person 06:49.740 --> 06:51.240 and have fellowship with them no matter what. 06:51.940 --> 06:54.080 You need to be connected to them. 06:54.300 --> 06:55.020 And this is what they said. 06:55.500 --> 06:56.040 Well, in heaven, 06:56.200 --> 06:58.160 we're gonna be with these people for all of eternity. 06:58.680 --> 07:00.800 So you might as well just get used to being with them now. 07:01.120 --> 07:03.180 But here's where that doesn't add up 07:03.180 --> 07:04.760 is that first of all, 07:04.880 --> 07:06.060 that's not what the Bible says. 07:06.140 --> 07:07.320 You just made that up right now. 07:08.040 --> 07:08.980 But number two, 07:09.400 --> 07:10.680 once we all get to heaven, 07:11.080 --> 07:12.400 we're not gonna have the flesh, 07:12.560 --> 07:13.960 we're not gonna have the sinful nature. 07:14.260 --> 07:16.380 So the bozos that are saved, 07:16.520 --> 07:18.860 they're not gonna be bozos anymore in heaven. 07:18.860 --> 07:20.660 You know, just like the Bible says, 07:20.780 --> 07:22.360 no drunkards will inherit the kingdom of heaven. 07:22.540 --> 07:24.480 No bozos are gonna inherit the kingdom of heaven. 07:24.620 --> 07:25.660 Because when you get there, 07:25.700 --> 07:29.700 you're no longer gonna be a liar, a bozo, a cheat, whatever. 07:30.040 --> 07:32.200 Because of the fact that when you get there, 07:32.440 --> 07:33.640 you will be like him. 07:34.040 --> 07:35.920 You'll have shed that sinful nature. 07:36.080 --> 07:37.420 You'll no longer have the flesh 07:37.900 --> 07:39.560 dragging you into sin all the time. 07:39.960 --> 07:41.580 And so to sit there and say, 07:41.820 --> 07:43.480 well, hey, we just have to fellowship 07:43.480 --> 07:45.700 with everybody who's a saved brother in Christ. 07:45.960 --> 07:47.840 That is false because the Bible says 07:47.840 --> 07:51.020 right here to withdraw yourselves from every what? 07:51.480 --> 07:53.220 Withdraw yourselves from every brother 07:53.840 --> 07:55.140 that walk at disorderly. 07:55.460 --> 07:57.580 This is saying, I don't care if he's saved, 07:58.120 --> 07:59.700 you need to stay away from this guy. 08:00.120 --> 08:01.680 And withdraw yourself from every brother 08:01.680 --> 08:02.940 that walk at disorderly, 08:02.960 --> 08:06.440 and not according to or after the tradition 08:06.900 --> 08:08.580 which he received of us. 08:08.880 --> 08:10.700 For yourselves know how you ought to follow us, 08:11.060 --> 08:13.240 for we behave not ourselves disorderly among you. 08:13.260 --> 08:13.860 And here's what he's saying. 08:13.980 --> 08:15.860 Look, we left you guys an example 08:16.460 --> 08:18.960 of what Christian behavior is supposed to be like. 08:19.240 --> 08:20.980 You got these disorderly guys 08:20.980 --> 08:23.340 that are not following that tradition 08:23.340 --> 08:24.900 or example that we've left. 08:25.600 --> 08:27.280 Now what does the word tradition mean? 08:27.780 --> 08:30.080 The word tradition is simply just anything 08:30.080 --> 08:31.180 that has passed down. 08:31.840 --> 08:33.800 So let's say your grandparents 08:34.220 --> 08:36.220 have a certain way that they do things 08:36.220 --> 08:38.440 or a certain holiday that they celebrate, 08:38.760 --> 08:40.960 a certain thing that they do on a certain day. 08:41.160 --> 08:42.940 And then your parents pick that up 08:42.940 --> 08:43.720 and you pick that up. 08:43.720 --> 08:46.360 That's a tradition because it's being handed down. 08:46.940 --> 08:48.680 Now when it comes to church, 08:48.960 --> 08:50.720 churches have traditions too, right? 08:51.080 --> 08:52.460 Like for example, you know, 08:52.640 --> 08:54.920 our church has services on Sunday morning, 08:55.180 --> 08:56.180 Sunday night and Wednesday night. 08:56.420 --> 08:57.680 We did not make that up. 08:58.200 --> 08:59.420 And there's nothing in the Bible 08:59.420 --> 09:01.320 that says thou shalt go to church, 09:01.560 --> 09:03.500 Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. 09:03.760 --> 09:05.960 Some churches are on Thursday night, you know? 09:06.080 --> 09:07.920 And some churches have less services, 09:08.080 --> 09:08.720 some have more. 09:09.520 --> 09:11.140 But it is just a tradition 09:11.700 --> 09:14.080 that Baptist churches for a really long time, 09:14.380 --> 09:17.460 my parents, my grandparents and their parents 09:17.460 --> 09:19.820 just have gone to church three times a week 09:19.820 --> 09:22.900 and we sort of just inherited that tradition. 09:23.340 --> 09:24.680 It's been handed down to us. 09:24.920 --> 09:26.600 Now here's the thing about traditions 09:27.180 --> 09:29.420 is that if they go against the word of God, 09:29.600 --> 09:30.540 they need to be discarded. 09:31.100 --> 09:33.460 So traditions per se are not bad. 09:34.000 --> 09:36.960 There's nothing wrong with having a tradition that says, 09:37.360 --> 09:40.540 hey, every year on the third Thursday in November, 09:40.540 --> 09:43.420 we're gonna eat turkey and we're gonna have people over 09:43.420 --> 09:45.500 and mashed potatoes and gravy and stuff. 09:45.640 --> 09:46.940 There's nothing wrong with that 09:46.940 --> 09:50.040 because there's nothing contrary to the Bible about that. 09:50.800 --> 09:52.840 There's nothing wrong with the tradition that says, 09:53.120 --> 09:54.760 hey, we have service on Sunday morning, 09:54.920 --> 09:55.720 Sunday night and Wednesday night. 09:56.320 --> 09:58.280 Those are good traditions, right? 09:58.720 --> 10:00.280 And then even the way that we dress, 10:00.520 --> 10:01.660 the way that we act, the way that we talk. 10:02.060 --> 10:02.640 But here's the thing. 10:03.040 --> 10:04.520 Things that are traditions 10:05.320 --> 10:08.260 that go against the Bible need to be discarded. 10:08.890 --> 10:12.580 The Bible trumps tradition every single time, okay? 10:12.980 --> 10:15.880 Also, if we have traditions that are not in the Bible, 10:16.320 --> 10:18.140 we cannot be dogmatic about them. 10:18.620 --> 10:22.300 We cannot say, hey, you have to have to have church 10:22.300 --> 10:24.920 on these times that we're doing it 10:24.920 --> 10:26.780 because the Bible doesn't spell it out. 10:27.040 --> 10:29.160 We can't be dogmatic about that. 10:29.220 --> 10:30.960 We can only be dogmatic about things 10:30.960 --> 10:32.800 that are clearly stated in the Bible. 10:33.300 --> 10:35.700 So there's nothing wrong with having tradition. 10:35.700 --> 10:40.380 Now, we will often talk about the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. 10:40.640 --> 10:42.700 And this is basically a slogan 10:42.700 --> 10:44.420 that came out of the Protestant Reformation 10:44.980 --> 10:46.520 approximately 500 years ago. 10:46.780 --> 10:50.260 And the reason for this slogan, Sola Scriptura, 10:50.540 --> 10:52.740 is that you had the Roman Catholic Church 10:52.740 --> 10:55.080 just having all of these traditions 10:55.080 --> 10:57.640 that they're putting on par with the Bible. 10:58.180 --> 11:01.880 So they're saying this tradition of the church 11:01.880 --> 11:04.940 is just as authoritative as the word of God. 11:05.440 --> 11:08.440 And then you have the Reformation types coming along 11:08.440 --> 11:12.940 and saying, no, only scripture is the authority. 11:13.460 --> 11:17.400 Sola Scriptura is our final authority, only scripture. 11:17.920 --> 11:20.920 And they had other slogans like Sola Fide, faith alone. 11:21.600 --> 11:24.460 Sola Gratia, grace alone, right? 11:24.840 --> 11:26.780 To God alone, be the glory. 11:27.000 --> 11:28.820 Christ alone, faith alone, grace alone. 11:28.820 --> 11:30.580 These are all great slogans, all of them, 11:30.640 --> 11:31.740 all five of them are great. 11:33.060 --> 11:35.940 I wish sometimes that Protestants would take all five of them 11:35.940 --> 11:36.640 a little more seriously, 11:36.820 --> 11:39.660 especially the one Sola Fide, you know, faith alone, 11:40.300 --> 11:42.140 but and Sola Scriptura for that matter. 11:42.660 --> 11:43.920 So at the end of the day, 11:44.020 --> 11:45.660 we're not saying that we don't have traditions. 11:45.980 --> 11:47.680 We're not saying that we don't follow traditions. 11:47.960 --> 11:50.900 We're just saying that traditions are not the authority. 11:51.180 --> 11:53.400 Only scripture is the final authority. 11:53.920 --> 11:57.400 And every tradition must be tested with scripture. 11:57.900 --> 11:59.580 If it's just neutral with scripture, 11:59.660 --> 12:01.120 then we can hang on to it if we want, 12:01.120 --> 12:03.120 but we can't tell other people that they have to do it. 12:03.600 --> 12:05.980 It's just something that we like to do or whatever. 12:06.380 --> 12:08.860 But at the end of the day, scripture trumps tradition. 12:09.820 --> 12:12.040 So in this case, the word tradition though, 12:12.120 --> 12:13.820 is specifically referring to the fact 12:13.820 --> 12:16.800 that Paul and Barnabas and others, 12:17.240 --> 12:19.380 when they were around the Thessalonians, 12:19.760 --> 12:21.620 they lived their lives a certain way. 12:21.720 --> 12:22.900 They acted a certain way 12:23.480 --> 12:25.340 and they followed the Bible a certain way. 12:25.560 --> 12:27.400 And they're saying, look, you need to withdraw 12:27.400 --> 12:29.160 from these people that are walking disorderly 12:29.160 --> 12:31.320 and they're not walking according to the tradition 12:31.810 --> 12:34.060 that we left behind, meaning the example 12:34.550 --> 12:38.560 that we passed down of, hey, this is how you should be living. 12:39.240 --> 12:43.520 And he says, for yourselves know how you ought to follow us. 12:43.720 --> 12:44.860 Verse seven, do you see that? 12:45.320 --> 12:46.720 For yourselves know how you ought to follow us. 12:46.800 --> 12:47.820 And then people will sit there and say, 12:48.160 --> 12:49.420 oh, I don't follow any man. 12:49.520 --> 12:50.540 We should never follow man. 12:50.640 --> 12:51.380 We should only follow God. 12:51.740 --> 12:52.780 Well, you're not reading the Bible 12:52.780 --> 12:54.040 because over and over again, 12:54.240 --> 12:58.120 the Bible talks about the virtue of following leadership 12:58.120 --> 13:00.500 and following men of God 13:00.500 --> 13:02.260 that are actually leading the right way. 13:02.520 --> 13:05.460 And Paul told people to follow him as he followed Christ. 13:05.660 --> 13:06.680 And right here he's saying, look, 13:07.500 --> 13:09.420 you know how you ought to follow us. 13:10.220 --> 13:12.500 And in this case, he means follow our example. 13:13.320 --> 13:16.500 He says, for we behave not ourselves disorderly among you. 13:16.500 --> 13:17.680 And he's gonna go on to explain 13:17.680 --> 13:20.420 what that disorderly life looks like. 13:20.780 --> 13:24.520 He says, neither did we eat any man's bread for naught. 13:24.520 --> 13:25.980 Not means nothing. 13:27.020 --> 13:30.140 But raw with labor and travail night and day 13:30.140 --> 13:32.960 that we might not be chargeable to any of you. 13:33.120 --> 13:34.300 Not because we have not power, 13:34.400 --> 13:36.340 but to make ourselves and then sample onto you to follow us. 13:36.620 --> 13:38.860 He's saying, look, what we did when we were among you 13:38.860 --> 13:41.380 is we worked hard and we paid our own way 13:41.380 --> 13:43.360 and we were not freeloaders 13:43.880 --> 13:45.800 eating other people's bread for nothing. 13:46.380 --> 13:49.260 We worked for everything and we did that 13:49.260 --> 13:51.640 because we wanted to set an example 13:52.140 --> 13:53.900 for you to follow at the end of verse nine. 13:53.900 --> 13:55.800 It says in a sample for you to follow us. 13:55.860 --> 13:58.420 He's saying, look, we could have the power 13:58.420 --> 14:00.340 to have not worked at all 14:00.340 --> 14:02.300 because we're preaching the word of God 14:02.300 --> 14:03.620 and preaching the word of God is work. 14:04.000 --> 14:06.940 So if we're studying the Bible, preaching the Bible, 14:07.260 --> 14:10.220 soul winning, doing sermons and stuff, that's work. 14:10.320 --> 14:12.220 He's saying, we could have just done that 14:12.220 --> 14:14.120 and gotten our paycheck and called it good. 14:14.240 --> 14:16.180 But we're working secular jobs. 14:16.380 --> 14:18.260 So we're working day and night. 14:18.480 --> 14:21.160 We're burning the midnight oil, making tents 14:21.160 --> 14:24.500 and doing manual labor, blue collar jobs, 14:24.840 --> 14:26.020 not because we don't have the power 14:26.020 --> 14:27.220 to be in the ministry full time 14:27.220 --> 14:28.540 like all the other apostles are, 14:28.900 --> 14:32.520 but rather because we wanted to give you an example to follow. 14:33.360 --> 14:35.600 And he says this, for barely when we were with you, 14:36.820 --> 14:38.720 verse 10, for even when we were with you, 14:39.300 --> 14:42.140 this we commanded you that if any would not work, 14:42.380 --> 14:43.860 neither should he eat. 14:43.960 --> 14:46.460 He's saying, you know, we obviously saw 14:46.460 --> 14:48.620 that this is a problem when we were in Thessalonica. 14:48.620 --> 14:51.640 We saw people that were lazy and refusing to work. 14:52.000 --> 14:55.320 And so we worked extra hard just to show you all how it's done, 14:56.060 --> 14:59.100 how to work hard and how to pay for your own way 14:59.100 --> 15:00.700 and how to be a blessing to other people 15:00.700 --> 15:01.720 and pay other people's way. 15:02.040 --> 15:04.740 And he says, look, if a man won't work, he shouldn't eat. 15:05.560 --> 15:08.060 It's funny, we were just visiting obviously Connecticut 15:08.460 --> 15:11.480 and Massachusetts, a lot of history of the pilgrims 15:11.480 --> 15:15.020 and early settlers of America, early colonies, 15:15.660 --> 15:17.560 the first states of the United States. 15:17.560 --> 15:19.980 It's a cool place to go just to see some of that history. 15:20.420 --> 15:23.080 But you know, you hear about the Massachusetts Bay Colony 15:23.080 --> 15:24.860 and you hear about Jamestown 15:24.860 --> 15:26.000 and you hear about these settlements 15:26.000 --> 15:29.060 and you know, they had this principle in place. 15:29.400 --> 15:32.120 I forget the guy, they'll always like attribute this one guy, 15:32.260 --> 15:34.500 one of the pilgrims or whatever, with this quote, 15:34.680 --> 15:36.160 you know, if you want to work, you don't eat. 15:36.360 --> 15:38.860 And it's always funny because that guy is kind of 15:38.860 --> 15:40.520 getting credit for something that's just 15:41.060 --> 15:42.640 a verbatim quote from the Bible. 15:43.120 --> 15:44.940 Kind of reminds me when I heard a college professor 15:44.940 --> 15:47.360 one time say, hey, in the words of John Lennon, 15:47.360 --> 15:48.620 there's nothing new under the sun. 15:49.200 --> 15:50.480 And I'm thinking to myself like, you know, 15:50.520 --> 15:51.740 it didn't really start with John Lennon, 15:51.840 --> 15:54.020 that's actually a quote from the Bible in Ecclesiastes. 15:54.720 --> 15:57.600 But this guy, I don't know if it's William Bradford 15:57.600 --> 16:00.520 or whoever they give this quote to, but no, no, no. 16:00.860 --> 16:01.420 What's that? 16:02.460 --> 16:05.340 John Smith, okay, yeah, that's a real descript name. 16:05.820 --> 16:06.480 No, I'm just kidding. 16:07.340 --> 16:09.040 You know, it was John Smith, darn it. 16:09.480 --> 16:12.460 So, you know, John Smith famously, you know, 16:12.500 --> 16:15.140 instituted this in America, hey, 16:15.240 --> 16:16.580 if you won't work, then you don't eat. 16:16.580 --> 16:18.540 But here's the thing, God approves. 16:19.280 --> 16:20.600 God approves that message. 16:21.320 --> 16:22.620 Now, let this sink in. 16:23.520 --> 16:26.400 If any man would not work, neither should he eat. 16:26.460 --> 16:28.620 So if anybody doesn't wanna work, 16:29.260 --> 16:31.120 then the Bible says they shouldn't eat. 16:31.220 --> 16:32.280 That would mean that they starve to death. 16:32.940 --> 16:35.360 So God's just saying, hey, people who refuse to work 16:35.360 --> 16:37.420 should starve to death, right? 16:37.800 --> 16:39.300 That's the way the planet works. 16:39.860 --> 16:42.800 The price of admission for being on this planet 16:42.800 --> 16:44.220 is that you have to work. 16:44.780 --> 16:46.620 Man work and women work. 16:47.040 --> 16:49.700 Now, women are not necessarily gonna have an outside 16:49.700 --> 16:51.760 the home job, a secular type job, 16:51.960 --> 16:54.000 but they're gonna be working in the home 16:54.000 --> 16:56.480 because they're gonna be cooking and cleaning 16:56.480 --> 16:58.220 and being a homemaker and whatever. 16:58.600 --> 17:01.280 So no matter what, every man and every woman 17:01.280 --> 17:03.580 is working in some way, shape, or form. 17:04.200 --> 17:05.800 And this is what God has commanded. 17:06.360 --> 17:09.860 This is what he says is the right way to do your life. 17:09.900 --> 17:11.680 And he says, if you're not doing this, 17:11.680 --> 17:13.460 you're walking disorderly. 17:13.980 --> 17:15.820 And he says, we need to withdraw ourselves 17:15.820 --> 17:17.600 from these people that are walking disorderly. 17:17.820 --> 17:19.280 They should be ostracized. 17:19.740 --> 17:21.700 These people are not right with God. 17:21.900 --> 17:23.780 They need to follow the example that we set 17:23.780 --> 17:25.720 and people need to be working. 17:27.420 --> 17:28.840 Now, why is this important? 17:30.340 --> 17:32.200 Because people who don't work, 17:32.960 --> 17:35.540 they end up being busy bodies, the Bible says. 17:35.740 --> 17:36.860 Look down at your Bible there. 17:37.240 --> 17:38.140 He says in verse 11, 17:38.140 --> 17:39.200 for we hear that there are some 17:39.200 --> 17:41.060 which walk among you disorderly, 17:41.880 --> 17:44.600 working not at all, but are busy bodies. 17:44.900 --> 17:46.260 Now, what is a busy body? 17:46.520 --> 17:48.500 Well, the Bible sometimes refers to this 17:48.500 --> 17:51.140 as being a busy body in other men's matters. 17:51.620 --> 17:54.800 We would call this a gossip or just somebody 17:54.800 --> 17:56.500 who's just constantly sticking their nose 17:56.500 --> 17:57.440 where it doesn't belong, 17:58.260 --> 18:00.940 constantly getting involved in other people's business 18:01.460 --> 18:05.200 and just constantly drama, constantly talking trash 18:05.760 --> 18:06.600 and what have you. 18:07.200 --> 18:10.240 And so God is saying that we need to be working 18:10.240 --> 18:13.140 so that we don't get idle and then get into trouble 18:13.600 --> 18:15.800 due to idleness and become a busy body. 18:16.640 --> 18:18.480 Okay, now, here's the thing. 18:18.700 --> 18:20.340 Why is this called being disorderly 18:20.340 --> 18:22.080 when you're not working, when you don't have a job? 18:22.160 --> 18:22.860 Because here's the thing, 18:23.460 --> 18:26.860 having a job provides order and structure in your life. 18:27.120 --> 18:29.040 So if you have a job that you go to 18:29.040 --> 18:29.920 Monday through Friday, 18:30.340 --> 18:31.920 then that organizes your whole day. 18:32.060 --> 18:34.920 Your whole day is based on getting up at a certain time 18:34.920 --> 18:38.920 and eating a meal and kissing someone goodbye 18:39.380 --> 18:43.340 and getting in the car and you drive to a job 18:43.340 --> 18:46.440 and you work that job and you have a lunch break 18:46.440 --> 18:49.940 and then you hang out with friends on a lunch break 18:49.940 --> 18:51.820 or read your Bible or whatever 18:51.820 --> 18:54.640 and then you get off work and then you drive home 18:54.640 --> 18:55.560 and you get home. 18:56.020 --> 18:57.660 Hi, honey, I'm home. 18:58.280 --> 19:02.300 And there's a certain structure and cadence to your life. 19:02.680 --> 19:05.900 Now, obviously everybody's life is not necessarily that basic 19:05.900 --> 19:06.420 or simple. 19:06.600 --> 19:09.200 Some people might have complicated schedules. 19:09.520 --> 19:12.340 Obviously women who don't clock in and clock out a job, 19:12.560 --> 19:14.180 they have their own routines that they've developed. 19:14.540 --> 19:17.060 Home schooling routines, cooking routines, 19:17.640 --> 19:19.060 they get up at a certain time. 19:19.660 --> 19:22.840 Hopefully your routine is not just dictated 19:22.840 --> 19:24.940 by some show that you watch or something 19:24.940 --> 19:27.840 and that's like what your whole day is based around, 19:28.320 --> 19:30.260 the soap opera schedule or whatever. 19:30.260 --> 19:32.880 But hopefully your day is based around 19:32.880 --> 19:34.520 some kind of meaningful work, 19:35.520 --> 19:36.840 taking care of your husband, 19:37.220 --> 19:38.200 taking care of your children, 19:38.520 --> 19:39.640 taking care of the house, 19:40.140 --> 19:42.480 you've got chores, you've got a routine. 19:43.220 --> 19:45.780 We need structure and order in our lives. 19:46.060 --> 19:48.020 If we are just sitting around bored 19:48.020 --> 19:50.420 with nothing going on, we're gonna get into trouble. 19:51.160 --> 19:54.000 As human beings, I don't mind as the devil's workshop. 19:54.400 --> 19:56.340 And so you've got to have structure 19:56.940 --> 19:58.760 keeping you busy the right way. 19:59.260 --> 20:01.680 So hey, let's say that you're retired 20:01.680 --> 20:04.560 or let's say that you're on some kind of a disability income 20:04.560 --> 20:07.340 or let's say, you know, you need to find 20:07.340 --> 20:09.940 some meaningful work, some labor in your life 20:09.940 --> 20:12.380 to give structure and order to your life 20:12.380 --> 20:15.660 and be busy and work and contribute to society 20:15.660 --> 20:16.660 and do something. 20:17.200 --> 20:18.320 This is what the Bible say. 20:19.720 --> 20:20.960 And this is so important. 20:21.700 --> 20:24.240 It's a deal breaker if people refuse to do this. 20:24.340 --> 20:26.200 He's saying, man, just withdraw yourselves 20:26.200 --> 20:28.800 from these people that are walking disorderly. 20:29.100 --> 20:32.220 Later, he reiterates this in verse number 14. 20:32.420 --> 20:34.780 If any man obey not our word by this epistle 20:34.780 --> 20:37.500 and he's not necessarily talking about the entire epistle, 20:37.820 --> 20:40.260 he's specifically talking about this part right here 20:40.260 --> 20:43.560 about working and not being a busy body 20:43.560 --> 20:44.580 and not being disorderly. 20:44.820 --> 20:47.460 He says, if any man obey not our word by this epistle, 20:47.720 --> 20:50.220 note that man and have no company with him 20:50.220 --> 20:51.460 that he may be ashamed. 20:52.220 --> 20:53.640 Yet count him not as an enemy 20:53.640 --> 20:54.700 but admonish him as a brother. 20:54.700 --> 20:56.500 It's saying, look, it's not that we hate this person. 20:56.880 --> 20:58.060 It's not that we consider them an enemy. 20:58.540 --> 21:01.100 It's that we're admonishing this person. 21:01.300 --> 21:02.680 We're ostracizing this person. 21:02.780 --> 21:05.460 We're punishing this person to hopefully straighten them out. 21:05.660 --> 21:06.660 That's what the Bible is saying. 21:07.120 --> 21:08.240 We don't count them an enemy. 21:08.460 --> 21:09.660 We're admonishing them as a brother. 21:09.780 --> 21:12.340 But he says, don't have any fellowship with this person. 21:12.420 --> 21:13.680 Don't have any company with that person 21:13.680 --> 21:14.840 so that they'll be ashamed. 21:15.100 --> 21:16.940 You see, ostracism is a punishment. 21:18.020 --> 21:19.780 Throwing someone out of the church is a punishment. 21:21.160 --> 21:23.020 Ostracizing family members is a punishment. 21:23.020 --> 21:26.780 And this is a biblical punishment, by the way. 21:27.820 --> 21:29.560 Not having company, no, here's the thing. 21:29.880 --> 21:32.620 When you turn around and have company with that person, 21:33.320 --> 21:35.840 you're not allowing the punishment to do its work. 21:36.940 --> 21:37.660 You're interfering. 21:38.340 --> 21:40.740 Like for example, if someone is ostracized 21:40.740 --> 21:42.120 from the family for wickedness 21:42.120 --> 21:43.800 and then you have other family members 21:43.800 --> 21:46.240 just welcoming that wickedness with open arms, 21:46.520 --> 21:48.200 well then the punishment's not gonna work as well. 21:48.380 --> 21:49.740 If someone's kicked out of the church 21:49.740 --> 21:50.940 and then people are sitting there 21:50.940 --> 21:52.620 and still buddy up with this person, 21:53.020 --> 21:55.100 have fellowship, talk to them, eat with them, 21:55.280 --> 21:56.680 then how can the punishment work? 21:57.020 --> 21:58.580 The Bible says have no company with them 21:58.580 --> 21:59.660 so that they will be ashamed. 22:00.060 --> 22:03.500 So that they will realize I'm wrong, I've screwed up, 22:03.960 --> 22:06.120 I'm not right with God, I need to fix this, 22:06.300 --> 22:08.680 I need to get back in church and get right. 22:08.920 --> 22:09.920 That's what the Bible say. 22:10.660 --> 22:11.300 Now here's the thing. 22:11.380 --> 22:13.380 This could go for both male or female. 22:14.180 --> 22:17.300 There could be all kinds of men who are not working, 22:17.900 --> 22:21.740 lazy, getting involved in sin because they're not busy. 22:22.200 --> 22:24.540 But it could also be women as well, okay? 22:24.940 --> 22:28.380 Look if you would at 1 Timothy, chapter number five. 22:28.880 --> 22:32.060 So in this example that we saw in 2 Thessalonians 3, 22:32.240 --> 22:34.740 we're obviously using masculine pronouns, 22:34.880 --> 22:35.680 we're talking about men. 22:37.200 --> 22:40.240 Obviously though, some things in the Bible go both ways. 22:40.920 --> 22:42.160 And this is one of those things. 22:43.480 --> 22:45.620 And it's just being used as a generic 22:46.320 --> 22:47.580 using the masculine there. 22:47.860 --> 22:50.260 Because if we go to 1 Timothy chapter five, 22:50.400 --> 22:52.560 we get a very specific example of this phenomenon 22:53.180 --> 22:55.380 in 1 Timothy chapter number five. 22:55.880 --> 22:57.380 And it says this in verse nine, 22:57.480 --> 22:59.900 let not a widow be taken into the number 22:59.900 --> 23:01.560 under three score years old, 23:01.900 --> 23:03.400 having been the wife of one man, 23:03.580 --> 23:05.000 well reported up for good works. 23:05.000 --> 23:06.180 If she have brought up children, 23:06.660 --> 23:08.000 if she have lodged strangers, 23:08.400 --> 23:09.940 if she have washed the saints feet, 23:10.060 --> 23:11.500 if she have relieved the afflicted, 23:11.500 --> 23:13.720 if she have diligently followed every good work, 23:14.080 --> 23:15.800 but the younger widows refuse. 23:16.400 --> 23:17.680 Okay, so before we go any further, 23:18.020 --> 23:19.000 we just want to say this. 23:19.360 --> 23:22.420 Okay, the Bible constantly in the Old Testament, 23:22.800 --> 23:25.480 New Testament, there's a lot of scripture about widows. 23:25.980 --> 23:27.580 Hey, treat widows well, 23:28.020 --> 23:29.860 treat the fatherless children well. 23:30.380 --> 23:33.280 And obviously God wants us to be benevolent toward 23:34.000 --> 23:35.920 anybody who's at any kind of a disadvantage, 23:36.500 --> 23:40.420 the blind, the deaf, the maimed, the poor, 23:40.800 --> 23:43.260 the fatherless, the widow, amen. 23:44.160 --> 23:45.140 That's what the Bible teaches. 23:46.380 --> 23:47.300 But here's the thing, 23:47.860 --> 23:50.120 there's also a warning here for widows. 23:50.360 --> 23:51.960 Not only are there all these scriptures saying, 23:52.240 --> 23:53.560 hey, take good care of the widows, 23:53.780 --> 23:55.380 there's also a warning here, 23:56.000 --> 23:59.340 warning how widows could go down a dark path 23:59.980 --> 24:01.120 and become evil. 24:01.660 --> 24:02.980 And I don't use that word lightly 24:02.980 --> 24:04.440 because look what the Bible says, 24:04.760 --> 24:05.980 it says they're following Satan. 24:06.940 --> 24:08.360 Sounds pretty evil to me. 24:09.400 --> 24:12.480 And the Bible says here that the younger widows, 24:12.640 --> 24:13.780 and in the context here, 24:13.880 --> 24:15.920 younger is under 60 years old. 24:16.320 --> 24:17.740 He's saying, look, if there's a widow 24:18.180 --> 24:20.400 that is under 60 years old, 24:20.600 --> 24:23.040 then she needs to get remarried. 24:24.060 --> 24:25.120 That's what the Bible says. 24:25.260 --> 24:25.860 So the Bible's saying, 24:26.140 --> 24:28.180 you know, you're not gonna support her as a church 24:28.180 --> 24:30.820 and put her on a financial dole of the church 24:31.580 --> 24:34.120 because of the fact that she's under 60, 24:34.660 --> 24:36.520 that's not gonna be the best thing for her 24:36.520 --> 24:38.500 because she's gonna learn to be idle, 24:38.780 --> 24:39.720 she's gonna be a busy body. 24:40.100 --> 24:42.780 What we need her to do is to get remarried 24:43.300 --> 24:44.880 and have more kids, you know, 24:45.100 --> 24:47.140 marry, bear children, guide the house. 24:47.480 --> 24:48.360 And if you think about it, 24:48.420 --> 24:50.380 this number 60 kind of makes sense 24:50.920 --> 24:53.440 because of the fact that if you think about it, 24:53.540 --> 24:55.600 you know, women pretty much bear children 24:55.600 --> 24:57.680 until they're around like 40 years old, right? 24:58.040 --> 25:01.820 Maybe up to 45 or something would be really pushing it. 25:01.980 --> 25:02.280 Okay? 25:02.780 --> 25:05.080 And, you know, my wife had her last child at what, 25:05.080 --> 25:09.580 43, and so, you know, and that seems to be pretty normal 25:09.580 --> 25:12.220 for a lot of people that 43 is around the time 25:12.220 --> 25:14.400 that you stop having children as a woman. 25:14.880 --> 25:17.080 And so if you think about it, by the time you're 60, 25:17.640 --> 25:19.720 you know, if you were living kind of the normal 25:19.720 --> 25:21.700 biological course of life as a woman, 25:21.980 --> 25:23.340 you know, you're gonna have your last kid 25:23.340 --> 25:27.160 around 40, early 40s, and by the time you're 60, 25:27.620 --> 25:29.440 your kids would be out of the house 25:29.440 --> 25:31.480 and adults on their own anyway most likely 25:31.480 --> 25:33.300 by the time you're 60 years old, 25:33.300 --> 25:35.960 but the normal, you know, I keep wanting to say 25:35.960 --> 25:38.660 Laban's Louth or something like the normal, like what? 25:38.820 --> 25:41.300 Course of life, cycle of life would be 25:41.300 --> 25:44.440 that basically, you know, you're taking care of kids 25:44.440 --> 25:47.900 until you're around 60, and then when you're 60, you're done. 25:48.760 --> 25:49.220 Okay? 25:50.320 --> 25:52.340 And so the Bible is saying if a young woman 25:52.340 --> 25:54.740 becomes a widow through some tragedy, 25:55.160 --> 25:56.720 then she should just get remarried 25:56.720 --> 26:00.500 and just still continue, you know, 26:00.500 --> 26:04.360 living that life of a wife and mother, you know, 26:04.440 --> 26:06.780 all the way up until she's 60 or whatever. 26:07.760 --> 26:10.260 Because the younger widows, he says, refuse them. 26:10.820 --> 26:12.360 Now this sounds cruel, doesn't it? 26:12.560 --> 26:13.920 Refuse the widows. 26:14.480 --> 26:16.400 But here's the thing, it's actually for their own good. 26:16.580 --> 26:20.040 He's saying, refuse the younger widows for their own good. 26:20.360 --> 26:22.480 They need to get married, bear children, guide the house. 26:22.760 --> 26:25.340 That's gonna help them actually live a good Christian life. 26:25.580 --> 26:28.920 But he says the younger widows refuse why? 26:29.440 --> 26:31.940 For when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, 26:32.160 --> 26:34.200 they will marry having damnation 26:34.200 --> 26:35.640 because they've cast off their first faith. 26:35.840 --> 26:36.960 And the damnation here, 26:37.020 --> 26:38.600 this isn't going to hell or something. 26:39.120 --> 26:41.440 Damnation in the Bible is just a stronger word 26:41.440 --> 26:42.520 for condemnation. 26:42.900 --> 26:46.400 The two are just used interchangeably, really, condemnation. 26:47.000 --> 26:49.640 And so the idea here is that, you know, 26:49.780 --> 26:51.560 when they've begun to wax wanton against Christ, 26:51.700 --> 26:52.400 they'll marry, he's saying, look, 26:52.480 --> 26:54.720 they're probably gonna get married anyway eventually, 26:54.720 --> 26:59.320 but it'll be after they've already gotten backslidden, 26:59.540 --> 27:01.980 sinful, wicked, and then they'll get married anyway. 27:02.320 --> 27:04.740 And then they're already screwed up at that point. 27:04.820 --> 27:05.340 It's too late. 27:05.420 --> 27:07.260 He's saying, you know, they should get married sooner 27:07.260 --> 27:08.120 rather than later. 27:09.580 --> 27:14.540 And so he says, in verse 13, 27:14.720 --> 27:15.960 with all they learned to be idle, 27:16.280 --> 27:17.500 idle means you're not doing anything. 27:17.880 --> 27:19.260 You're sitting around with nothing to do, 27:19.660 --> 27:21.500 wandering about from house to house, 27:21.660 --> 27:24.200 and not only idle, but tatlers also, 27:24.200 --> 27:27.220 and busybodies speaking things which they ought not. 27:27.600 --> 27:29.140 So is this not exactly what we saw 27:29.140 --> 27:30.440 over in 2nd Thessalonians 3, 27:30.880 --> 27:32.580 the idea of just being idle, 27:33.120 --> 27:35.280 and you're a busybody, you're a tattletale, 27:35.860 --> 27:38.860 you're going around and telling stories about people, 27:39.220 --> 27:41.560 and repeating things, and just backbiting, 27:41.700 --> 27:44.020 and whispering, and gossiping, and whatever. 27:44.640 --> 27:46.200 And he says they learned to be idle, 27:46.400 --> 27:47.360 wandering about from house to house. 27:47.660 --> 27:49.340 Now look, in the old days, in order to do this, 27:49.380 --> 27:51.600 you kind of had to literally wander from house to house. 27:51.920 --> 27:53.500 Nowadays, you could just get on your phone, 27:53.960 --> 27:55.420 you could just get on social media, 27:55.700 --> 27:58.560 and you can virtually wander from house to house 27:58.560 --> 28:00.960 without even leaving your physical building. 28:01.720 --> 28:03.640 But it's the same principle that applies. 28:04.400 --> 28:06.420 And he says that they speak the things 28:06.420 --> 28:08.920 which they ought not, they're busybodies, tatlers. 28:09.480 --> 28:10.420 He says in verse 14, 28:10.540 --> 28:12.240 I will therefore that the younger women, 28:12.360 --> 28:13.500 again, younger than 60, 28:14.260 --> 28:16.640 marry bare children, guide to house, 28:17.040 --> 28:18.440 give none occasion to the adversary 28:18.440 --> 28:19.400 to speak repulsively. 28:19.400 --> 28:24.940 Verse 15, for some are already turned aside after Satan. 28:25.520 --> 28:27.620 Now why does it say they've turned aside after Satan? 28:28.240 --> 28:30.320 I don't believe for one second that he's saying, 28:30.620 --> 28:32.220 hey, they're gonna get into witchcraft, 28:32.540 --> 28:34.540 and they're gonna start saying, hail Satan, 28:34.740 --> 28:36.120 and whatever, I don't think that for one second. 28:37.200 --> 28:38.960 So we're talking about Christian women here. 28:39.680 --> 28:43.160 And what we're talking about is that Satan's 28:43.160 --> 28:46.560 key attribute is that Satan is the accuser 28:46.560 --> 28:47.200 of the brethren. 28:48.200 --> 28:50.060 Okay, Satan is the devil. 28:50.740 --> 28:52.460 He is the accuser. 28:53.040 --> 28:55.380 He is the one who accuses the brethren 28:55.380 --> 28:57.220 before God day and night. 28:57.380 --> 28:58.960 And here's the irony about Satan, 28:59.340 --> 29:01.920 is that Satan is also a tempter that tempts us to sin. 29:02.560 --> 29:04.940 He gets us to sin and then he turns around and accuses us. 29:05.720 --> 29:06.880 Hey, look what he just did, 29:06.980 --> 29:09.000 even though he's the one who got us to do it maybe. 29:09.520 --> 29:11.120 And then he condemns us for doing it. 29:11.420 --> 29:12.780 That's the irony of Satan. 29:13.260 --> 29:14.660 And so I believe that when it says 29:14.660 --> 29:16.360 that they've gone aside after Satan, 29:16.360 --> 29:19.020 he's saying that they've become like Satan, 29:19.400 --> 29:21.300 they've become a false accuser 29:21.300 --> 29:25.400 because Satan's key attribute is that he is a false accuser. 29:25.740 --> 29:29.560 He falsely accused Job, he's falsely accusing the brethren 29:29.940 --> 29:33.600 before God day and night, he is the ultimate railer. 29:33.920 --> 29:34.840 That is what he is. 29:35.640 --> 29:38.440 And so the Bible is warning that these women 29:38.440 --> 29:41.580 become toddlers, gossips, busybodies, 29:41.920 --> 29:44.920 and then ultimately they move into railing, 29:45.700 --> 29:49.360 which is just wild, false accusations, 29:50.220 --> 29:52.480 baseless accusations that they're throwing around, 29:52.940 --> 29:53.640 and so forth. 29:53.760 --> 29:55.800 And obviously men could become railers, 29:56.060 --> 29:58.440 women could become railers because we've seen it both ways. 29:58.780 --> 30:00.840 We see it with the man in 2 Thessalonians 3. 30:01.180 --> 30:04.260 We see it with the women in 1 Timothy chapter five. 30:04.640 --> 30:05.120 And you know what? 30:05.300 --> 30:08.020 This is a very serious matter. 30:08.340 --> 30:11.160 We need to take what the Bible says seriously. 30:11.700 --> 30:12.320 And you know what? 30:12.480 --> 30:16.900 None of us is above sin or above going down a dark path. 30:17.160 --> 30:19.520 If we don't follow the Bible, if we don't take heed, 30:19.760 --> 30:22.480 if we don't stay busy doing the right things, 30:22.600 --> 30:26.300 we can become disorderly in our lives 30:26.300 --> 30:27.900 and go down one of these dark paths. 30:28.340 --> 30:31.560 And look, we have seen over the last many, many years, 30:31.900 --> 30:35.900 a lot of great Christians that we never would have thought 30:36.320 --> 30:37.820 would go down these weird paths. 30:37.820 --> 30:42.380 And yet they did, both in our church and in other churches. 30:42.600 --> 30:46.460 We've seen good people go down a dark path. 30:47.020 --> 30:47.480 And you know what? 30:47.540 --> 30:49.020 That should show us that all of us need 30:49.020 --> 30:50.180 to take heed unto ourselves 30:50.180 --> 30:52.380 and all of us need to follow the Bible's plan. 30:52.700 --> 30:53.200 And you know what? 30:53.280 --> 30:53.760 Here's the thing. 30:54.100 --> 30:56.400 A lot of people have this attitude 30:56.980 --> 30:59.820 when it comes to getting married or having kids, 30:59.940 --> 31:00.800 they don't want to do it 31:00.800 --> 31:05.040 because they've seen how it can go so bad, right? 31:05.160 --> 31:05.820 And let's face it. 31:05.820 --> 31:08.900 Marriage can go horribly bad, can't it? 31:10.200 --> 31:13.020 Child-rearing can go horribly wrong. 31:13.940 --> 31:14.420 And you know what? 31:14.540 --> 31:17.160 You see these things and the temptation is to say, 31:17.280 --> 31:17.780 you know what? 31:18.380 --> 31:21.060 I'm gonna opt out of getting married. 31:21.300 --> 31:23.520 I'm gonna opt out of having children 31:23.520 --> 31:27.040 because I'm seeing how horribly bad it can go, right? 31:27.120 --> 31:29.320 And this is the generation that we're living in right now. 31:29.820 --> 31:34.060 And look, all over, this isn't just a problem 31:34.060 --> 31:35.720 with Baptists or Christians. 31:36.180 --> 31:37.620 This isn't even an America problem. 31:37.920 --> 31:42.460 The entire Western world right now is doing what? 31:42.900 --> 31:46.060 Abandoning marriage and abandoning child-bearing. 31:47.200 --> 31:48.760 Am I making that up right now? 31:49.520 --> 31:52.120 Okay, and look, we can look at Europe 31:52.520 --> 31:56.680 where the birth rates are like one, right? 31:56.980 --> 32:00.460 Where it used to be in America 200 years ago, 32:00.560 --> 32:02.540 the birth rate, you know, is eight. 32:04.060 --> 32:05.360 Okay, so you have a birth rate, 32:05.540 --> 32:07.380 a female fertility rate of eight. 32:07.840 --> 32:11.040 And then you go back to 1900 and it's still like four. 32:11.940 --> 32:15.080 You know, now in America, it's like two or whatever. 32:15.460 --> 32:17.660 And then we look at Europe, it's like one. 32:18.300 --> 32:20.360 And you look at places like Japan 32:20.360 --> 32:21.980 where they're freaking out 32:21.980 --> 32:25.220 because they can't get their young people to get married. 32:25.560 --> 32:27.760 They can't get their young people to reproduce 32:27.760 --> 32:28.640 and have children. 32:28.940 --> 32:32.360 And so they're facing a demographic problem 32:32.880 --> 32:36.140 where Japanese people also, they live very long. 32:36.840 --> 32:38.560 So they must be doing something right 32:38.560 --> 32:40.500 when it comes to health, eating, lifestyle, 32:40.500 --> 32:42.160 because they tend to live very long. 32:42.420 --> 32:44.740 So you have all these really elderly Japanese people, right? 32:45.060 --> 32:46.340 And what they need is younger people 32:46.340 --> 32:50.060 to obviously pay the bills and work hard 32:50.060 --> 32:50.940 and provide all that. 32:51.220 --> 32:54.760 But they're facing a problem of young people in Japan 32:55.210 --> 32:57.640 and in Europe and now even in America 32:57.640 --> 33:00.720 not wanting to get married, not wanting to have kids. 33:03.160 --> 33:03.640 Why? 33:04.680 --> 33:06.420 You know, I think part of the problem, 33:06.640 --> 33:08.580 I don't know about Japan as much or some of these other, 33:08.760 --> 33:10.520 but I'll tell you part of the problem in America 33:11.060 --> 33:13.040 when I talk to people and what I've observed, 33:13.340 --> 33:14.560 why they don't want to get married 33:14.560 --> 33:19.380 is they feel like marriage is just not anymore. 33:20.980 --> 33:22.040 How do I put this? 33:22.500 --> 33:25.780 You know, it used to be a relationship 33:26.380 --> 33:27.940 and a covenant and a contract 33:27.940 --> 33:29.600 that's protecting both parties. 33:30.180 --> 33:31.880 But now in a lot of ways, 33:32.080 --> 33:35.140 it really is only protecting the woman 33:35.140 --> 33:37.480 and the man feels like marriage 33:37.480 --> 33:39.140 doesn't really protect him at all. 33:39.500 --> 33:41.240 And even in Baptist churches now, 33:41.620 --> 33:44.240 it's like men have all the responsibility of marriage 33:44.240 --> 33:45.240 and they're looked at as, 33:45.280 --> 33:47.740 hey, the buck stops with you, you're the leader, 33:47.960 --> 33:50.700 you're responsible, but then they take away his authority. 33:51.440 --> 33:52.880 So it's like, he doesn't have the authority. 33:53.360 --> 33:55.340 He doesn't have the ability to enforce anything. 33:56.020 --> 33:57.400 If he lays down the law, 33:57.400 --> 33:59.880 everybody's gonna condemn him and call him a bad guy, 34:00.300 --> 34:02.540 but then he's still expected to be responsible 34:02.540 --> 34:04.240 and it's kind of like, what in the world? 34:04.680 --> 34:06.360 So I'm responsible, I mean, imagine a job 34:06.360 --> 34:07.980 where you're put in charge of everything, 34:08.320 --> 34:11.360 but you don't really have the power to say how things go, 34:11.640 --> 34:13.580 but you're responsible for the outcome. 34:14.320 --> 34:15.680 It's a little frustrating, right? 34:16.560 --> 34:18.280 Okay, and then the same thing with child rearing. 34:18.420 --> 34:20.820 It's like, okay, yeah, yeah, have these children 34:21.400 --> 34:23.560 and you're responsible for what they do, 34:24.720 --> 34:26.780 but we're not gonna give you the ability 34:27.260 --> 34:31.020 to reign the man or to rule over them. 34:31.500 --> 34:33.320 And if you do tell them what to do, 34:33.700 --> 34:35.520 all of society is gonna be telling them, 34:35.540 --> 34:36.760 hey, it's okay to disobey. 34:37.160 --> 34:38.760 It's okay to do something else. 34:39.100 --> 34:41.340 You don't have to listen to your parents and whatever 34:41.840 --> 34:44.220 and your parents are mean to you and blah, blah, blah. 34:44.860 --> 34:48.160 And so these institutions are being torn apart. 34:48.440 --> 34:50.000 They're crumbling at the base. 34:51.580 --> 34:55.660 And then you wonder why marriage rates are plummeting 34:56.240 --> 34:58.780 and the rates of childbirth are plummeting. 34:59.720 --> 35:02.640 You know, I guarantee you that if we had a society 35:02.640 --> 35:05.860 that respected marriage that allowed men 35:05.860 --> 35:08.260 to be the heads of their homes, right, 35:08.440 --> 35:10.140 and actually call the shots in their home 35:10.140 --> 35:12.120 and not just be a figurehead like the King of England 35:12.120 --> 35:14.580 or something, but to actually be a real authority 35:14.580 --> 35:16.920 in their home and if you actually had parents 35:16.920 --> 35:18.600 that had authority over their children 35:18.600 --> 35:21.420 and the church and society and everyone 35:21.420 --> 35:23.900 would back up parents and back up husbands, 35:23.900 --> 35:26.340 you know, you'd have more men wanting to get married 35:26.340 --> 35:29.480 and you'd have more parents wanting to have children. 35:30.480 --> 35:33.740 You know, but when you destroy Christian marriage 35:33.740 --> 35:37.140 and Christian childrearing, well then now all of a sudden 35:37.140 --> 35:38.860 you wonder why nobody wants to get married. 35:39.140 --> 35:40.480 Nobody wants to have kids 35:41.000 --> 35:42.980 because you're destroying the institution. 35:43.640 --> 35:45.500 Now here's the thing, we as Christians though, 35:46.160 --> 35:48.580 we have a different way of looking at this 35:48.580 --> 35:50.080 because the world is looking at it 35:50.080 --> 35:51.920 from a pragmatic point of view of like, 35:51.920 --> 35:55.480 if marriage doesn't give me any benefits as a man, 35:55.820 --> 35:57.520 if marriage, you know, why buy the cow 35:57.520 --> 35:58.900 if I can get the milk for free? 36:00.180 --> 36:02.120 Right, and you have these whorish women 36:02.840 --> 36:05.340 that are just willing to just, you know, 36:06.300 --> 36:09.700 and I don't want to be graphic or whatever, 36:09.940 --> 36:11.320 but it's like sometimes you have to use 36:11.320 --> 36:13.960 some graphic language or sometimes you have to be 36:13.960 --> 36:14.800 a little bit bloodier 36:14.800 --> 36:16.560 because we're talking about something wicked. 36:17.860 --> 36:20.300 You know, these women are willing to just put out 36:21.260 --> 36:23.120 to anybody that's not their husband. 36:24.200 --> 36:26.820 And then it's like, oh, I wonder why he won't marry me. 36:27.440 --> 36:28.980 Well, you know what, here's an idea. 36:29.560 --> 36:31.500 You don't put out until you get married. 36:31.620 --> 36:32.120 How about that? 36:33.320 --> 36:34.380 You know, you say, oh, I don't think 36:34.380 --> 36:35.160 you should use that term. 36:35.320 --> 36:37.020 Well, I don't know, what do you want me to say? 36:37.140 --> 36:37.820 Don't be a whore. 36:39.040 --> 36:41.680 Don't open your feet to everyone who passes by. 36:41.900 --> 36:43.020 I mean, that's what the Bible says. 36:43.580 --> 36:44.500 Does that make you feel better? 36:45.140 --> 36:47.620 You know, the idea here is that it should be 36:47.620 --> 36:49.260 that women are saying, hey, 36:50.020 --> 36:51.700 we're gonna have this physical relationship 36:51.700 --> 36:52.560 after we get married. 36:53.600 --> 36:55.140 Women are gonna be like, nope, 36:55.800 --> 36:57.960 I am not in service. 36:58.140 --> 37:01.340 I am not open for business until after we're married, right? 37:01.700 --> 37:03.900 And then women would withhold that physical relationship 37:03.900 --> 37:04.740 until marriage. 37:05.400 --> 37:07.680 And say, hey, this is my body 37:08.260 --> 37:10.420 and you know, I'm gonna have dignity 37:10.420 --> 37:11.980 and I'm gonna have self-respect 37:11.980 --> 37:14.400 and I'm gonna not yield myself 37:14.400 --> 37:16.480 to a man that I'm not married to, amen? 37:17.180 --> 37:18.620 This is what the Bible teaches, right? 37:19.020 --> 37:22.240 And then men would be ready to step in 37:22.240 --> 37:24.700 and provide and pay the bills 37:24.700 --> 37:28.320 and love and cherish and take care of their wives 37:28.320 --> 37:30.700 and raise the children and do all these things 37:30.700 --> 37:33.960 in return for, you know, being the authority figure 37:34.320 --> 37:36.340 and getting the work done around the house 37:36.340 --> 37:37.840 of the cooking and cleaning and housekeeping. 37:38.120 --> 37:40.420 And you know, this was a mutually beneficial 37:41.260 --> 37:44.100 relationship that throughout history made sense 37:44.100 --> 37:46.100 for both people, it protects both people. 37:46.900 --> 37:48.680 I mean, of course women wanna be protected 37:48.680 --> 37:50.480 because they don't wanna have a bunch of little kids 37:50.480 --> 37:51.540 and their husband just leaves 37:52.060 --> 37:53.820 and then they're stuck with all these kids, right? 37:53.880 --> 37:55.400 So marriage is protecting them. 37:56.240 --> 37:56.780 Does everybody understand? 37:59.160 --> 38:00.900 And so it's protecting both parties, 38:01.020 --> 38:02.600 but the problem is that now 38:02.980 --> 38:04.860 because our laws are so screwed up 38:04.860 --> 38:06.520 and people have gotten away from Christian values, 38:07.020 --> 38:08.500 you know, worldly unsafe people 38:08.500 --> 38:09.700 are kinda looking at marriage like, 38:09.800 --> 38:11.760 well, why buy the cow when I can get the milk for free? 38:12.220 --> 38:14.260 What does this relationship even offer me? 38:14.340 --> 38:15.180 What does it do for me? 38:15.800 --> 38:16.700 What's the point? 38:17.160 --> 38:18.640 Why don't we just cohabit? 38:18.780 --> 38:19.800 Why don't we just shack up? 38:20.060 --> 38:21.380 And why would we wanna have kids anyway? 38:22.400 --> 38:23.920 You know, that's the mentality now, 38:24.000 --> 38:26.740 but we as Christians, we're not gonna go down that road, 38:26.820 --> 38:27.100 are we? 38:27.820 --> 38:30.880 No, because we know that marriage is God's institution 38:31.740 --> 38:34.460 and that it is God who has commanded us to get married 38:34.460 --> 38:37.000 and it is God who has commanded us to have children. 38:37.220 --> 38:38.740 And so we're not just gonna be like, 38:38.740 --> 38:42.220 oh well, you know, the world has messed it up, 38:42.280 --> 38:43.500 so we're just gonna abandon it. 38:43.820 --> 38:45.520 No, no, no, we're gonna stay with God's program. 38:47.160 --> 38:49.440 We're not gonna throw out the baby with the bathwater. 38:51.340 --> 38:53.200 And if you would flip back just a couple pages 38:53.200 --> 38:54.500 to 1st Timothy chapter two, 38:54.580 --> 38:55.920 because what I'm preaching is from the Bible. 38:56.500 --> 38:57.440 This is biblical stuff. 38:59.380 --> 39:01.360 And it used to be just common sense, 39:01.780 --> 39:03.420 but now we're living in a society 39:03.420 --> 39:04.620 that's gotten away from these things. 39:04.700 --> 39:06.540 And so people today are growing up 39:06.540 --> 39:07.680 and they're like, well, what's even the point 39:07.680 --> 39:08.240 of getting married? 39:08.240 --> 39:09.180 Like, why would I get married? 39:09.620 --> 39:10.880 What does marriage do for me? 39:11.560 --> 39:14.340 And they can't even figure out what's the point anymore. 39:14.600 --> 39:15.840 And I don't even blame them 39:15.840 --> 39:17.880 because without God and the Bible, 39:18.200 --> 39:19.720 I'd be like, yeah, what is the point? 39:20.700 --> 39:22.860 But we are not as the heathen, my friend. 39:23.280 --> 39:24.440 We are Christians. 39:24.720 --> 39:25.860 We do have the word of God. 39:26.220 --> 39:28.620 We are gonna get married no matter what 39:28.620 --> 39:30.800 because the Bible said to do it. 39:32.180 --> 39:35.420 Whether we think it's pragmatically advantageous 39:35.420 --> 39:36.720 to us or not isn't really the point. 39:36.720 --> 39:37.800 But let me tell you something 39:38.260 --> 39:40.280 is that men going out and working 39:41.720 --> 39:43.460 actually keeps us out of trouble, right? 39:44.940 --> 39:45.820 Well, guess what? 39:46.460 --> 39:47.860 Getting married and having kids 39:47.860 --> 39:49.840 forces you to go out and work 39:50.780 --> 39:53.640 because if you were tempted to just kind of 39:53.640 --> 39:56.520 loaf around, slack off and not do much, 39:56.820 --> 39:57.480 well, guess what? 39:57.720 --> 39:58.960 That's not gonna work with your wife. 39:59.760 --> 40:00.880 She's not into that. 40:01.300 --> 40:02.880 And that's not gonna work with kids 40:02.880 --> 40:04.360 because now all of a sudden 40:04.360 --> 40:08.440 you have this financial black hole called your wife. 40:08.840 --> 40:09.400 No, I'm just kidding. 40:09.840 --> 40:10.660 That was a joke, honey. 40:11.100 --> 40:13.300 This financial black hole called children, right? 40:13.560 --> 40:15.480 All right, now you're on my page, okay? 40:16.380 --> 40:18.740 This financial black hole called children 40:19.380 --> 40:21.080 and so it makes you feel like, man, 40:21.120 --> 40:23.240 I gotta get out there and make some bread. 40:23.900 --> 40:24.820 I gotta make some money. 40:25.860 --> 40:26.820 So here's the thing. 40:27.180 --> 40:28.700 Getting married and having children 40:29.180 --> 40:30.220 forces you to work harder. 40:30.380 --> 40:31.800 Let me tell you about myself, okay? 40:32.260 --> 40:35.620 I got a job at 16 working at Roundtable Pizza. 40:36.420 --> 40:39.460 Not exactly a super serious job, okay? 40:39.580 --> 40:40.740 It's kind of a starter job. 40:41.140 --> 40:42.300 And I thought, well, you know, 40:42.380 --> 40:44.140 you can't really get the good job until you're 18 40:44.520 --> 40:45.380 because when you're 18, 40:45.560 --> 40:47.420 now you're allowed to use all the heavy equipment 40:47.420 --> 40:49.660 and, you know, most serious jobs 40:49.660 --> 40:51.000 don't really hire you until you're 18. 40:51.320 --> 40:52.340 You gotta do the starter job. 40:52.560 --> 40:53.280 So here's the thing. 40:53.380 --> 40:55.600 When I turned 18, now I'm eligible 40:55.600 --> 40:56.760 to get a serious job. 40:56.820 --> 40:59.040 I can be an electrician or whatever. 40:59.340 --> 41:00.440 I can do something serious. 41:00.940 --> 41:01.440 But guess what? 41:01.540 --> 41:03.140 When I turned 18, you know what I didn't do? 41:03.520 --> 41:05.180 I didn't get a serious job. 41:05.460 --> 41:07.440 And you wanna know why I didn't get a serious job? 41:07.960 --> 41:10.360 Because I was 18 and I just wanted to just play 41:10.360 --> 41:11.060 and have fun. 41:11.460 --> 41:13.660 And so I was like, oh, I wanna take trips to Germany. 41:14.280 --> 41:15.300 Oh, I wanna do this and that. 41:15.520 --> 41:17.240 So I just kept working at Roundtable, 41:17.580 --> 41:19.820 even though I was making barely above minimum wage 41:19.820 --> 41:22.260 because of the fact that I was just having fun. 41:22.360 --> 41:23.800 I'm just young and just doing whatever. 41:24.460 --> 41:25.800 But then I got married. 41:26.480 --> 41:27.020 Guess what? 41:27.160 --> 41:29.020 As soon as I got married, it's like, 41:29.020 --> 41:30.980 okay, no more Roundtable. 41:31.540 --> 41:32.540 Now I have to get it. 41:32.700 --> 41:35.780 So do you see how getting married forced me 41:35.780 --> 41:38.500 to get a much more demanding, serious job 41:38.500 --> 41:42.120 instead of working 40 hours at some easy job at Roundtable 41:42.120 --> 41:43.580 where I can take time off whenever I want. 41:43.960 --> 41:47.800 Boom, I'm working 50 hours doing electrical work, 41:48.060 --> 41:51.480 working hard, doing overtime, extra hours, whatever. 41:52.100 --> 41:53.360 Serious about my career. 41:53.720 --> 41:55.820 I'm getting books at the library after work 41:55.820 --> 41:57.240 and trying to learn about my job 41:57.240 --> 41:59.080 so I can make more, climb the ladder 41:59.080 --> 42:02.480 because your wife wants you to bring home money. 42:03.320 --> 42:04.400 Men, right? 42:04.880 --> 42:07.480 And so that forces you to get out and work your butt off. 42:08.280 --> 42:09.780 Now all of a sudden, you're not a kid anymore. 42:10.880 --> 42:13.140 You grow up and you're out, it keeps you out of trouble. 42:13.780 --> 42:14.780 You're staying busy working. 42:16.340 --> 42:19.220 You know, and I spent my entire years of my 20s 42:19.220 --> 42:22.460 just working mad hours, crazy hours. 42:22.980 --> 42:24.560 And you know, a lot of my 30s 42:24.560 --> 42:26.180 just working crazy hours too 42:26.180 --> 42:28.860 because you just have to, just to make ends meet, 42:28.920 --> 42:30.080 just to put food on the table. 42:30.680 --> 42:32.860 So that's the male side of the equation, right? 42:33.180 --> 42:35.080 Now let's go to the female side of the equation 42:35.080 --> 42:37.640 and look at 1 Timothy chapter number two. 42:39.580 --> 42:44.100 It says in verse number 13, 42:44.280 --> 42:46.760 for Adam was first formed, then Eve, verse 14, 42:47.320 --> 42:48.540 and Adam was not deceived, 42:48.660 --> 42:50.580 but the woman being deceived was in the transgression, 42:51.600 --> 42:55.380 notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing 42:56.020 --> 42:57.880 if they continue in faith and charity 42:57.880 --> 42:59.000 and holiness with sobriety. 43:00.040 --> 43:02.320 Now what does this mean when the Bible says 43:02.320 --> 43:03.900 the woman shall be saved in childbearing? 43:04.000 --> 43:05.940 Obviously we're not talking about spiritual salvation 43:05.940 --> 43:08.360 going to heaven and eternal life, obviously not. 43:08.860 --> 43:12.180 It's saying that she is saved from heartache, 43:12.480 --> 43:14.220 falling into the snares of Satan, 43:14.640 --> 43:16.080 falling into the devil's trap, 43:16.520 --> 43:17.440 turning aside of Satan. 43:17.780 --> 43:20.100 She's saved from going down that dark path 43:20.100 --> 43:22.060 by childbearing because if you go back 43:22.060 --> 43:23.780 to Genesis chapter three and you remember 43:24.360 --> 43:27.740 when God catches them having sinned 43:27.740 --> 43:29.840 and they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, 43:30.180 --> 43:33.120 then he basically is pronouncing his judgment upon them 43:33.120 --> 43:35.300 and he says to the man that he's gonna work 43:35.300 --> 43:37.640 by the sweat of his face all the days of his life. 43:38.100 --> 43:39.740 And then he tells the woman, what? 43:40.300 --> 43:43.900 I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception 43:44.420 --> 43:47.340 in sorrow shall thou bring forth children 43:47.340 --> 43:49.720 and thy desire shall be to thy husband 43:49.720 --> 43:51.280 and he shall rule over thee. 43:51.760 --> 43:54.800 So notice God's solution, yes in a sense 43:54.800 --> 43:57.460 these are punishments but they're also solutions 43:58.180 --> 43:59.920 for man going forward. 44:00.380 --> 44:02.660 How to live a life that's gonna keep him out of trouble 44:02.660 --> 44:04.980 is that the man works by the sweat of his face 44:04.980 --> 44:07.540 all the days of life and then the woman is over here 44:07.540 --> 44:09.660 and she's subservient to her husband, 44:10.120 --> 44:11.380 she's obedient to her husband 44:11.380 --> 44:14.520 and her conception is multiplied, 44:14.940 --> 44:17.120 which also means her sorrow is multiplied 44:17.120 --> 44:22.500 because obviously having children is painful and difficult 44:22.960 --> 44:24.260 in every sense of the word. 44:25.140 --> 44:26.400 Now you could sit there and say, 44:26.460 --> 44:27.600 well if it's painful and difficult 44:27.600 --> 44:29.160 I'm just not gonna do it. 44:29.980 --> 44:31.280 Okay but here's the problem with that. 44:31.420 --> 44:33.380 That'd be like saying, well work's painful and difficult 44:33.380 --> 44:34.480 so I'm not gonna go to work. 44:36.500 --> 44:38.500 Now here's the thing, there are people 44:39.640 --> 44:43.060 that make that lifestyle work, they just never work 44:43.720 --> 44:45.440 and they just are freeloaders 44:45.860 --> 44:47.980 and they just live off other people and whatever 44:47.980 --> 44:50.040 and we could probably go out in the parking lot 44:50.040 --> 44:51.260 and take a little field trip if you want 44:51.260 --> 44:54.020 and find some of them in a matter of a couple minutes. 44:56.520 --> 44:59.260 But here's the thing, that's not God's will for your life 45:00.520 --> 45:02.300 and it's not gonna make you happier 45:04.640 --> 45:06.780 because it's just you're trading one set of problems 45:06.780 --> 45:10.320 for another and so it's easy to be tempted 45:10.760 --> 45:14.160 to want to abandon marriage and abandon child-rearing 45:14.160 --> 45:17.540 but here's the thing is that being married 45:17.540 --> 45:19.960 and having children keeps you out of trouble 45:19.960 --> 45:22.340 and keeps you on the right path serving God. 45:22.520 --> 45:23.540 That's what the Bible is saying. 45:25.240 --> 45:27.500 He's saying they're saved by child-bearing. 45:28.120 --> 45:30.960 You know he's saying that they are marrying, 45:31.140 --> 45:32.520 bearing children and guiding the house 45:32.520 --> 45:33.620 and that doesn't give an occasion 45:33.620 --> 45:35.020 for the adversary to speak religiously. 45:35.240 --> 45:37.900 That prevents them from getting idle, being gossips, 45:38.020 --> 45:39.560 wandering about from house to house, et cetera 45:39.560 --> 45:41.360 because they're busy doing the right things 45:41.360 --> 45:43.780 and so when it comes to withdrawing 45:43.780 --> 45:46.180 from the disorderly, we're talking about people 45:46.580 --> 45:48.220 who are disorderly in their lives 45:48.220 --> 45:51.280 and this leads them into the sins of gossip, 45:51.520 --> 45:53.580 tail-bearing, back-biting, whispering 45:53.580 --> 45:59.460 and ultimately the final rung of this ladder is railing. 46:00.040 --> 46:04.100 Railing, false accusations and the like. 46:04.460 --> 46:06.000 So if you would go back to 2nd Thessalonians 46:06.000 --> 46:07.800 chapter three with that in mind. 46:08.140 --> 46:09.480 2nd Thessalonians chapter three, 46:09.640 --> 46:12.680 it should be just one page away in your Bible 46:12.680 --> 46:14.420 to 2nd Thessalonians chapter three. 46:17.280 --> 46:20.500 And look, we've seen this in our lives. 46:21.000 --> 46:22.900 We've seen women who basically, 46:23.120 --> 46:25.940 and even recently, there was a widow in our church. 46:26.460 --> 46:28.180 Everybody's been super nice to her. 46:28.560 --> 46:31.280 Everybody has loved her and been kind to her 46:31.280 --> 46:33.480 and tried to help her and she was just thrown 46:33.480 --> 46:34.980 out of the church last week 46:34.980 --> 46:38.120 for basically using 1st Timothy five as a checklist 46:38.120 --> 46:43.720 and basically just idle, tail-bearing, gossip, 46:44.340 --> 46:47.760 just maybe you're uncomfortable about me talking about this 46:47.760 --> 46:48.700 but let me tell you something. 46:49.180 --> 46:50.680 You know, when we throw somebody out of the church, 46:51.000 --> 46:53.020 it is not something that we do lightly. 46:54.680 --> 46:56.820 I have threatened to throw her out of the church 46:56.820 --> 46:59.780 probably 10 times over the last year and a half. 47:00.540 --> 47:02.440 Even before her husband died, 47:02.740 --> 47:04.500 we were already having these problems 47:04.500 --> 47:08.040 and we were patient and we were patient and patient 47:08.040 --> 47:11.580 and giving her chance after chance and feeling bad for her 47:11.580 --> 47:14.400 and trying to help her and reaching out to her 47:14.400 --> 47:17.820 and she's just continually trash talking 47:17.820 --> 47:19.260 other ladies in the church, 47:19.840 --> 47:21.620 constantly fighting with other women, 47:21.880 --> 47:24.700 just constant bickering, backbiting and here's the thing, 47:24.900 --> 47:26.780 we tried to see things from her point of view. 47:27.100 --> 47:28.560 She's like, oh, this person is so evil, 47:28.700 --> 47:29.300 this person is so bad. 47:29.600 --> 47:31.580 We'd be like, okay, tell us the evidence 47:32.220 --> 47:34.120 and she never had any evidence. 47:34.460 --> 47:36.500 There was never any meat on the bone. 47:36.860 --> 47:39.680 She'd just come at us with just these microaggressions 47:40.380 --> 47:42.860 or just feelings that she had about people 47:42.860 --> 47:44.480 or I just know this person's bad. 47:44.560 --> 47:45.800 Oh really, what's the evidence for that? 47:46.280 --> 47:47.180 And you know, it's one thing, 47:47.460 --> 47:49.480 if you have a bad feeling about somebody, great, 47:49.760 --> 47:52.540 have a bad feeling about somebody, keep it to yourself. 47:53.220 --> 47:55.840 If you just have some bad feeling about somebody 47:55.840 --> 47:56.860 and you don't have any evidence 47:57.260 --> 47:58.620 and there's no meat on the bone, 47:58.780 --> 47:59.980 then shut up about it. 47:59.980 --> 48:01.360 But when you're going around 48:01.360 --> 48:03.740 and wandering from house to house 48:03.740 --> 48:05.360 and you're talking to this person, 48:05.540 --> 48:08.440 talking to this person, gossiping, backbiting, whispering, 48:09.040 --> 48:11.060 you know what, you are committing grievous sin 48:11.060 --> 48:13.140 at that point and then when it crosses over 48:13.140 --> 48:16.040 to just false accusations and railing, 48:16.300 --> 48:17.420 well then guess what, you're out 48:17.420 --> 48:19.840 because the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 5 48:19.840 --> 48:21.940 to have no fellowship with railers, 48:22.080 --> 48:25.100 to cast out the railer with such a one know not to eat. 48:25.840 --> 48:27.620 And you know what, people may or may not know 48:27.620 --> 48:29.840 this about us, but you know, brother Sigura, 48:30.100 --> 48:33.200 who's obviously my right hand man and myself, 48:33.580 --> 48:36.300 we are very gracious and long suffering with people 48:36.300 --> 48:39.180 and we're constantly giving people another chance, 48:39.300 --> 48:42.520 another chance, almost to the point of ridiculousness, 48:42.900 --> 48:44.600 how many chances we give people sometimes. 48:44.860 --> 48:47.160 And people are usually shocked when they find out 48:47.160 --> 48:50.400 all the things that led up to us throwing someone out 48:50.400 --> 48:52.660 because we are not on a hair trigger 48:52.660 --> 48:55.620 to throw people out because we want to fix people, right? 48:55.620 --> 48:57.080 That's the whole point of the church 48:57.610 --> 48:59.320 is to try to fix problems 48:59.320 --> 49:01.140 and to try to help people grow in grace 49:01.140 --> 49:03.220 and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 49:03.560 --> 49:05.360 But you know what, when someone just has a pattern 49:05.360 --> 49:08.160 of just refusing to listen, 49:09.260 --> 49:13.140 refusing to get right with God and stop the railing 49:13.140 --> 49:15.780 and stop the trash talk and stop the gossiping 49:15.780 --> 49:18.380 and look, she was not trash talking me at all. 49:18.640 --> 49:20.900 I've never heard of her ever saying anything bad about me 49:20.900 --> 49:23.080 ever at any rate, guess what? 49:23.360 --> 49:24.340 That's not what this is about. 49:24.940 --> 49:27.380 It's about her trash talking other ladies in the church 49:28.300 --> 49:30.140 and some men in the church too. 49:30.400 --> 49:34.280 And I mean, I could give you a list of probably 20 people 49:34.880 --> 49:39.380 that she has been at strike with easily, okay? 49:39.560 --> 49:42.760 And it just seems like every time there's drama, it's her. 49:44.000 --> 49:46.760 And that's why she's gone, okay? 49:46.980 --> 49:50.800 And look, again, I didn't want it to be that way. 49:51.120 --> 49:52.540 We begged her to get it right. 49:53.020 --> 49:55.920 We've tried, we've given her chance after chance, 49:56.000 --> 49:57.820 but at the end of the day, we have to follow the Bible. 49:59.260 --> 50:02.200 And I feel like even if I'm honest, 50:02.680 --> 50:04.840 I think my judgment was a little bit clouded 50:05.420 --> 50:10.640 by just personal friendship and by just pity for the widow 50:11.140 --> 50:14.480 that basically, I believe that we should have thrown her 50:14.480 --> 50:16.760 out sooner and that I was wrong 50:17.420 --> 50:20.680 for being overly ridiculously gracious 50:20.680 --> 50:23.300 just because the Bible says not to be a respecter of persons 50:23.300 --> 50:25.900 and we need to just be executing judgment on people 50:25.900 --> 50:30.180 that are that brazen in their disobedience to God's word. 50:30.940 --> 50:31.400 And you know what? 50:31.520 --> 50:33.820 You can bring up all the other great attributes 50:33.820 --> 50:34.840 about her that you want. 50:35.080 --> 50:36.260 That's not the point though, is it? 50:36.980 --> 50:37.540 Because you know what? 50:37.620 --> 50:39.240 A lot of people are good people 50:39.240 --> 50:40.660 that have a lot of great attributes 50:40.660 --> 50:42.700 and one thing can destroy their life. 50:45.820 --> 50:48.600 I mean, I'm sure that Samson was a great guy 50:48.600 --> 50:50.220 and I'm sure Samson had a lot of great attributes. 50:51.140 --> 50:53.680 But one thing destroyed Samson's life, didn't it? 50:54.920 --> 50:56.760 That's the way life works, my friend. 50:57.040 --> 50:59.420 And so it's like, hey, I have all this other stuff going 50:59.420 --> 51:00.980 for me, yeah, but if you're a drunkard 51:01.320 --> 51:03.260 and you're unrepentant about it, you're out. 51:04.020 --> 51:05.180 If you're a Rainler, you're out. 51:05.420 --> 51:07.160 If you're an extortioner, you're out. 51:07.280 --> 51:09.180 I mean, this is what the Bible says, my friend, 51:09.220 --> 51:10.260 and we have to follow the Bible 51:10.260 --> 51:13.560 and not be a respecter of persons, okay? 51:13.560 --> 51:18.440 This was grievous, it was very cut and dried. 51:18.960 --> 51:20.660 This was not a gray area. 51:21.460 --> 51:23.820 And it's sad, but that's the way it is. 51:23.920 --> 51:25.840 And this is not the first time that we've seen this. 51:26.340 --> 51:28.920 Other people have gone down the same road 51:28.920 --> 51:30.420 and other people in the future 51:30.420 --> 51:31.460 will go down the same road. 51:32.400 --> 51:33.140 And so here's the thing. 51:33.780 --> 51:37.080 Maybe you are frustrated with the way 51:37.080 --> 51:38.460 that your marriage has turned out 51:38.460 --> 51:39.680 and maybe you think to yourself, 51:40.000 --> 51:42.260 hey, my marriage isn't really the marriage that I wanted. 51:43.040 --> 51:45.260 Or you're frustrated with the way your children turned out 51:45.260 --> 51:46.640 and you're thinking like, oh man, 51:46.760 --> 51:48.260 I put all this work into these kids. 51:48.400 --> 51:49.300 What a waste of time. 51:49.580 --> 51:50.540 What a waste of energy. 51:51.140 --> 51:53.100 I'm disappointed with the way things turned out. 51:53.660 --> 51:55.460 But here's the thing, at the end of the day though, 51:56.040 --> 51:57.960 you need to ask yourself this question though. 51:58.160 --> 51:59.140 How did you turn out? 52:00.800 --> 52:02.260 You know, I mean, the apostle Paul, 52:02.520 --> 52:04.580 he went and evangelized all throughout Asia 52:04.580 --> 52:06.020 and then later he's like, 52:06.340 --> 52:08.380 all they which aren't Asia have turned away from me. 52:10.020 --> 52:10.920 But here's the thing. 52:11.060 --> 52:11.940 At the end of the day though, 52:12.820 --> 52:15.300 Paul is still serving God all the way at the end. 52:16.060 --> 52:16.560 And you know what? 52:16.840 --> 52:19.940 I hope that you have the marriage that you want 52:19.940 --> 52:21.780 and I hope that your marriage is super fulfilling. 52:22.400 --> 52:24.220 I find my marriage super fulfilling. 52:24.460 --> 52:27.320 I'm incredibly happy with the way my marriage has turned out. 52:27.780 --> 52:28.920 I'm not happy with the way 52:28.920 --> 52:30.280 that my child ring has turned out. 52:30.600 --> 52:31.820 But at the end of the day though, 52:32.420 --> 52:34.320 maybe you're happy with the way things turned out 52:34.320 --> 52:35.320 and maybe you're not. 52:35.660 --> 52:36.400 But at the end of the day, 52:36.400 --> 52:38.720 if you're here, if you're serving God 52:38.720 --> 52:41.720 in your 30s, 40s, 50s, if you're still here, 52:42.540 --> 52:44.040 you know, stop and think about the fact 52:44.040 --> 52:46.680 that maybe it was being married and having kids 52:46.680 --> 52:48.740 that got you to the point where you are 52:49.240 --> 52:51.200 and that if you could get in your little time machine 52:51.200 --> 52:52.120 and do things differently, 52:52.880 --> 52:54.780 you might have turned aside after Satan. 52:56.200 --> 52:59.900 Because the Bible says that it is being married 52:59.900 --> 53:02.540 and having children and working hard 53:02.540 --> 53:04.400 and working your fingers to the bone 53:04.400 --> 53:06.080 that keeps you out of trouble 53:06.080 --> 53:07.140 and keeps you on the right path. 53:07.540 --> 53:10.280 And, you know, we could use a totally different example. 53:10.420 --> 53:12.640 We could say, hey, maybe you worked super hard 53:13.200 --> 53:16.100 and you made a ton of money working super hard 53:16.100 --> 53:17.380 and then you lost all your money. 53:18.200 --> 53:19.600 I mean, I'm sure that's how I'm not gonna ask 53:19.600 --> 53:20.340 for a raise of hands, 53:20.640 --> 53:21.640 but I'm sure that there are people 53:21.640 --> 53:24.920 who probably just put their life's work into something 53:25.440 --> 53:26.860 and then ended up losing it all. 53:27.540 --> 53:29.960 And it's just like, oh, everything I did 53:29.960 --> 53:33.120 for the last 20 years is up in smoke, everything. 53:33.120 --> 53:34.080 But is it though? 53:34.800 --> 53:36.100 Because at the end of the day, 53:36.660 --> 53:39.640 that life that you led was the life 53:39.640 --> 53:41.100 that you were supposed to lead 53:41.100 --> 53:43.040 if you were as a man working hard 53:43.040 --> 53:45.720 and if you were as a woman busy with your husband 53:45.720 --> 53:49.400 and your children, whatever it was, good, bad or ugly, 53:49.560 --> 53:51.960 at the end of the day, that is the lifestyle 53:51.960 --> 53:54.780 that is conducive for most people to serving God. 53:55.260 --> 53:57.920 And so if at the end of it, you're still winning souls, 53:58.180 --> 54:00.460 you're still in church, you're still serving God, 54:00.760 --> 54:02.180 you know what, that's something to be thankful for 54:02.180 --> 54:03.020 and something to be happy about. 54:03.020 --> 54:04.440 I hope you understand what I'm saying tonight 54:04.840 --> 54:06.480 and that this is making sense to you 54:06.480 --> 54:09.480 because the people with the disorderly life, 54:09.620 --> 54:11.520 the people who say, no, forget marriage, 54:11.980 --> 54:14.900 forget child-rearing, you know, I don't wanna work hard, 54:15.260 --> 54:17.460 I'm not gonna go out and work hard and make money, 54:17.820 --> 54:21.280 I'm just gonna just goof off, sit around, do nothing, 54:21.680 --> 54:23.700 fool around, just play video games or whatever. 54:24.100 --> 54:25.180 You know, these are the type of people 54:25.180 --> 54:26.720 that are gonna get into grievous sin 54:28.340 --> 54:29.500 from not being busy. 54:30.460 --> 54:33.120 You know, and you say, well, what's the answer? 54:33.640 --> 54:36.640 What's the answer for this widow that is, you know, 54:36.720 --> 54:40.160 a busy body and a railer and a constant gossip? 54:40.660 --> 54:42.520 You know, the answer for her is right in the Bible, 54:42.760 --> 54:44.520 is that she actually needs a husband 54:44.520 --> 54:46.240 that's gonna put her in her place 54:46.940 --> 54:48.300 and stop that behavior. 54:48.800 --> 54:52.340 She needs a husband that would actually come down on her 54:52.940 --> 54:55.520 and make her stop, you know? 54:56.080 --> 54:58.880 But the problem is now she's ex-communicated 54:58.880 --> 54:59.500 from the church. 55:00.660 --> 55:02.380 So, you know, one of the best places 55:02.800 --> 55:05.880 to meet a godly husband is in church. 55:06.100 --> 55:07.200 Now you're thrown out of the church. 55:07.440 --> 55:09.040 Now you're ex-communicated from the church 55:09.040 --> 55:12.240 because of your own foolishness, you know? 55:12.360 --> 55:14.200 And then it's just gonna be a downward spiral from there 55:14.200 --> 55:15.300 because make no mistake about it, 55:15.320 --> 55:16.020 you're thrown out of the church, 55:16.140 --> 55:16.940 you're under the curse of God, 55:17.060 --> 55:19.820 that's what the Bible teaches, you know? 55:20.040 --> 55:22.260 And you can sit there, oh, that doesn't scare me, 55:22.300 --> 55:23.860 I'm not afraid of that, well, then you're stupid. 55:25.300 --> 55:25.960 It's that simple. 55:26.560 --> 55:30.580 It should scare you because it's real, okay? 55:30.880 --> 55:31.860 You wanna be blessed, 55:32.320 --> 55:35.060 the blessings are found doing things God's way 55:35.540 --> 55:36.280 in the house of God. 55:36.380 --> 55:38.500 And look, here's the thing, the leadership of the church 55:38.500 --> 55:40.420 isn't always gonna make decisions that you like. 55:41.640 --> 55:44.020 Sometimes the church leadership is gonna decide 55:44.660 --> 55:47.020 that, you know, hey, you know, this person, 55:47.200 --> 55:48.780 we're gonna allow this person, 55:49.460 --> 55:50.760 we're gonna let it go, whatever. 55:51.180 --> 55:53.040 And then other times, we're gonna make a decision, 55:53.040 --> 55:56.060 hey, you know, we're not gonna allow this or whatever. 55:56.440 --> 55:57.800 We're not always gonna make a decision 55:57.800 --> 56:00.740 that you agree with or that you like, you know? 56:00.820 --> 56:01.560 But at the end of the day, 56:01.600 --> 56:03.900 you have to respect the leadership of the church. 56:04.680 --> 56:06.300 You don't have to agree with it, 56:06.660 --> 56:09.240 you don't have to believe like us on everything, 56:09.480 --> 56:11.660 of course not, but you do have to realize 56:11.660 --> 56:13.740 that everybody's got their place, 56:14.120 --> 56:15.400 the pastor's the pastor, 56:16.040 --> 56:17.800 and the leadership is the leadership, 56:18.080 --> 56:20.780 and you know, you gotta be cool 56:21.300 --> 56:22.920 and go with the flow, and you know what? 56:23.040 --> 56:25.560 You gotta be a team player, you know? 56:25.720 --> 56:27.600 I don't, you know, even as the leader, 56:28.320 --> 56:32.020 I don't necessarily always like every single thing that we do, 56:32.080 --> 56:33.520 but some things I do because I know 56:33.520 --> 56:35.940 that that's what other people wanna do, you know? 56:36.220 --> 56:38.320 And sometimes I go along with my pastor friends 56:38.320 --> 56:39.820 or go along with what the church wants 56:39.820 --> 56:43.920 on things that are not like biblical do or die issues. 56:44.240 --> 56:47.100 We all have to be ready to give and take a little bit 56:47.100 --> 56:51.360 and compromise on things that don't really matter, right? 56:52.260 --> 56:54.880 And just be cool, be a team player, 56:55.420 --> 56:57.060 and if there's some person in the church, 56:57.340 --> 56:59.780 you're just convinced that that person is just so rotten, 57:00.200 --> 57:02.000 you know, I don't have any evidence, 57:02.120 --> 57:05.480 but I just know, you know, there's no actual evidence, 57:05.520 --> 57:08.600 but I can just articulate a reasonable suspicion. 57:09.900 --> 57:12.060 You know, if that's you, then you know what? 57:12.220 --> 57:13.880 Go ahead and have those thoughts, and how about this? 57:13.880 --> 57:15.900 How about you just kind of avoid that person? 57:17.560 --> 57:19.900 Right, if there's a person that you think is bad, 57:20.480 --> 57:22.500 stay away from that person, but what you don't do 57:22.500 --> 57:24.940 is go around and start trash talking other people 57:24.940 --> 57:26.080 because of your suspicions. 57:26.540 --> 57:28.720 That is railing, that is wicked, 57:29.020 --> 57:30.020 you don't have any evidence, 57:30.360 --> 57:31.620 and you're just making stuff up, 57:31.940 --> 57:32.980 and then these people are like, 57:33.160 --> 57:35.060 oh, well someday I'll be proved right, 57:35.100 --> 57:37.400 and then you'll be sorry, but here's the thing. 57:38.280 --> 57:40.500 Let's say you trash talk somebody with no evidence, 57:41.440 --> 57:42.940 and then later we find out 57:42.940 --> 57:44.540 that that person's a bad person 57:44.540 --> 57:47.200 for a totally different reason in an unrelated area, 57:47.300 --> 57:48.380 that doesn't vindicate you. 57:49.300 --> 57:53.920 You still rail, you still were trash talking people 57:53.920 --> 57:54.660 with no evidence. 57:55.100 --> 57:57.180 If they turn out to be bad in another area 57:57.180 --> 57:59.900 for another reason, that doesn't somehow vindicate you 57:59.900 --> 58:01.360 all of a sudden, did you see what I'm saying? 58:02.840 --> 58:04.160 Because at the end of the day, 58:04.620 --> 58:08.220 you know, a court of law could find someone not guilty 58:08.220 --> 58:09.360 because there's no evidence, 58:09.540 --> 58:10.920 and that could be the right verdict, 58:10.920 --> 58:12.860 and maybe that person is a bad person, 58:12.920 --> 58:13.780 but that's not the point. 58:14.460 --> 58:16.480 The point is, is there evidence? 58:17.440 --> 58:19.460 Are we just gonna go around condemning people 58:19.460 --> 58:20.020 without evidence? 58:20.240 --> 58:22.080 Are we just gonna go around trashing people 58:22.080 --> 58:25.960 and railing and falsely accusing people with nothing? 58:26.900 --> 58:29.460 And I'm not, again and again and again and again, 58:29.820 --> 58:31.880 you know what, it's not gonna fly around here. 58:32.600 --> 58:35.420 And thankfully we don't have a big problem with this 58:35.420 --> 58:37.160 now that this one person is gone, 58:37.360 --> 58:39.360 because honestly, like I think back 58:39.360 --> 58:41.540 to all the drama of like the last two years 58:41.540 --> 58:44.440 and it's like 90% of it involved her, sadly. 58:45.180 --> 58:46.800 You know, when it comes to infighting 58:46.800 --> 58:48.740 and bickering and fussing among women in the church, 58:50.200 --> 58:53.240 it's always like, you know, it's like insert name here 58:53.240 --> 58:55.700 plus her, and it's just like the bat, 58:55.860 --> 58:56.700 that's all the battles. 58:58.980 --> 58:59.920 You know, and here's the thing, 59:00.000 --> 59:02.360 it'd be one thing if you have like one enemy in the church, 59:02.700 --> 59:04.680 you have one person in the church that you clash with 59:04.680 --> 59:05.660 and kind of stay away from, 59:05.960 --> 59:07.840 but when we start getting into the double digits 59:08.360 --> 59:10.980 of all the people in the church that you have a problem with 59:10.980 --> 59:12.440 and that you think are out to get you 59:12.440 --> 59:14.660 and that you have strife with, you know, 59:15.060 --> 59:17.920 at that point you need to start thinking about 59:17.920 --> 59:21.260 what you can change to learn how to be a team player 59:21.260 --> 59:23.000 on this team or else go find another team. 59:23.880 --> 59:26.560 You know, we need team players, we need unity, 59:27.060 --> 59:28.340 we need to love one another, 59:28.560 --> 59:30.860 we need people who love the brotherhood, love the team 59:30.860 --> 59:34.120 and wanna be cool, wanna compromise, wanna get along. 59:34.700 --> 59:38.140 Okay, we don't need strife and bigger, 59:38.240 --> 59:39.020 and it's like, here's the thing, 59:39.080 --> 59:44.240 we have enough problems with just serious attacks 59:45.420 --> 59:47.840 on our church, like why would we need 59:47.840 --> 59:52.220 a bunch of micro-aggression, passive-aggressive, dumb fight, 59:52.380 --> 59:54.900 it's like, I mean, you think about last Sunday night, 59:55.340 --> 59:56.260 it's like last Sunday night, 59:56.360 --> 59:59.180 we're dealing with like some really serious issues, 59:59.580 --> 01:00:03.080 really serious problems, you know, 01:00:03.080 --> 01:00:05.840 and then it's like, do we really need women 01:00:05.840 --> 01:00:08.880 screaming at each other over something stupid? 01:00:09.580 --> 01:00:13.980 You know, like, is it really the time and the place 01:00:14.480 --> 01:00:18.200 when we're just like fighting for dear life over here, 01:00:18.780 --> 01:00:21.020 like real battles, real enemies, 01:00:21.320 --> 01:00:23.440 is it really time to pull out all the little 01:00:23.440 --> 01:00:26.740 female junior high drama, and I'm not picking on women 01:00:26.740 --> 01:00:29.620 because this just happened to be a female situation, 01:00:30.300 --> 01:00:32.880 okay, and the person who's to blame is gone, 01:00:33.360 --> 01:00:35.240 so I'm not mad at anybody in this room, 01:00:36.200 --> 01:00:38.120 but I'm just saying, you know what, 01:00:39.780 --> 01:00:41.380 you gotta think about other people, 01:00:41.920 --> 01:00:43.260 you gotta think about the team, 01:00:43.700 --> 01:00:44.960 you gotta think about the church, 01:00:45.260 --> 01:00:46.920 you gotta think about the greater good 01:00:47.480 --> 01:00:51.120 and not just be all about your own personal agenda 01:00:51.120 --> 01:00:54.040 in the church, the church is a unit, it's a team, 01:00:54.200 --> 01:00:56.120 and we don't wanna just be about our personal agenda, 01:00:56.480 --> 01:00:59.140 we need to be wanting the unit to succeed, 01:00:59.340 --> 01:01:01.640 the church to succeed, that's what I'm saying, 01:01:01.800 --> 01:01:04.740 and so this is why God takes such a hard line on this, 01:01:05.040 --> 01:01:06.500 he's like, man, these disorderly people, 01:01:07.400 --> 01:01:08.800 you gotta straighten these people out, 01:01:08.940 --> 01:01:11.700 you gotta admonish them, okay, 01:01:11.920 --> 01:01:14.020 even if they're saved, they're not your enemies, 01:01:14.380 --> 01:01:15.420 they're your brothers and sisters, 01:01:15.560 --> 01:01:16.900 but you've got to straighten them out, 01:01:17.780 --> 01:01:20.400 and if it gets to the point of railing, they're out, 01:01:23.060 --> 01:01:26.760 because we've gotta endeavor to keep the unity in our church 01:01:26.760 --> 01:01:30.520 and we want to stay cool and we wanna get all, 01:01:30.680 --> 01:01:32.980 look, our church has great, I mean, look around, 01:01:33.260 --> 01:01:36.060 packed house on a Sunday night, this is a great church, 01:01:36.240 --> 01:01:39.060 the church is thriving, Sunday morning packed, 01:01:39.280 --> 01:01:42.420 Sunday night packed, great attendance, okay, 01:01:42.540 --> 01:01:45.720 great spirit, smiling, happy, great fellowship, 01:01:46.300 --> 01:01:49.280 great soul winning, our church has so much going for it, 01:01:49.280 --> 01:01:52.440 don't ruin it by being an idiot, amen? 01:01:54.660 --> 01:01:56.900 Ah, she was mean to me, she's rude to me, 01:01:57.000 --> 01:01:59.240 she didn't say hi to me, she wore the same dress as me, 01:01:59.340 --> 01:02:01.760 she knew I wore that dress on the third Sunday 01:02:01.760 --> 01:02:02.920 of every month or what, you know, 01:02:03.820 --> 01:02:05.560 she said hi to these three people 01:02:05.560 --> 01:02:07.620 and then she skipped me and then said hi to the fifth person, 01:02:07.720 --> 01:02:11.480 it's like, shut up, get over it, 01:02:14.420 --> 01:02:17.580 you gotta make an effort to be cool, get along, 01:02:18.050 --> 01:02:19.760 and if somebody says something that offends you, 01:02:19.840 --> 01:02:21.420 just let it be like water off a duck's back 01:02:21.930 --> 01:02:26.160 and try to have peace, be a peacemaker, try to get along. 01:02:26.440 --> 01:02:27.300 Let's bards and have a word of prayer. 01:02:27.400 --> 01:02:29.120 Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, 01:02:29.560 --> 01:02:32.660 thank you so much for these chapters that warn us, Lord, 01:02:33.080 --> 01:02:35.960 about the dangers of being idle, Lord, 01:02:36.100 --> 01:02:38.800 help us as men not to give up on work, 01:02:40.000 --> 01:02:41.540 help us not to give up on marriage, 01:02:42.260 --> 01:02:44.500 help us not to give up on child-rearing, 01:02:44.880 --> 01:02:46.920 help the ladies not to give up on marriage, 01:02:46.920 --> 01:02:49.560 help them not to give up on having children 01:02:49.560 --> 01:02:50.800 and being a homemaker, Lord, 01:02:50.900 --> 01:02:52.100 help us all to stay busy 01:02:54.000 --> 01:02:59.340 and to not become gossips, tatlers, busybodies 01:02:59.340 --> 01:03:01.520 and ultimately worst of all, railers. 01:03:02.140 --> 01:03:03.560 Lord, keep us on the right path, 01:03:03.840 --> 01:03:06.240 Lord, we've seen great people go down some dark paths, 01:03:06.400 --> 01:03:08.060 help us not to be one of them 01:03:08.060 --> 01:03:09.080 and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.