WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:00.220 Amen. 00:01.000 --> 00:02.540 Man, the title of my sermon this morning 00:02.540 --> 00:05.440 is to everything there is a season. 00:05.880 --> 00:07.420 To everything there is a season, 00:07.520 --> 00:09.060 the Bible says there in verse number one, 00:09.380 --> 00:13.600 and a time to every purpose under the heaven. 00:13.700 --> 00:16.160 Then he goes through this big list of different things 00:16.160 --> 00:17.720 and some of these are very positive 00:18.220 --> 00:20.640 and some of them are negative, but that's life. 00:20.800 --> 00:22.220 And the first thing that I wanna point out 00:22.220 --> 00:23.380 this morning from this passage 00:23.380 --> 00:27.660 is that God has a plan and a purpose in this world. 00:27.660 --> 00:30.400 We're not always gonna know what that purpose is, 00:30.580 --> 00:34.160 but that God has a plan and things happen 00:34.160 --> 00:36.620 the way that they do for a reason, right? 00:36.920 --> 00:39.920 To everything there is a season and a time 00:39.920 --> 00:41.140 to every purpose under heaven. 00:41.300 --> 00:43.180 We might look at the way life is going 00:43.180 --> 00:45.120 or the way the world is and be confused 00:45.120 --> 00:48.220 and not understand, but there is a method to the madness. 00:48.580 --> 00:52.220 There's a purpose under heaven, God has a plan. 00:52.480 --> 00:54.260 We don't know what it is all the time, 00:54.300 --> 00:55.000 but it's there. 00:55.260 --> 00:56.980 Go through it to Romans chapter eight. 00:56.980 --> 00:59.440 And of course, as we read the Bible, 01:00.000 --> 01:02.820 we understand more about what God is doing 01:02.820 --> 01:05.260 and we can look at things in this world and our lives, 01:05.560 --> 01:08.240 and the Bible can shed some light on those things 01:08.240 --> 01:09.260 and provide clarity, 01:09.540 --> 01:11.940 but we're never gonna understand everything 01:12.420 --> 01:14.640 just because we're human, we're finite. 01:15.160 --> 01:19.160 God is higher above us than the sky is above the earth, 01:19.280 --> 01:22.080 the Bible says, and so sometimes we just don't see it. 01:22.360 --> 01:24.300 But look what the Bible says in Romans chapter eight, 01:24.300 --> 01:26.660 verse 28, this is one of the most famous verses in the Bible. 01:27.380 --> 01:30.800 We know that all things work together for good 01:31.320 --> 01:32.680 to them that love God, 01:33.240 --> 01:36.880 to them who are the called according to his purpose. 01:37.080 --> 01:39.600 So of course, he has a purpose, he has a plan, 01:39.940 --> 01:43.020 and all things work together for good 01:43.020 --> 01:44.520 to those who love God, 01:44.640 --> 01:46.200 to those who are the called according to his purpose. 01:46.540 --> 01:48.340 It says, for whom he did foreknow, 01:48.920 --> 01:51.460 he also did predestinate to be conformed 01:51.460 --> 01:52.540 to the image of his son, 01:52.920 --> 01:55.540 that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 01:55.680 --> 01:57.940 What the Bible is saying here is that God, 01:58.160 --> 02:01.140 in his foreknowledge, he already knew 02:01.140 --> 02:03.200 who is going to believe in Christ, 02:03.580 --> 02:05.080 who is not gonna believe in Christ. 02:05.220 --> 02:06.580 He knows the end from the beginning. 02:07.000 --> 02:09.760 He knows who is going to get saved and who is not. 02:09.880 --> 02:11.740 The Bible is not saying that he chooses 02:12.300 --> 02:15.340 which people get saved and which people do not get saved. 02:15.620 --> 02:16.840 That is a false doctrine. 02:17.200 --> 02:19.240 The Bible says that God is not willing 02:19.240 --> 02:20.440 that any should perish, 02:20.440 --> 02:22.320 but that all should come to repentance. 02:22.760 --> 02:24.440 He tasted death for every man, 02:24.660 --> 02:26.400 and he says to this world, 02:26.680 --> 02:30.860 whosoever will let him take the water of life freely. 02:31.320 --> 02:34.500 It's up to you to want to take the water of life. 02:34.860 --> 02:38.360 But God did know who was going to be saved. 02:38.860 --> 02:42.360 And so those that he foreknew, it says in verse 29, 02:42.840 --> 02:44.520 he also did predestinate 02:44.520 --> 02:46.180 to be conformed to the image of his son, 02:46.360 --> 02:49.520 meaning that he knew who is going to be saved, 02:49.520 --> 02:52.500 and then he predetermined or predestined 02:52.500 --> 02:56.200 that that person would ultimately be conformed 02:56.200 --> 02:57.920 to the image of his son. 02:58.240 --> 03:01.320 That is his plan for the elect. 03:01.440 --> 03:03.760 That is his plan for those who are saved 03:03.760 --> 03:06.540 that they would ultimately be conformed 03:06.540 --> 03:08.520 to the image of his son 03:08.520 --> 03:11.380 that he, Jesus, might be the firstborn 03:11.380 --> 03:13.180 among many brethren. 03:13.400 --> 03:16.300 So when we get saved, we're on this trajectory 03:16.300 --> 03:20.100 to ultimately someday be like Christ. 03:20.280 --> 03:23.420 The Bible says, when he appears, we shall be like him 03:23.420 --> 03:25.720 for we shall see him as he is. 03:26.060 --> 03:26.960 We're going to get to heaven. 03:27.400 --> 03:28.640 We're going to be like him. 03:28.860 --> 03:30.140 We're going to be conformed to his image. 03:30.380 --> 03:31.580 And then it says in verse 30, 03:31.660 --> 03:33.560 moreover whom he did predestinate, 03:34.040 --> 03:36.600 then he also called, whom he called, 03:36.960 --> 03:39.440 then he also justified, and whom he justified, 03:39.940 --> 03:41.180 then he also glorified. 03:41.460 --> 03:43.200 What shall we say then to these things 03:43.200 --> 03:46.040 if God before us, who can be against us? 03:46.040 --> 03:47.560 And the idea here is that look, 03:47.920 --> 03:49.840 in the nasty here and now, 03:50.160 --> 03:54.020 we might be going through difficult, painful, hard things, 03:54.260 --> 03:57.120 but we need to keep in mind what is our ultimate destiny? 03:57.760 --> 04:00.760 Our ultimate destiny is we're going to be in heaven someday 04:01.180 --> 04:02.580 and we're going to be conformed 04:02.580 --> 04:03.860 to the image of Jesus Christ. 04:04.020 --> 04:04.980 We're going to be like him. 04:05.420 --> 04:06.780 We shall see him as he is. 04:07.040 --> 04:09.480 He will be the firstborn among many brethren. 04:10.020 --> 04:12.700 And so this is an amazing destiny 04:12.700 --> 04:14.060 that we can't even grasp. 04:14.460 --> 04:15.740 How awesome that's going to be. 04:15.740 --> 04:17.360 How amazing that's going to be, right? 04:17.800 --> 04:20.980 And not only that, but God has called us. 04:21.340 --> 04:22.660 He's justified us. 04:22.800 --> 04:23.780 What does justified mean? 04:24.160 --> 04:25.640 Declared us to be righteous, 04:25.800 --> 04:27.940 even though we've sinned so many times. 04:28.620 --> 04:31.220 And people have used the mnemonic, 04:31.720 --> 04:32.920 just as if I'd, 04:33.000 --> 04:36.540 for just justified, just as if I'd never sinned. 04:37.100 --> 04:39.460 Declaring us righteous in his sight, 04:39.680 --> 04:41.180 all of our sins are forgiven. 04:41.860 --> 04:44.820 And so someday we're going to be glorified 04:44.820 --> 04:46.360 with Christ in heaven. 04:46.960 --> 04:48.800 And then he says in verse number 31, 04:48.900 --> 04:49.860 what shall we say to these things? 04:50.020 --> 04:52.680 If God before us, who could be against us? 04:53.240 --> 04:55.300 He that spared not his own son, 04:55.700 --> 04:57.720 but delivered him up for us all, 04:58.340 --> 05:03.900 how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 05:04.020 --> 05:04.480 He's saying, look, 05:04.860 --> 05:08.660 if he already gave this unspeakable gift of his son, 05:08.660 --> 05:11.360 Jesus Christ dying on the cross for us, 05:11.720 --> 05:12.040 you know what? 05:12.060 --> 05:14.920 Obviously he's got great things in store for us. 05:15.120 --> 05:17.940 All kinds of blessings are waiting for us. 05:18.100 --> 05:20.060 He's going to freely give us all things. 05:20.640 --> 05:23.460 I mean, if God's for us, who can be against us at that point? 05:23.540 --> 05:25.460 Why are we worried so much 05:25.460 --> 05:28.960 about all the little things going on in our lives right now, 05:29.300 --> 05:30.700 the enemies, the haters, 05:31.440 --> 05:33.120 all the drama and different things? 05:33.440 --> 05:35.720 The Bible's saying, look, ultimately you're saved, 05:36.180 --> 05:38.260 you're justified, you're going to heaven, 05:38.260 --> 05:39.920 you have this amazing destiny, 05:40.500 --> 05:42.340 you have this inheritance in heaven 05:42.340 --> 05:45.000 that's incorruptible, that fades not away. 05:45.720 --> 05:47.500 You know, who shall lay anything 05:47.500 --> 05:49.620 to the charge of God's elect, verse 33? 05:50.100 --> 05:51.660 It's God that justify it. 05:51.980 --> 05:53.200 Who is he that condemneth? 05:53.520 --> 05:54.840 It is Christ that died, 05:55.240 --> 05:56.740 yea, rather that has risen again, 05:57.120 --> 05:58.740 who is even at the right hand of God, 05:58.920 --> 06:00.980 who also make it intercession for us. 06:01.040 --> 06:02.560 Look, the devil is an accuser, 06:02.920 --> 06:04.880 all of his little minions are accusers 06:04.880 --> 06:06.520 and they're going to lay all these things 06:06.520 --> 06:08.140 to our charge and attack us 06:08.140 --> 06:10.580 and criticize us and hate us 06:10.580 --> 06:13.060 and despitefully use us and persecute us 06:13.060 --> 06:15.560 and say all manner of evil against us 06:15.560 --> 06:17.720 falsely for Christ's sake. 06:17.880 --> 06:18.660 But at the end of the day, 06:19.180 --> 06:22.080 you know what, Christ is going to go to bat for us, 06:22.840 --> 06:25.500 Christ has died for our sins and risen again, 06:25.700 --> 06:27.240 he makes intercession for us, 06:27.660 --> 06:29.960 he defends us, we have an advocate with the Father. 06:30.920 --> 06:33.400 Verse 35, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 06:33.400 --> 06:36.240 Shall tribulation or distress or persecution 06:36.740 --> 06:39.560 or famine or nakedness or peril or sword, 06:40.000 --> 06:41.600 as it is written for thy sake, 06:41.920 --> 06:43.540 we are killed all the day long, 06:43.960 --> 06:45.980 we're accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 06:46.580 --> 06:48.540 Nay, in all these things, 06:48.700 --> 06:51.620 we are more than conquerors through him that loved us, 06:51.940 --> 06:54.380 for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, 06:54.500 --> 06:56.700 nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, 06:57.100 --> 06:58.700 nor things present, nor things to come, 06:58.980 --> 07:01.220 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature 07:01.220 --> 07:04.140 shall be able to separate us from the love of God, 07:04.240 --> 07:05.520 which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 07:05.980 --> 07:07.720 And so what he's saying is, look, 07:08.100 --> 07:12.100 ultimately God has a plan, God has a purpose, 07:12.480 --> 07:15.480 we're all on a certain path, a certain course, 07:15.880 --> 07:18.720 a certain trajectory, and no matter how ugly 07:18.720 --> 07:20.900 that path gets along the way, 07:21.500 --> 07:24.100 ultimately it's all gonna work together for good 07:24.100 --> 07:25.200 to those who love God, 07:25.400 --> 07:28.440 and ultimately we're all gonna be conformed 07:28.440 --> 07:30.420 to the image of Christ, we're all gonna be in heaven 07:30.420 --> 07:33.080 every tear is gonna be wiped away, 07:33.560 --> 07:35.660 all of the accusers of this world 07:35.660 --> 07:37.700 and the arch accuser Satan himself 07:37.700 --> 07:40.860 will ultimately be shut up and it'll be over 07:40.860 --> 07:42.320 and it's gonna be great, 07:42.680 --> 07:44.860 nothing could separate us from the love of God, 07:44.980 --> 07:46.400 you just gotta hang in there and understand 07:46.400 --> 07:48.960 that there's a time and a season for everything 07:49.680 --> 07:52.440 and that you might be going through a dark season 07:52.440 --> 07:55.820 or a dark time, but God has a plan, 07:55.960 --> 07:59.180 there's a reason and ultimately it's gonna work out great. 07:59.620 --> 08:01.820 Go back if you would to Ecclesiastes with that in mind. 08:02.000 --> 08:05.560 So we said number one, God has a plan and a purpose, 08:05.880 --> 08:08.100 although sometimes it might not feel that way, 08:08.300 --> 08:10.620 we might look around and just be confused 08:10.620 --> 08:13.540 and not understand, that's why the Bible's assuring us 08:13.540 --> 08:15.060 to everything there is a season 08:15.420 --> 08:18.900 and a time to every purpose under heaven. 08:19.060 --> 08:21.780 Your time will come, the end will come, 08:22.100 --> 08:25.140 this too shall pass is what the Bible's telling us here. 08:25.780 --> 08:29.160 So we go back to Ecclesiastes chapter number three 08:29.160 --> 08:31.640 and then he gets into some of the details here, 08:31.840 --> 08:36.040 he says a time to be born and a time to die, 08:36.560 --> 08:39.380 a time to plant and a time to pluck up that 08:39.380 --> 08:42.440 which is planted, a time to kill and a time to heal, 08:42.880 --> 08:45.160 a time to break down and a time to build up, 08:45.480 --> 08:47.240 a time to weep and a time to laugh, 08:47.560 --> 08:49.380 a time to mourn and a time to dance 08:49.380 --> 08:51.000 and what really stands out here 08:51.000 --> 08:54.340 is the positivity and the negativity, right? 08:54.340 --> 08:56.240 We think of being born is a good thing, 08:56.600 --> 08:59.140 dying is a bad thing, planting is good. 08:59.240 --> 09:01.720 I mean ripping up stuff that you've planted, right? 09:02.080 --> 09:05.640 Just tearing up and destroying crops that have been planted. 09:05.680 --> 09:06.940 It seems like you're moving backwards 09:07.660 --> 09:08.960 when you do something like that. 09:10.320 --> 09:13.320 Obviously you've got killing versus healing, 09:13.880 --> 09:15.960 breaking down versus building up, 09:16.140 --> 09:17.320 weeping versus laughing. 09:18.580 --> 09:20.540 And so one of the things that I wanna point out 09:20.540 --> 09:23.360 from this passage here is that number two, 09:23.360 --> 09:25.980 there are gonna be good times in life 09:25.980 --> 09:28.200 and there are gonna be bad times in life, right? 09:28.800 --> 09:30.120 There is just, it's inevitable. 09:31.020 --> 09:33.680 Nobody is having a good time all the time. 09:33.820 --> 09:35.680 I don't care what their social media says. 09:36.160 --> 09:38.880 I don't care what kind of a facade they put forth. 09:39.240 --> 09:41.520 No one is just happy and jovial 09:41.520 --> 09:42.900 and doing great every day. 09:43.180 --> 09:45.040 It's just not reality. 09:45.620 --> 09:47.560 There are gonna be good times in your life 09:47.560 --> 09:49.480 and there are gonna be bad times in your life. 09:49.680 --> 09:50.620 And you know the Bible says 09:50.620 --> 09:51.740 the good days and the bad days, 09:51.740 --> 09:54.080 God has set the one against the other. 09:54.260 --> 09:56.500 I often think about that when I have a really bad day, 09:56.560 --> 09:57.560 I always think to myself, you know, 09:57.560 --> 09:58.740 tomorrow's gonna be a good day 09:58.740 --> 10:01.600 because it seems to go back and forth a little bit. 10:01.800 --> 10:03.940 And if I have a really good day, you know, 10:04.100 --> 10:05.700 then I'm a little nervous about tomorrow 10:05.700 --> 10:08.580 because you know, that's the way life is. 10:08.840 --> 10:10.780 Is there gonna be good times and bad times? 10:11.000 --> 10:13.080 You're not just always gonna be planting 10:13.680 --> 10:16.320 and always healing and always building up 10:16.320 --> 10:18.320 and always laughing and always dancing. 10:18.480 --> 10:20.840 It's just not the world that we live in. 10:21.400 --> 10:21.840 Okay? 10:22.620 --> 10:23.720 And so it's unrealistic. 10:24.240 --> 10:26.120 And the reason why this point is so important 10:26.700 --> 10:29.540 is so that you don't get all disillusioned 10:29.540 --> 10:31.500 and upset and disappointed 10:32.020 --> 10:33.660 when your life isn't perfect 10:33.660 --> 10:34.980 and when you're not happy all the time. 10:35.840 --> 10:38.740 You just need to understand that reality going in 10:38.740 --> 10:40.020 so that you're not confused 10:40.660 --> 10:42.420 when things go poorly in your life. 10:42.660 --> 10:44.260 Go if you would to James chapter four. 10:44.320 --> 10:45.540 We're gonna come back to Ecclesiastes, 10:45.920 --> 10:48.140 but go if you would to James. 10:49.180 --> 10:50.760 So there are gonna be good times 10:51.200 --> 10:52.480 and there are gonna be bad times. 10:52.800 --> 10:53.880 This is the reality. 10:54.560 --> 10:56.620 You know, when I think about planting 10:56.620 --> 10:58.400 and plucking up that which is planted, 10:58.900 --> 11:00.920 you know, this is one of the most frustrating things 11:00.920 --> 11:04.060 in my life is when you experience like a setback. 11:04.600 --> 11:06.780 You know, because it's like we all have goals 11:06.780 --> 11:10.100 and projects and jobs that we're working on 11:10.100 --> 11:11.240 and trying to get things done. 11:11.640 --> 11:12.940 And then, you know, I think about 11:12.940 --> 11:14.220 when you do something wrong 11:14.820 --> 11:16.480 and then you have to redo it. 11:16.480 --> 11:18.240 You know, have you ever like installed something 11:18.240 --> 11:21.260 and then you have to tear it all out and redo it? 11:21.260 --> 11:23.700 This is the most frustrating thing in the world. 11:23.900 --> 11:25.520 You know, you get something all built 11:25.520 --> 11:27.440 and then you realize you screwed up something 11:27.440 --> 11:30.000 on like step one and then you have to go back 11:30.000 --> 11:31.800 and pluck up that which is planted 11:31.800 --> 11:36.780 and tear it all apart and undo that which you've done 11:36.780 --> 11:38.960 and go backward instead of forward. 11:39.140 --> 11:41.160 It's extremely frustrating in our lives, 11:41.200 --> 11:43.200 but this is something that we're all gonna experience 11:43.200 --> 11:44.720 in life, setbacks. 11:45.340 --> 11:48.000 It's never just gonna be always progress, 11:48.200 --> 11:50.780 always getting better, always improving. 11:50.960 --> 11:52.220 No, they're gonna be setbacks. 11:52.780 --> 11:54.800 I remember, you know, one time somebody was showing me 11:55.500 --> 11:58.640 this marriage book and on the back of the book 11:58.640 --> 12:01.260 the guy was saying, you know, if you follow 12:01.260 --> 12:04.240 my advice for marriage, you're just gonna have this, 12:04.460 --> 12:09.120 this super intense, amazing relationship with your spouse 12:09.120 --> 12:11.340 and then he just said it's just gonna keep getting 12:11.340 --> 12:13.120 more intense every single day. 12:13.620 --> 12:14.940 And I was just thinking to myself like, 12:15.040 --> 12:17.840 that doesn't sound realistic or sustainable. 12:18.820 --> 12:21.940 If this relationship just keeps getting more intense 12:21.940 --> 12:23.920 and just, it's just like, wow, eventually 12:23.920 --> 12:25.380 I guess you're just gonna explode. 12:26.020 --> 12:27.380 You know, like, what does that even mean? 12:28.440 --> 12:31.060 But the reality is, no, nothing's ever just gonna get 12:31.060 --> 12:33.420 better, better, better, better, better, better, better. 12:33.680 --> 12:35.760 It's just, it's just stupid to think that way. 12:36.180 --> 12:37.400 You know, and I was thinking about 12:37.400 --> 12:39.380 the history of our church and you look 12:39.380 --> 12:41.100 at the history of our church and you know, 12:41.140 --> 12:42.260 I was looking at different numbers, 12:42.260 --> 12:43.880 like you look at attendance numbers, 12:44.240 --> 12:45.820 you can look at salvation numbers, 12:46.400 --> 12:48.460 you can look at these different stats. 12:49.200 --> 12:52.540 And you know, it's never just gonna be a perfect curve 12:52.540 --> 12:54.320 of just growth and improvement. 12:54.780 --> 12:57.200 You know, there are gonna be certain years 12:57.200 --> 13:00.900 that you really just hit it out of the park best year ever, 13:01.220 --> 13:02.940 you know, and just have all these great results. 13:03.320 --> 13:07.380 But it's not like every year we have to top last year 13:07.380 --> 13:11.000 because if we had to top last year every single year, 13:11.000 --> 13:14.400 we'd get super frustrated and it was just, 13:14.420 --> 13:15.300 because it's just unrealistic. 13:16.460 --> 13:18.640 It's just dumb to go through life thinking 13:19.140 --> 13:21.960 all everything's gonna be better this year than last year. 13:22.100 --> 13:23.320 Well, probably not. 13:23.740 --> 13:25.620 There are gonna be good days, bad days, 13:25.740 --> 13:26.660 good years, bad years. 13:26.940 --> 13:28.200 There are gonna be improvements. 13:28.680 --> 13:29.940 There are gonna be setbacks. 13:30.460 --> 13:31.580 There are gonna be problems. 13:31.760 --> 13:32.800 It's just the way it is. 13:34.040 --> 13:35.260 And so we need to understand 13:35.260 --> 13:36.480 there are gonna be good times and bad times. 13:36.580 --> 13:37.920 And it is not God's will 13:38.440 --> 13:41.000 that we just be happy and joyful 13:41.000 --> 13:44.060 and enjoying all the time, only rejoicing. 13:44.160 --> 13:46.960 Look what the Bible says in James chapter four, verse eight. 13:47.100 --> 13:49.840 It says, draw an eye to God and he will draw an eye to you. 13:50.420 --> 13:51.700 Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, 13:52.340 --> 13:54.340 and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. 13:54.860 --> 13:57.640 Be afflicted and mourn and weep. 13:57.940 --> 13:59.820 Let your laughter be turned to mourning 13:59.820 --> 14:01.360 and your joy to heaviness. 14:01.740 --> 14:03.400 Humble yourselves on the side of the Lord 14:03.400 --> 14:04.580 and he shall lift you up. 14:04.580 --> 14:05.520 And so we see here 14:05.920 --> 14:07.580 that it's not gonna be all laughing. 14:07.860 --> 14:10.800 Sometimes it's more appropriate that we be weeping 14:11.160 --> 14:12.940 and crying and mourning than laughing. 14:13.480 --> 14:15.640 It's not just happy laughing every day. 14:15.960 --> 14:16.300 Why? 14:16.680 --> 14:19.940 Because the sadness and the sorrow and the mourning 14:19.940 --> 14:23.380 ultimately makes us a better person, right? 14:23.500 --> 14:24.640 The Bible's talking about here, 14:25.120 --> 14:27.360 cleansing your heart, purifying your heart, 14:27.560 --> 14:29.700 cleansing your hands, getting humble. 14:30.120 --> 14:31.080 If we were just happy 14:31.080 --> 14:32.440 and everything was going well all the time, 14:32.440 --> 14:34.860 we'd get too prideful, we'd get puffed up 14:34.860 --> 14:37.380 and we'd just be hashtag winning 14:38.000 --> 14:41.300 and just everything we touch turns to gold, right? 14:41.680 --> 14:44.140 This could cause us to become arrogant, prideful people. 14:44.440 --> 14:46.240 Go back if you would to Ecclesiastes chapter seven. 14:46.640 --> 14:50.060 So we need some setbacks, we need some sadness, 14:50.540 --> 14:53.280 we need some pain, we need some heartache 14:53.280 --> 14:57.040 in order to keep us humble and to purify us. 14:57.580 --> 14:59.940 Look what the Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter seven. 15:00.200 --> 15:01.700 So we're mainly in chapter three, 15:01.700 --> 15:04.220 but jump over to chapter seven. 15:04.280 --> 15:05.140 We'll get some of the same ideas. 15:05.280 --> 15:08.640 Verse one, a good name is better than precious ointment 15:09.020 --> 15:11.860 and the day of death, then the day of one's birth, right? 15:11.920 --> 15:13.600 There's a time to be born and a time to die. 15:13.680 --> 15:15.320 The Bible's saying, you know, in many ways 15:15.320 --> 15:19.160 the day of death is superior to the day of birth, right? 15:19.280 --> 15:22.820 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. 15:23.360 --> 15:25.660 Okay, look what the Bible says in verse number two. 15:25.760 --> 15:27.820 It says it's better to go to the house of mourning 15:28.400 --> 15:29.960 than to the house of feasting. 15:29.960 --> 15:31.600 For that is the end of all men 15:31.600 --> 15:33.100 and the living will lay it to his heart. 15:33.840 --> 15:35.700 Sorrow is better than laughter. 15:36.120 --> 15:38.220 For by the sadness of the countenance, 15:38.520 --> 15:41.160 the heart is made better, right? 15:41.360 --> 15:43.140 No pain, no gain. 15:43.960 --> 15:46.100 Not just physically, but even spiritually. 15:47.360 --> 15:50.640 The Bible says the heart of the wise 15:50.640 --> 15:51.800 is in the house of mourning, 15:52.260 --> 15:54.980 but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth, right? 15:55.180 --> 15:56.960 Idiots, bozos, dumb people, 15:56.960 --> 16:00.540 they just want to party and have fun all the time. 16:01.280 --> 16:02.520 They don't want to get serious. 16:03.140 --> 16:05.560 They don't want to go through anything negative 16:05.560 --> 16:08.800 or go through any sadness or sorrow or soul searching 16:08.800 --> 16:11.300 or tribulation or afflicting of the soul. 16:11.620 --> 16:14.540 They just want to just party and have fun all the time 16:15.000 --> 16:15.680 because they're idiots. 16:15.880 --> 16:16.760 That's what the Bible says. 16:17.420 --> 16:18.420 Look at verse number five. 16:18.540 --> 16:20.540 It's better to hear the rebuke of the wise 16:21.040 --> 16:23.460 than for a man to hear the song of fools. 16:24.160 --> 16:27.800 Fools, the singing here is a reference to, 16:28.000 --> 16:31.420 again, merry making, having fun, partying. 16:31.640 --> 16:32.920 They're in the house of mirth. 16:33.200 --> 16:35.980 It's just woo, they're singing and having fun. 16:36.520 --> 16:39.040 But it's better to hear the rebuke of the wise 16:39.420 --> 16:42.540 than for a man to hear the song of fools. 16:42.760 --> 16:44.800 Here's another word for the rebuke of the wise. 16:44.920 --> 16:46.580 How about the preaching of God's word? 16:47.080 --> 16:48.920 Because that's what preaching is, right? 16:49.000 --> 16:49.740 Preach the word. 16:50.800 --> 16:54.080 Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all-long suffering and doctrine. 16:54.360 --> 16:57.040 We'd rather hear the rebuke of God's word 16:57.040 --> 16:59.340 through preaching than to just, 16:59.560 --> 17:02.480 hey, let's just party and let's just listen 17:02.480 --> 17:06.740 to the song of fools and just sing and dance and happy. 17:07.040 --> 17:09.420 No, there's some negative things in life 17:09.420 --> 17:10.840 that we need to come to grips with 17:10.840 --> 17:12.000 and come to terms with 17:12.000 --> 17:13.960 and spend some time in the house of mourning. 17:14.580 --> 17:16.000 Not to be a downer or anything. 17:16.300 --> 17:17.580 We're not gonna call the church 17:17.580 --> 17:18.940 house of mourning Baptist, 17:20.320 --> 17:22.440 but if you did, I'd still go there. 17:23.980 --> 17:24.820 It says in verse six, 17:24.980 --> 17:27.820 for as the crackling of thorns under a pot, 17:28.520 --> 17:31.720 so is the laughter of the fool, this also is vanity. 17:32.140 --> 17:34.620 So if you think about thorns under a pot, 17:34.780 --> 17:38.900 if you make a fire and you put the pot over the fire 17:38.900 --> 17:41.240 and so you're cooking in the cauldron 17:41.240 --> 17:42.580 that's over the open fire. 17:43.000 --> 17:44.880 And if you think about the crackling of thorns 17:44.880 --> 17:46.840 under the pot, usually when we think 17:46.840 --> 17:49.540 of building a quality good fire, 17:50.000 --> 17:52.500 we wanna have like a log of wood in the fire, 17:52.620 --> 17:55.700 something that's thick and dense and serious 17:56.160 --> 17:57.920 and that has some substance to it, 17:58.160 --> 17:59.820 that's the thing that's just gonna burn 17:59.820 --> 18:02.340 for hours and hours and hours. 18:02.620 --> 18:04.240 Then ultimately it's gonna break apart 18:04.240 --> 18:08.440 and produce all of these glowing red hot coals 18:08.440 --> 18:10.520 that are useful to provide heat 18:10.520 --> 18:12.860 for hours and hours and hours, right? 18:13.200 --> 18:14.640 But then you have these other things 18:14.640 --> 18:15.260 that you could throw in, 18:15.260 --> 18:16.460 like for example, thorns, 18:17.240 --> 18:21.080 just this kind of like brush, weeds, dry weed, 18:21.460 --> 18:23.100 thorn, crunchy kind of stuff. 18:23.380 --> 18:26.280 And when you throw that crunchy stuff into the fire, 18:26.660 --> 18:27.940 it makes a popping sound, 18:28.080 --> 18:30.380 it's like a crackling and popping and pop, pop, pop, pop. 18:30.600 --> 18:33.160 And it also tends to flare up pretty quickly. 18:33.540 --> 18:34.400 So you throw that kind of, 18:34.520 --> 18:35.820 and this is the stuff that kids love 18:35.820 --> 18:36.680 to throw in the fire, right? 18:37.020 --> 18:39.040 Adults are out there looking for big piece of wood 18:39.040 --> 18:39.680 to put in the fire. 18:39.900 --> 18:40.820 And then the kids, 18:41.080 --> 18:43.900 they wanna throw in all of the crackling, 18:43.900 --> 18:45.800 popping, little crunchies, 18:46.080 --> 18:47.060 throwing them in the fire 18:47.060 --> 18:50.280 because they get more of an instant gratification out of it. 18:50.580 --> 18:53.120 So as the crackling of thorns under a pot, 18:53.400 --> 18:55.320 so is the laughter of the fool. 18:55.900 --> 18:57.080 This also is vanity. 18:57.240 --> 19:00.460 It's not really providing any real substance 19:00.460 --> 19:02.860 or heat or usefulness. 19:03.140 --> 19:03.840 It's more just like, 19:04.160 --> 19:05.480 pop, pop, pop, ha, ha, hey, 19:05.780 --> 19:06.460 and it's just over. 19:07.280 --> 19:08.260 And it's just gone 19:08.260 --> 19:11.300 because it's so empty and so vain 19:11.300 --> 19:13.820 and so worthless of a fuel. 19:14.360 --> 19:15.740 You know, it might be a little bit useful 19:15.740 --> 19:17.700 just to kind of get the fire started or something, 19:17.800 --> 19:19.000 but in the long run, 19:19.260 --> 19:23.320 that stuff is just a short-lived, quick burn, right? 19:23.460 --> 19:23.960 And here's the thing. 19:24.060 --> 19:27.380 The wise is a slow burn kind of a guy. 19:28.160 --> 19:30.800 You know, he's in it for the long haul. 19:30.980 --> 19:31.820 He's in it for years. 19:32.080 --> 19:32.820 He's in it for decades. 19:33.320 --> 19:34.100 He's serious. 19:34.680 --> 19:35.980 He's got a serious mentality. 19:36.420 --> 19:37.400 He's got substance. 19:38.120 --> 19:39.820 He's got something that he stands for, 19:39.820 --> 19:40.960 something that he believes, 19:41.420 --> 19:43.360 something big that he's doing for God, 19:43.820 --> 19:45.100 not just a little, 19:45.620 --> 19:47.740 whew, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, 19:47.980 --> 19:48.480 and then it's over. 19:49.780 --> 19:51.680 You know, the crackling of thorns under a pot 19:51.680 --> 19:53.060 so is the laughter of the fool. 19:53.840 --> 19:55.100 You know, it's just a worth, 19:55.300 --> 19:56.380 it makes a lot of noise, 19:56.980 --> 19:58.020 gets a lot of attention, 19:58.500 --> 20:01.640 but it doesn't really do anything meaningful that matters. 20:02.720 --> 20:03.520 Look at verse eight, 20:03.600 --> 20:05.120 better is the end of a thing 20:05.120 --> 20:06.960 than the beginning thereof 20:06.960 --> 20:08.700 and the patient in spirit 20:08.700 --> 20:10.720 is better than the proud in spirit. 20:10.960 --> 20:13.480 So going through those bad times, 20:13.580 --> 20:15.840 those hard times, it builds patience. 20:16.760 --> 20:18.280 It makes us humble 20:18.280 --> 20:20.220 so that we're not the proud in spirit. 20:20.480 --> 20:21.780 We're the patient in spirit 20:22.340 --> 20:23.900 and we understand that, 20:23.960 --> 20:25.280 hey, it's not all about beginnings, 20:25.740 --> 20:26.800 it's about ends. 20:27.580 --> 20:28.880 You know, and the day of death 20:28.880 --> 20:31.000 can be better than the day of one's birth. 20:31.440 --> 20:33.040 You know, especially if you're a saved Christian, 20:33.500 --> 20:34.600 death, where is thy sting? 20:35.260 --> 20:36.320 Grave, where is thy victory? 20:36.540 --> 20:37.220 You know, we're going to heaven. 20:37.500 --> 20:37.860 That's great. 20:37.860 --> 20:39.260 So we said, number one, 20:39.520 --> 20:41.280 God has a plan and a purpose. 20:41.580 --> 20:42.700 We said, number two, 20:43.060 --> 20:44.220 there are going to be good times 20:44.220 --> 20:46.140 and bad times along the road. 20:46.360 --> 20:48.340 Learn to embrace both. 20:48.600 --> 20:50.300 Learn to just accept the fact 20:50.300 --> 20:53.560 that it's not all going to be good times and fun 20:53.560 --> 20:55.060 and good vibes only. 20:55.520 --> 20:58.000 You know, there's going to be some bad vibes as well. 20:58.300 --> 21:00.640 And you know, I'm here for it. 21:01.020 --> 21:01.900 But number three, 21:02.700 --> 21:05.140 not everyone is going to be our friend. 21:05.920 --> 21:07.160 So look, God's got a plan. 21:07.160 --> 21:08.120 Don't worry about it. 21:08.200 --> 21:09.820 Number two, there's going to be good times and bad times. 21:10.160 --> 21:10.780 Well, guess what? 21:10.860 --> 21:12.520 There's going to be good people and bad people 21:12.520 --> 21:14.240 and not everybody's going to be your friend. 21:14.860 --> 21:17.340 And not everyone should be embraced as a friend. 21:17.920 --> 21:19.860 Look what the Bible says in verse five. 21:20.040 --> 21:21.740 It says, a time to cast away stones 21:22.260 --> 21:24.220 and a time to gather stones together. 21:25.000 --> 21:26.180 A time to embrace 21:26.920 --> 21:29.620 and a time to refrain from embracing. 21:30.320 --> 21:31.240 A time to get 21:31.640 --> 21:32.720 and a time to lose. 21:32.960 --> 21:33.680 A time to keep 21:33.680 --> 21:36.360 and a time to cast away. 21:36.360 --> 21:37.780 Now again, keep your finger here 21:37.780 --> 21:39.560 but go to 2 Corinthians chapter six. 21:39.820 --> 21:42.740 So trying to get along with everyone in this life 21:42.740 --> 21:43.980 is a fool's errand. 21:44.800 --> 21:48.260 Try to be everybody's buddy, everybody's friend. 21:48.600 --> 21:51.140 This is just as foolish as thinking you're going to be happy 21:51.140 --> 21:53.340 and having a good time every day. 21:53.620 --> 21:54.900 It's just not realistic. 21:55.560 --> 21:56.640 There are bad people. 21:57.020 --> 21:59.120 There are people that you should embrace. 21:59.580 --> 22:02.560 And there are people that you should refrain from embracing. 22:02.820 --> 22:04.740 And sometimes it could even be the same person. 22:04.740 --> 22:05.980 There could be a time to embrace 22:06.400 --> 22:08.040 and a time to refrain from embracing. 22:08.580 --> 22:12.420 You know, when that person goes and gets off the right path 22:12.420 --> 22:15.540 and gets into grievous sin becomes a wicked person. 22:15.920 --> 22:17.920 Sometimes people that were great people yesterday 22:18.300 --> 22:20.340 can be bad people tomorrow and vice versa. 22:21.900 --> 22:23.920 Unfortunately, sometimes great people 22:23.920 --> 22:25.320 don't always finish the course. 22:25.640 --> 22:27.420 They don't always make it to the finish line 22:27.420 --> 22:30.100 and they can become someone very wicked. 22:31.080 --> 22:33.960 Look at 2 Corinthians chapter six, verse 14 22:33.960 --> 22:36.220 and tell me if we should embrace every single person. 22:36.380 --> 22:37.020 You know, the Bible says, 22:37.180 --> 22:39.940 be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. 22:40.620 --> 22:43.800 For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? 22:43.860 --> 22:45.380 And another word for fellowship would be like, 22:45.500 --> 22:46.500 what do they have in common? 22:47.300 --> 22:48.780 Like what does righteousness have in common 22:48.780 --> 22:49.740 with unrighteousness? 22:50.460 --> 22:53.200 What communion hath light with darkness? 22:53.640 --> 22:55.580 What concord, right? 22:55.840 --> 22:57.720 Concord is like the opposite of discord. 22:58.940 --> 23:01.620 What concord hath Christ with Belial? 23:01.620 --> 23:04.800 Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 23:05.340 --> 23:08.180 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? 23:08.780 --> 23:10.680 For ye are the temple of the living God. 23:10.960 --> 23:13.500 As God had said, I will dwell in them and walk in them 23:13.500 --> 23:15.240 and I will be their God and they shall be my people. 23:15.640 --> 23:17.500 Wherefore come out from among them 23:17.500 --> 23:18.840 and be ye what? 23:19.520 --> 23:19.960 Separate. 23:21.660 --> 23:23.860 Sayeth the Lord and touch not the unclean thing 23:23.860 --> 23:27.180 and I will receive you and will be a father unto you 23:27.640 --> 23:29.320 and ye shall be my sons and daughters. 23:29.880 --> 23:31.320 Sayeth the Lord almighty. 23:31.320 --> 23:35.120 And so look, the Bible is saying that there are some people 23:35.540 --> 23:37.240 that we should not embrace. 23:37.960 --> 23:40.460 People that we should refrain from embracing 23:40.980 --> 23:44.260 and a time to refrain from embracing certain people. 23:44.680 --> 23:45.900 And you know what's interesting is he said, 23:46.000 --> 23:47.560 if you come out from among them and be separate, 23:47.680 --> 23:49.380 sayeth the Lord and touch not the unclean thing, 23:49.760 --> 23:52.540 I'll receive you, I'll be a father unto you 23:52.540 --> 23:54.120 and ye shall be my sons and daughters. 23:54.360 --> 23:55.400 Sayeth the Lord God almighty. 23:55.520 --> 23:58.540 Because here's the thing, sometimes the people 23:59.180 --> 24:02.320 that we tend to not wanna let go of 24:02.320 --> 24:05.220 that are bad people, wicked people, 24:05.400 --> 24:06.520 harmful people in our lives, 24:06.940 --> 24:08.880 ultimately are sometimes family members. 24:09.600 --> 24:11.560 You know, and it's like, man, I don't wanna give up 24:11.560 --> 24:14.360 my relationship with this family member, 24:14.660 --> 24:17.960 but if they're super evil, super harmful, 24:18.780 --> 24:22.580 super just detrimental to your Christian life, 24:22.780 --> 24:25.240 if they're a first Corinthians five kind of person 24:25.580 --> 24:27.500 or somebody that the Bible is telling us 24:27.500 --> 24:29.320 that we should avoid and stay away from, 24:30.140 --> 24:33.400 and what God is saying is if you end up having to give up 24:33.900 --> 24:37.120 those kind of relationships, God's saying, 24:37.460 --> 24:39.280 I'll be that person in your life. 24:39.900 --> 24:42.400 I'll receive you, I'll be a father unto you. 24:42.880 --> 24:46.320 I will be your brother, I will be your friend. 24:47.140 --> 24:49.480 Because again, sometimes we're gonna end up 24:49.480 --> 24:52.400 having to give up friends and give up family members. 24:53.080 --> 24:54.200 This is what the Bible says. 24:54.360 --> 24:56.400 And I mean, Jesus talked about this very specifically. 24:56.940 --> 25:00.200 He said, anybody who gives up for my sake 25:00.200 --> 25:04.160 and for the Gospels, and then he lists off family members 25:04.160 --> 25:07.180 and brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers, 25:07.520 --> 25:11.520 different relationships that ultimately are harmed 25:12.120 --> 25:14.840 by you living for God and serving Christ 25:14.840 --> 25:15.480 and going to church. 25:15.660 --> 25:18.580 And again, you'd think, well, how could anybody 25:18.580 --> 25:21.280 be upset about me serving God, going to church? 25:21.520 --> 25:23.640 Wouldn't all my friends and family just be glad 25:23.640 --> 25:24.940 that I'm not going to the bar 25:24.940 --> 25:25.960 and getting drunk every night? 25:25.960 --> 25:28.280 Wouldn't they just be glad that I'm going to church 25:28.280 --> 25:30.040 three times a week and reading my Bible, 25:30.380 --> 25:32.980 living a clean life, being faithful to my wife, 25:33.440 --> 25:35.620 or in a woman's case, faithful to her husband? 25:36.520 --> 25:39.040 You'd think that people would see this 25:39.040 --> 25:40.480 and say, hey, good for you, buddy. 25:41.440 --> 25:44.240 Even if I'm not there, hey, I'm just glad 25:44.240 --> 25:46.820 that you're living such a clean and right life. 25:46.940 --> 25:48.100 No, that's not the way it works. 25:49.260 --> 25:52.360 No, the Bible says that you're gonna be hated 25:52.860 --> 25:54.680 of all nations for my name's sake. 25:55.220 --> 25:58.040 The Bible says if the world hates you, 25:58.120 --> 25:59.820 know that it hated me before it hated you. 26:00.840 --> 26:03.920 And so unfortunately, Cain killed Abel 26:03.920 --> 26:05.300 because his own works were evil 26:05.300 --> 26:06.340 and his brothers were righteous. 26:07.000 --> 26:09.920 And so there are gonna be rotten people 26:10.440 --> 26:13.160 who try to hold you back and try to prevent you 26:13.160 --> 26:15.260 from serving God, try to corrupt you, 26:15.700 --> 26:17.180 try to hurt you, try to ruin you. 26:17.480 --> 26:19.180 And you know what, trying to just embrace 26:19.180 --> 26:22.060 every single one of these people is just wrong. 26:22.060 --> 26:23.200 There's a time to embrace, 26:23.300 --> 26:24.440 it's time to refrain from embracing. 26:25.380 --> 26:28.400 Now look, we should always try to overcome evil with good 26:29.080 --> 26:31.640 and we should always try, if possible, 26:31.980 --> 26:33.820 to live peaceably with all men. 26:34.200 --> 26:36.480 And the more people that we can get along with, 26:36.640 --> 26:39.080 the better, the more of our family members 26:39.080 --> 26:41.120 we can have a good relationship with, the better. 26:41.420 --> 26:42.540 We should be a peacemaker, 26:42.780 --> 26:44.240 we should be striving for those things, 26:44.460 --> 26:46.560 but ultimately we have to understand 26:46.560 --> 26:50.900 that this is impossible to get along with everyone. 26:50.900 --> 26:52.640 It's just not possible. 26:53.180 --> 26:55.360 And there's a time for this and a time for that. 26:55.840 --> 26:59.320 Let me give you a few more verses on this from Proverbs. 26:59.580 --> 27:02.400 You can go back to Ecclesiastes, 27:02.920 --> 27:05.180 but it says, for example, in Proverbs 14.7, 27:05.820 --> 27:07.720 go from the presence of a foolish man 27:07.720 --> 27:09.800 when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge. 27:11.640 --> 27:14.340 Proverbs 13.20, he that walketh with wise men 27:14.340 --> 27:17.720 shall be wise, but a companion of fools 27:17.720 --> 27:18.960 shall be destroyed. 27:19.860 --> 27:22.220 You surround yourself by idiots, 27:22.800 --> 27:24.440 you're just a companion of fools, 27:24.960 --> 27:26.660 you're just surrounded by bozos, 27:27.020 --> 27:29.000 you're gonna end up getting destroyed. 27:29.700 --> 27:32.420 You wanna walk with the wise so that you can be wise. 27:32.840 --> 27:34.220 What does the Bible say in Ephesians 5? 27:34.360 --> 27:37.840 Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, 27:38.120 --> 27:40.940 but rather reprove them for it is a shame 27:40.940 --> 27:42.140 even to speak of those things 27:42.140 --> 27:43.240 which are done of them in secret. 27:43.600 --> 27:44.800 And let me just say this right now. 27:44.800 --> 27:48.380 If you have a family member who is a reprobate, 27:49.120 --> 27:50.880 I'm saying if you have a family member 27:50.880 --> 27:51.760 that's a homosexual, 27:52.560 --> 27:55.100 if you have a family member that's a pedophile, 27:55.520 --> 27:58.200 or some other just horrible wicked reprobate, 27:58.420 --> 28:01.680 you should completely cut that person out of your life 28:01.680 --> 28:04.420 and have nothing to do with them ever again. 28:05.340 --> 28:08.820 Why would you wanna have this evil, toxic, 28:08.940 --> 28:09.920 corrupt person? 28:10.120 --> 28:11.780 And it's like, oh yeah, but you know, 28:11.900 --> 28:13.020 we're just gonna show the love of Christ. 28:13.020 --> 28:16.680 The Bible says God gave them over to a reprobate mind. 28:17.320 --> 28:19.400 God gave them up unto uncleanness. 28:19.660 --> 28:21.460 God gave them up, God gave them over, 28:21.560 --> 28:22.520 but you're not gonna give up. 28:23.160 --> 28:25.520 Folks, when God gave up, it's time for you to give up. 28:27.660 --> 28:30.260 But again, we've been brainwashed our whole lives. 28:30.680 --> 28:31.800 There's good in everyone. 28:32.400 --> 28:33.660 Everyone can be fixed. 28:33.900 --> 28:35.480 Everyone can be salvaged, my friend. 28:35.900 --> 28:37.400 Unfortunately, that's not the case. 28:37.540 --> 28:40.400 The Bible says reprobate, silver, shall men call them 28:40.400 --> 28:43.520 because the Lord has rejected them. 28:44.000 --> 28:46.600 There are people that God has rejected. 28:47.160 --> 28:50.940 And at that point, it's time for us to walk away and move on. 28:51.440 --> 28:54.960 And unfortunately, people will just have these horrible 28:54.960 --> 28:57.420 haters of God in their lives. 28:57.620 --> 28:58.780 Just people who just absolutely, 28:59.060 --> 29:00.280 I'm not just talking about unsaved people. 29:00.340 --> 29:02.060 I'm talking about people who hate God. 29:02.900 --> 29:05.580 I'm talking about pervert predators. 29:05.920 --> 29:07.700 And those have these people in their life 29:07.700 --> 29:08.980 because they just feel like, 29:08.980 --> 29:10.820 well, we just never give up on anyone. 29:11.420 --> 29:12.220 Well, good luck with that. 29:12.380 --> 29:13.660 I'm gonna go with what the Bible says, 29:14.260 --> 29:16.440 that there are certain people that, 29:16.940 --> 29:19.120 it's a shame to even speak of what they do in secret. 29:19.340 --> 29:20.420 We need to reprove them. 29:20.600 --> 29:21.420 We need to rebuke. 29:21.800 --> 29:23.300 We need to avoid them. 29:23.800 --> 29:26.660 We do not need to have fellowship and concord 29:26.660 --> 29:27.660 with every single person. 29:27.820 --> 29:28.760 That's not what the Bible says. 29:30.040 --> 29:31.380 Which leads me to my next point. 29:32.060 --> 29:34.620 Number four, there are times when fighting is necessary 29:35.060 --> 29:35.620 in life. 29:35.720 --> 29:38.340 There are times when fighting is necessary. 29:38.340 --> 29:40.500 We said, number one, God's got a plan. 29:40.640 --> 29:42.900 Number two, there are gonna be good times and bad times. 29:43.120 --> 29:45.220 Number three, not everybody's gonna be our friend. 29:45.280 --> 29:46.380 We don't embrace everybody. 29:47.000 --> 29:50.440 Number four, there are times when fighting is necessary. 29:50.980 --> 29:52.000 What does the Bible say? 29:52.440 --> 29:54.160 In Ecclesiastes three, seven, 29:54.240 --> 29:55.280 there's a time to rend. 29:55.920 --> 29:58.840 That means like to tear apart and a time to sow. 29:59.640 --> 30:01.720 A time to keep silence and a time to speak. 30:02.240 --> 30:05.220 A time to love and a time to hate. 30:05.660 --> 30:09.560 A time of war and a time of peace. 30:10.860 --> 30:15.120 So there's a time for fighting and there's a time for peace. 30:15.440 --> 30:16.900 We can't just go through our life thinking 30:16.900 --> 30:20.820 we can just have 100% peace with every person 30:20.820 --> 30:23.100 and with every group all the time. 30:23.560 --> 30:26.500 Unfortunately, it is sometimes necessary 30:26.500 --> 30:28.560 in the Christian life for us to fight. 30:28.700 --> 30:30.300 Now, it's never gonna be necessary 30:30.300 --> 30:32.720 for us to be involved in a physical fight. 30:33.280 --> 30:35.540 We wrestle not against flesh and blood, 30:35.860 --> 30:38.520 but against principalities, against powers, 30:39.140 --> 30:41.540 against the rulers of the darkness of this world, 30:41.820 --> 30:43.900 against spiritual wickedness in high places. 30:44.040 --> 30:45.680 So we're not talking about a physical fight. 30:46.020 --> 30:47.980 The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, 30:48.020 --> 30:49.320 the Bible says, they're spiritual. 30:49.840 --> 30:52.260 So it's a spiritual fight, it's a spiritual battle, 30:52.560 --> 30:55.420 but there are gonna be times when fighting is necessary. 30:55.720 --> 30:57.540 There's a time of war and a time of peace. 30:57.660 --> 31:00.260 Now, it's funny, there's a popular hit song 31:00.260 --> 31:04.660 in the 1960s whose lyrics are basically this chapter. 31:04.880 --> 31:05.660 Who knows what I'm talking about? 31:05.740 --> 31:08.560 Put up your hand, all you old fogies out there. 31:08.940 --> 31:09.900 All right, just kidding, 31:10.000 --> 31:12.180 because I grew up with song, everybody knows song. 31:12.520 --> 31:18.760 To everything, turn, turn, turn, there is a cease 31:18.760 --> 31:19.720 and it goes through all this. 31:20.100 --> 31:23.580 A time to be born, a time to die 31:23.580 --> 31:24.980 and it goes through and lists all this. 31:25.220 --> 31:26.840 But what's funny is when it gets to the very end, 31:27.000 --> 31:29.260 it's listing everything and saying time to run, 31:29.260 --> 31:29.980 time to sew. 31:30.360 --> 31:32.460 It's pretty much just verbatim from the King James. 31:32.820 --> 31:34.860 But then it's funny, the one thing it leaves out 31:34.860 --> 31:35.940 is the time of war. 31:37.640 --> 31:42.180 And probably just because it's like the 1960s 31:42.180 --> 31:44.400 and there's kind of an anti-war sentiment 31:44.840 --> 31:47.000 and people are thinking about the Vietnam War 31:47.000 --> 31:47.660 and stuff like that. 31:47.820 --> 31:49.020 It's like, okay, I get that. 31:49.400 --> 31:51.200 The problems with Vietnam and everything like that. 31:51.520 --> 31:52.700 But at the end of the day though, 31:53.420 --> 31:54.440 God's word is God's word. 31:54.640 --> 31:56.980 So what they do is they change the lyrics of the song 31:56.980 --> 31:59.080 at the end, instead of saying a time of war 31:59.080 --> 31:59.600 and a time of peace. 31:59.760 --> 32:02.160 It says, a time for peace. 32:02.660 --> 32:05.580 I swear it's not too late. 32:06.040 --> 32:09.560 So it adds this idea of like, hey man, 32:09.880 --> 32:11.600 we can still just have peace. 32:12.840 --> 32:15.860 Well, unfortunately, that's not the way the world works. 32:17.460 --> 32:20.320 And obviously, I don't wanna get into a political thing 32:20.820 --> 32:24.920 or especially not the geopolitics of the 1960s and 70s 32:24.920 --> 32:26.820 because it's not really that relevant. 32:27.600 --> 32:28.780 50-some years later. 32:29.280 --> 32:30.320 But at the end of the day, 32:30.620 --> 32:33.840 obviously the Soviet Union was super evil. 32:34.740 --> 32:36.440 Communism was super evil. 32:37.380 --> 32:39.780 And obviously there are disagreements 32:39.780 --> 32:42.520 about how it should have been handled like, 32:42.680 --> 32:44.380 hey, maybe we shouldn't have teamed up with them 32:44.380 --> 32:47.360 in the first place and teamed up with Joseph Stalin. 32:47.900 --> 32:51.220 But anyway, there are obviously all kinds of disagreements 32:51.220 --> 32:53.660 about how to deal with it. 32:53.760 --> 32:55.660 But at the end of the day, it's evil. 32:56.280 --> 32:58.020 The Soviet Union was evil. 32:58.500 --> 32:59.940 Communism was evil. 33:01.100 --> 33:03.920 The communist China is evil. 33:04.480 --> 33:05.980 North Korea is evil. 33:06.340 --> 33:09.980 This is a wicked, satanic evil ideology 33:09.980 --> 33:15.120 responsible for tens of millions of people being killed. 33:15.380 --> 33:16.240 And at the end of the day, 33:16.480 --> 33:19.120 that's not the only wicked ideology in this world. 33:19.300 --> 33:21.040 That's not the only wicked group of people. 33:21.040 --> 33:24.560 Unfortunately, this world is filled 33:24.560 --> 33:29.020 with evil, violent, wicked, horrible people, 33:29.360 --> 33:32.460 horrible groups of people, horrible governments, 33:33.000 --> 33:35.560 evil agendas that are out there. 33:35.800 --> 33:39.120 And so there is never going to be world peace 33:39.120 --> 33:40.600 until Christ returns. 33:42.420 --> 33:45.520 You know, obviously you can debate each battle 33:45.520 --> 33:48.340 and each war and each situation 33:48.340 --> 33:52.460 and decide what the US's involvement should or shouldn't be. 33:52.780 --> 33:53.500 But at the end of the day, 33:53.780 --> 33:55.460 you will not have world peace 33:55.460 --> 33:57.160 until the Lord Jesus Christ returns. 33:57.780 --> 33:59.660 There is fighting everywhere. 33:59.960 --> 34:02.280 You know, from whence come wars and fighting among you? 34:02.760 --> 34:04.560 Come they not, hence even of your lust, 34:04.780 --> 34:05.580 that war in your members? 34:05.900 --> 34:09.820 As long as there are sinful, greedy, lustful men, 34:10.220 --> 34:12.340 the love of money is the root of all evil 34:12.740 --> 34:15.220 and there will be fighting, there will be war. 34:15.760 --> 34:17.140 And you know, there's never a time 34:17.140 --> 34:18.400 when war isn't going on in this world. 34:18.460 --> 34:19.320 I don't know if you don't know that. 34:19.780 --> 34:21.700 But you might think, oh, you know, 34:21.940 --> 34:24.900 the US isn't at war or Europe's not at war. 34:25.280 --> 34:26.960 So ergo, there's no war going on. 34:27.060 --> 34:29.880 But like in Africa, there's always a war going on. 34:30.600 --> 34:32.700 You know, or other places in the Middle East, 34:32.820 --> 34:34.080 there's just always a war going on. 34:34.120 --> 34:35.800 There's just all these little war lords 34:35.800 --> 34:37.620 and all these different fights 34:37.620 --> 34:40.520 that we may not necessarily have a stake in 34:40.520 --> 34:41.660 or worry too much about. 34:41.780 --> 34:43.640 So we're not watching it on the news every night. 34:43.840 --> 34:45.900 You know, child soldiers in Africa 34:45.900 --> 34:48.760 going around killing people and being killed and stuff. 34:49.060 --> 34:51.200 Look, the world's a messed up place. 34:51.920 --> 34:52.760 The world's a dark place. 34:52.920 --> 34:54.340 You know, it's the anti-Christ 34:54.900 --> 34:57.140 who's gonna seek to bring world peace 34:57.140 --> 35:00.540 without Christianity, without the Lord Jesus Christ, 35:00.820 --> 35:02.680 without the truth of the word of God. 35:02.900 --> 35:05.780 He's gonna try to bring in peace his own way. 35:06.000 --> 35:07.940 But no, there's not really gonna be peace on earth 35:07.940 --> 35:09.740 until the Lord Jesus Christ returns. 35:12.200 --> 35:14.680 You know, when they shall say peace and safety, 35:14.680 --> 35:16.960 sudden destruction will come upon them, the Bible says. 35:17.500 --> 35:20.600 And so what we have to understand is that, you know, 35:20.820 --> 35:23.760 there is a time of war and a time of peace. 35:23.980 --> 35:26.700 We can't just say, you know, oh, it's just peace, man. 35:26.800 --> 35:29.540 It's just a time of peace and I swear it's not too late. 35:29.920 --> 35:32.100 We can just have a time of peace 35:32.100 --> 35:33.780 and we can just fix everything. 35:34.180 --> 35:35.880 Well, yeah, you know, there will be a time 35:35.880 --> 35:37.860 of total world peace when Christ returns. 35:38.480 --> 35:39.980 Okay, but until then, 35:40.660 --> 35:42.040 sometimes we're gonna be at peace, 35:42.760 --> 35:43.840 sometimes we're gonna be at war. 35:44.200 --> 35:46.620 Now, and like I said, in the world somewhere, 35:46.840 --> 35:50.320 someone is fighting a war every day, 365 days a year. 35:50.540 --> 35:53.920 But I'm saying as far as for us as, you know, 35:54.040 --> 35:56.560 just Christians, Americans, you know, 35:56.740 --> 35:57.740 living in Arizona, whatever, 35:58.140 --> 36:00.000 there are gonna be times when we have peace 36:00.420 --> 36:02.320 and there are gonna be times when war is necessary. 36:02.700 --> 36:04.460 But back to the spiritual application 36:05.060 --> 36:07.500 is there's gonna be some spiritual fighting, 36:07.880 --> 36:10.040 some spiritual battles that need to be fought, 36:10.180 --> 36:12.600 meaning that the pastor can't just get up 36:12.600 --> 36:14.920 and only preach positive sermons all the time 36:14.920 --> 36:17.300 and never call out any false prophets, 36:17.520 --> 36:19.280 never call out any false doctrine, 36:19.680 --> 36:20.900 never rebuke anyone. 36:21.820 --> 36:23.340 It's just not real. 36:24.160 --> 36:27.740 There's a time of war and a time of peace. 36:28.660 --> 36:29.900 And so there's gonna be fighting. 36:30.260 --> 36:31.520 And look, here's the thing. 36:31.720 --> 36:34.700 Within the church, we strive to keep the unity 36:35.480 --> 36:37.600 and we strive to have unity and peace. 36:37.860 --> 36:38.320 And you know what? 36:38.380 --> 36:40.800 In order to have unity and peace in this church, 36:40.800 --> 36:44.520 sometimes it is necessary to throw someone out of the church 36:45.200 --> 36:48.460 in order to foster unity and peace, okay? 36:49.600 --> 36:51.800 And a lot of people are offended by that doctrine, 36:51.800 --> 36:56.020 but it's clearly spelled out in 1 Corinthians chapter five 36:56.020 --> 36:58.640 that there are certain sins that get you ejected 36:58.640 --> 37:03.060 from the local congregation, one of which is Rayleigh, 37:03.400 --> 37:05.360 which is the person who just goes around 37:05.360 --> 37:09.840 just making outlandish, wild accusations against people, 37:09.840 --> 37:13.880 no evidence, no proof, there's never any meat on the bone, 37:14.060 --> 37:16.940 but they're just constantly calling out this person 37:16.940 --> 37:19.620 and that person and trashing people's reputations 37:19.620 --> 37:22.680 and gossiping and backbiting and so forth. 37:23.020 --> 37:23.860 You know, those kind of people, 37:24.200 --> 37:29.240 you can't have a peaceful, productive, good church 37:29.240 --> 37:30.400 with those kind of people around. 37:31.100 --> 37:32.380 You know, the person like that, 37:32.540 --> 37:35.460 you try to correct them, you approve them, 37:35.840 --> 37:37.880 you try to fix them, and you know what? 37:37.880 --> 37:40.720 If they don't get it, eventually, you gotta just toss them. 37:40.860 --> 37:41.840 You just gotta throw them out. 37:42.540 --> 37:44.740 You gotta just remove the cancer at some point. 37:45.200 --> 37:46.900 You know, and then everybody feels so bad, 37:47.240 --> 37:49.900 oh, it's so terrible, it's so sad, you know what? 37:50.140 --> 37:53.260 But this is why we need somebody to run the church 37:53.260 --> 37:56.260 who has a sense of some cold, hard justice 37:57.060 --> 37:59.880 and doesn't just get emotional and just say, 37:59.980 --> 38:02.300 oh, well, we just have to be nice to everybody, 38:02.540 --> 38:05.140 we can't throw anybody out, we can't fight anybody. 38:05.140 --> 38:10.120 Look, justice has to be blind, and it has to be cold, 38:10.720 --> 38:12.520 and it has to be sometimes harsh, 38:13.260 --> 38:16.360 but unfortunately, there's a time for that. 38:16.420 --> 38:17.560 Now, there's a time for warmth, 38:17.940 --> 38:20.480 there's a time for compassion, there's a time for mercy, 38:20.940 --> 38:22.840 there's a time for letting things go 38:22.840 --> 38:25.040 and turning the other cheek and so forth, 38:25.260 --> 38:27.280 but then there's also a time of war. 38:28.020 --> 38:29.320 It's a time when you, and look, 38:30.260 --> 38:32.620 especially when the church is in a time of war, 38:33.110 --> 38:34.380 you better be on the Lord's side. 38:35.380 --> 38:38.820 You go sympathizing with the devil when we're at war. 38:39.520 --> 38:41.300 You've got to be on the right side, 38:41.420 --> 38:42.500 you've got to be on the Lord's side. 38:42.980 --> 38:44.300 And this leaves me to my next point, 38:45.260 --> 38:48.140 which is number five, because we said number four, 38:48.240 --> 38:49.440 there are times when fighting is necessary. 38:49.840 --> 38:53.040 Number five is we can't fight every battle 38:53.040 --> 38:54.520 and right every wrong. 38:55.160 --> 38:57.180 So every time is not a time of war 38:57.180 --> 38:59.720 because there's also a time of peace, okay? 38:59.720 --> 39:02.440 We cannot right every wrong in this world. 39:02.620 --> 39:05.120 And when you're young, when you're a child, 39:05.360 --> 39:08.060 when you're a teenager, at least this is how I felt 39:08.060 --> 39:10.380 and I think a lot of children and teenagers feel this way, 39:10.740 --> 39:14.540 they're gonna grow up and just fix the world, right? 39:14.720 --> 39:16.480 It's like, we're gonna fix church, 39:16.900 --> 39:18.680 we're gonna fix Independent Fundamental Baptist, 39:19.080 --> 39:22.060 we're gonna fix Christianity, we're gonna fix America, 39:22.700 --> 39:23.840 we're gonna fix the world. 39:24.100 --> 39:25.000 I mean, look, this is how, 39:25.140 --> 39:26.660 when you start out this way, 39:26.660 --> 39:29.120 thinking that you're gonna right every wrong. 39:29.540 --> 39:32.180 And unfortunately, this mentality can lead 39:32.180 --> 39:34.980 to a lot of stupid bickering and fussing around the house 39:34.980 --> 39:36.600 because basically the kids, 39:36.700 --> 39:39.560 because they have this mentality of fix everything, 39:40.020 --> 39:41.360 it's like they can't let anything go. 39:41.460 --> 39:44.520 So their sibling makes a mistake, says something wrong, 39:44.960 --> 39:47.060 does something wrong, and it's just like, 39:47.300 --> 39:49.160 they just have to die on that hill 39:49.800 --> 39:53.080 of correcting their sibling, or even worse yet, 39:53.160 --> 39:55.340 correcting their parent or something like that 39:55.340 --> 39:57.900 because they just are so right 39:57.900 --> 39:59.660 and they have to prove that they're right 39:59.660 --> 40:01.980 and they have to win every battle and so forth. 40:01.980 --> 40:05.100 And this can lead to just a lot of fighting and fussing. 40:05.380 --> 40:07.720 Instead of just maybe one of your siblings 40:07.720 --> 40:10.760 says something a little wrong or does something wrong 40:10.760 --> 40:12.500 and you just don't, how about you just don't say anything? 40:14.360 --> 40:16.440 Because you don't have to fix every problem 40:16.440 --> 40:17.500 and right every wrong. 40:17.760 --> 40:19.760 Look what the Bible says in verse number seven. 40:19.960 --> 40:22.040 It says a time to random, a time to so, 40:22.040 --> 40:27.520 a time to keep silence and a time to speak. 40:27.680 --> 40:30.360 You don't always have to weigh in on every subject. 40:30.600 --> 40:32.540 What if I told you, you could have a conversation 40:32.540 --> 40:34.860 with someone, someone says something that's incorrect 40:35.440 --> 40:37.240 and you just don't correct them? 40:39.500 --> 40:40.020 Right? 40:40.400 --> 40:41.220 You just keep going. 40:41.680 --> 40:43.520 Now look, there's a time to speak. 40:43.760 --> 40:45.060 There are some times when no, 40:45.160 --> 40:48.340 you shouldn't just sit idly by and silent by 40:48.340 --> 40:51.040 while somebody is saying something horrible 40:51.040 --> 40:53.640 or blasphemous or wrong or whatever. 40:53.960 --> 40:56.800 There's a time when it's appropriate to step in and say something. 40:57.200 --> 40:59.280 Part of this also is depending on who you're dealing with 40:59.280 --> 41:01.140 because the Bible says not to give that 41:01.140 --> 41:02.460 which is holy under the dogs 41:02.460 --> 41:04.920 or to cast your pearls before swine 41:05.480 --> 41:07.380 lest they trample them under their feet 41:07.380 --> 41:08.460 and turn again and rend you. 41:08.720 --> 41:09.540 You accomplish nothing. 41:10.200 --> 41:13.080 The Bible says you reprove a scorn or you just get a blot. 41:14.980 --> 41:17.120 You rebuke a wise man, he'll love you. 41:17.650 --> 41:22.000 You reprove a scorn or and you just end up suffering 41:22.000 --> 41:23.560 and you accomplish nothing. 41:24.300 --> 41:26.560 So, you know, we don't always have to correct, 41:26.880 --> 41:29.160 have you ever talked to someone who just corrects 41:29.160 --> 41:30.120 everything that you say? 41:30.340 --> 41:31.720 It could be kind of annoying 41:32.300 --> 41:34.440 when someone's just super pedantic, 41:35.140 --> 41:37.140 constantly correcting your grammar, 41:37.660 --> 41:40.780 constantly correcting every word out of your mouth, 41:41.140 --> 41:43.240 every little factual detail that's like, 41:43.300 --> 41:45.140 like the spirit of what you're saying is right 41:45.140 --> 41:47.640 but they just wanna just be super pedantic 41:47.640 --> 41:48.760 and correct every little thing. 41:48.820 --> 41:49.520 It can be annoying. 41:50.860 --> 41:53.140 If you're that kind of a person, you can annoy people. 41:53.820 --> 41:55.620 It's also gonna be frustrating for you 41:55.620 --> 41:57.280 just trying to just right every wrong. 41:58.640 --> 42:00.480 You know, you gotta choose your battles 42:00.480 --> 42:01.180 is what I'm saying. 42:01.920 --> 42:02.820 Choose your battles. 42:02.980 --> 42:05.400 You kinda decide like, what's important to you? 42:05.880 --> 42:07.660 What hill are you willing to die on? 42:07.960 --> 42:08.960 What's the most important thing? 42:09.100 --> 42:11.540 And it's gonna change from situation to situation. 42:11.820 --> 42:13.240 And what's the whole message of this, 42:13.780 --> 42:15.580 you know, scripture and Ecclesiastes anyway, 42:16.000 --> 42:19.960 is that look, life is a bunch of different situations 42:19.960 --> 42:23.240 and certain things are appropriate in one situation 42:23.240 --> 42:24.040 and not another. 42:24.300 --> 42:25.600 You gotta have the discernment. 42:25.900 --> 42:27.700 First of all, life's gonna throw things at you 42:27.700 --> 42:30.220 and you just realize, hey, this part of God's plan, 42:30.480 --> 42:32.000 some of it's good, some of it's bad, 42:32.480 --> 42:35.180 hey, I'm in a situation, sometimes I should act, 42:35.320 --> 42:36.400 sometimes I should not act. 42:36.700 --> 42:39.680 You know, you gotta use discernment about life 42:39.680 --> 42:42.960 and what's going on and what is right and what is wrong 42:42.960 --> 42:46.180 because you can't fight every battle and right every wrong. 42:46.340 --> 42:47.460 There's a time to keep silence. 42:48.000 --> 42:49.960 Go through it to Matthew chapter five. 42:50.260 --> 42:51.540 Matthew chapter five. 42:52.780 --> 42:56.700 Not just correcting every single person every time. 43:00.460 --> 43:01.600 Now, here's the thing. 43:02.160 --> 43:05.480 You know, for example, when we have the preaching class 43:06.140 --> 43:08.580 or later in November when we have the preaching boot camp, 43:08.580 --> 43:11.360 we're definitely gonna be doing a lot of correcting people 43:11.360 --> 43:13.760 because the way that you learn is you get corrected. 43:14.080 --> 43:17.180 You go to a boxing gym and they're gonna tell you 43:17.180 --> 43:19.260 what you're doing with your form that's wrong 43:19.260 --> 43:21.040 and they're gonna help you fix it. 43:21.300 --> 43:24.640 If they just smile, hey, doing great, keep going, 43:24.880 --> 43:26.240 you're not really gonna learn much. 43:26.620 --> 43:29.660 If your piano teacher's just always praising your performance 43:29.660 --> 43:31.440 and never telling you about the mistakes, 43:31.920 --> 43:33.000 you're not gonna improve. 43:33.900 --> 43:34.720 Okay, but you know what? 43:34.720 --> 43:38.240 I remember I had a piano teacher 43:38.240 --> 43:41.280 who basically just told me that everything I was doing 43:41.280 --> 43:44.660 is wrong and just giving me just lists of things 43:44.660 --> 43:48.140 that are wrong, just pointing out every dumb little thing 43:48.140 --> 43:50.040 that's just not absolutely perfect, 43:50.420 --> 43:53.840 that I'm not just some expert concert pianist 43:53.840 --> 43:55.920 in every single movement of my body 43:55.920 --> 43:58.780 and just pointing out like basically, 44:00.020 --> 44:02.420 I'm playing the piano, I'm like hitting the iceberg 44:02.880 --> 44:07.120 in the Titanic when it comes to how bad I'm doing on a song 44:07.120 --> 44:10.920 and then she's trying to tell me all these little nuances 44:10.920 --> 44:12.160 and stuff, it was just overwhelming 44:12.740 --> 44:15.620 and this teacher ended up just making me hate piano. 44:16.740 --> 44:20.000 And I was so traumatized, I didn't even play piano 44:21.740 --> 44:24.400 for months and months because this woman 44:24.400 --> 44:26.900 just drained all the joy out of piano playing. 44:27.700 --> 44:29.600 And by the way, this same woman, you know what she said 44:29.600 --> 44:32.120 to me, she said, oh, I can't even listen to any music 44:32.120 --> 44:34.040 because it's just all so wrong. 44:34.440 --> 44:37.320 Like if I just hear music on the radio 44:37.760 --> 44:39.040 or if I just hear, it's just like, 44:39.140 --> 44:40.640 I just can't even enjoy listening to music 44:40.640 --> 44:42.000 because I just hear all the problems. 44:42.740 --> 44:45.400 I'm like, oh, yes, please teach me to be more like you. 44:45.940 --> 44:48.740 Yes, please, how can I keep these lessons going? 44:49.920 --> 44:54.200 Just super picky and just coming at you 44:54.200 --> 44:56.040 with all these tiny, it's like, 44:56.160 --> 44:58.240 bro, I'm just trying to get to first base here. 44:59.160 --> 45:01.220 I'm just trying to learn how to play this song. 45:01.760 --> 45:02.680 But then here's the thing, 45:02.800 --> 45:04.740 but I had another piano teacher 45:05.320 --> 45:07.900 that basically would still always correct me. 45:08.260 --> 45:10.820 Nothing I did was ever good enough for this teacher, 45:10.940 --> 45:14.260 but here's the difference is that every single time I played, 45:14.800 --> 45:17.560 she would give me like one thing to work on. 45:18.460 --> 45:19.840 She'd say like, hey, good job, 45:20.040 --> 45:22.540 but here's one thing to work on. 45:22.640 --> 45:24.180 And it's like, I work on that one thing. 45:24.260 --> 45:26.440 And it was like, okay, hey, you did pretty good, 45:26.480 --> 45:27.940 but let's work on this one thing. 45:28.280 --> 45:30.480 Doing great, but work on this one thing 45:30.480 --> 45:33.920 as opposed to just listing every single thing. 45:34.060 --> 45:36.280 I mean, imagine if we got somebody saved 45:36.280 --> 45:38.900 and they came in and they're brand new to Christianity 45:39.440 --> 45:41.200 and we're just telling them that they have to change 45:41.200 --> 45:44.080 every single thing about their life on day one. 45:44.560 --> 45:47.260 And okay, let's just like, we just got on a clipboard. 45:47.380 --> 45:49.440 Okay, you just got saved 10 minutes ago. 45:49.820 --> 45:53.340 Okay, we're gonna talk about, you know, your job. 45:53.760 --> 45:55.000 We're gonna talk about your clothing. 45:55.460 --> 45:57.560 We're gonna talk about your food, your drink. 45:57.560 --> 46:00.540 We're gonna talk about church, soul winning, 46:01.360 --> 46:05.500 tithing, Bible reading, praying, your music. 46:05.760 --> 46:08.340 It's just going through and just everything, 46:08.740 --> 46:13.000 just unloading the whole truck on that person. 46:13.260 --> 46:14.620 It might be kind of overwhelming 46:14.620 --> 46:15.980 where they're thinking to themselves like, 46:16.120 --> 46:17.220 well, I don't think I'm ready 46:17.220 --> 46:20.460 to just become a completely different person overnight 46:20.960 --> 46:23.200 and just fix everything about my life the first day. 46:23.260 --> 46:24.000 What did the Bible say? 46:24.300 --> 46:26.660 It said, precept must be upon precept. 46:27.260 --> 46:30.780 Line upon line, hear a little, they're a little, 46:31.200 --> 46:35.300 just like babies don't just turn into an adult overnight, 46:35.480 --> 46:35.800 do they? 46:37.280 --> 46:39.420 They have to grow over time 46:39.420 --> 46:41.840 and they have to desire the sincere milk of the word 46:41.840 --> 46:42.600 they may grow there by. 46:42.940 --> 46:45.200 So it's more like you go to church on Sunday morning 46:46.080 --> 46:48.640 and you get something out of the message 46:48.640 --> 46:49.900 and you're like, okay, I'm gonna work on 46:49.900 --> 46:51.000 fixing this one thing. 46:51.520 --> 46:54.560 You know, and maybe there's a sermon on drinking 46:54.560 --> 46:57.380 and it's like, okay, I'm gonna quit drinking, you know? 46:57.600 --> 47:00.060 And then later there's a sermon on fornication. 47:00.180 --> 47:02.640 It's like, oh, I gotta get out of fornication, okay? 47:03.000 --> 47:05.200 Later there's a sermon on Bible reading, okay? 47:05.460 --> 47:06.840 I gotta get into a Bible reading plan. 47:07.160 --> 47:08.320 There's a sermon on prayer. 47:08.840 --> 47:10.860 All right, let's work on praying, you know? 47:11.000 --> 47:13.440 Sermon on tithing, okay, I'm gonna pay the tithe. 47:13.720 --> 47:15.400 I'm gonna give 10%, whatever. 47:15.720 --> 47:19.020 You go down the list one thing at a time 47:19.460 --> 47:22.360 and then you can grow over the course of years 47:23.020 --> 47:26.160 and all of us took years to learn things 47:26.160 --> 47:27.700 and there were things that we were doing wrong 47:27.700 --> 47:29.200 in our Christian life for years. 47:30.060 --> 47:32.600 And then we learned it like years in 47:32.600 --> 47:35.040 and then we're like, okay, let's fix that, let's fix that. 47:35.340 --> 47:37.040 You know, just fixing one thing at a time. 47:38.540 --> 47:40.920 And so again, you can't fight every battle 47:40.920 --> 47:42.720 and right every wrong. 47:43.980 --> 47:46.080 You know, like for example, you know, 47:46.140 --> 47:48.540 there'll be people out there that are kind of 47:48.540 --> 47:50.580 liberal Christians, liberal churches 47:50.580 --> 47:52.960 and they'll reach out and they'll really like 47:52.960 --> 47:54.380 one thing that we taught them. 47:54.600 --> 47:57.100 Like, hey, thank you for your stuff on the King James. 47:57.220 --> 47:58.120 That really straightened me out. 47:58.360 --> 48:00.780 I'm not just gonna write back and back, okay, now here's 48:00.780 --> 48:03.060 a list of all the other crap you need to fix, you bozo. 48:04.460 --> 48:07.320 You know, it's like, obviously it's one thing at a time. 48:08.540 --> 48:09.580 Choose your battles. 48:10.160 --> 48:13.120 Choose what's important and don't just be constantly, 48:13.280 --> 48:14.440 if somebody's a new believer, 48:14.840 --> 48:18.880 if somebody is, you know, just immature in the faith, 48:19.320 --> 48:22.040 they're newer, maybe they're backslidden, whatever. 48:22.760 --> 48:25.000 You know, start with the most important things first. 48:25.200 --> 48:28.120 Try to help that person with big, important things. 48:28.540 --> 48:30.120 Sometimes it's not even your place. 48:30.580 --> 48:32.520 Other times when it is your place, you know, 48:32.600 --> 48:35.600 be gentle and work on one thing at a time 48:35.600 --> 48:39.480 and not just demanding that they get everything right 48:39.480 --> 48:41.000 and we're gonna write every wrong. 48:41.260 --> 48:42.460 We're gonna fix every problem. 48:44.380 --> 48:45.820 Look what the Bible says in, 48:47.400 --> 48:49.740 well, we said there's a time to keep silence, right? 48:49.780 --> 48:52.080 It's time to just let things go, not worry about it. 48:53.260 --> 48:55.200 You know, before we look at Matthew five, 48:55.620 --> 48:58.180 it says in Proverbs, he that passes by and meddles 48:58.180 --> 48:59.860 with strife not belonging to him 49:00.440 --> 49:02.560 is like one that take the dog by the ears. 49:03.820 --> 49:06.280 So the Bible's saying just don't get involved in fights 49:06.760 --> 49:09.380 and strife and bickering that doesn't involve you. 49:10.220 --> 49:12.560 Just feel, but again, we live in this society 49:12.560 --> 49:14.620 where everybody has an opinion about everything. 49:15.700 --> 49:17.140 Everybody's gotta jump in and have an opinion, 49:17.280 --> 49:18.480 even things that they know nothing about. 49:19.100 --> 49:21.360 If you know nothing about it, just set this one out. 49:22.880 --> 49:26.080 The Bible says it's an honor for a man to cease from strife 49:26.080 --> 49:27.740 but every fool will be meddling. 49:28.120 --> 49:29.720 The Bible says it's an honor for a man 49:29.720 --> 49:32.000 to walk away from a fight, right? 49:32.920 --> 49:34.760 So we're not gonna fight every battle. 49:35.300 --> 49:37.160 A lot of times we're just gonna let things go 49:38.520 --> 49:39.840 because there's a time for war. 49:40.100 --> 49:41.240 Yes, there's a time when we need to fight 49:41.240 --> 49:42.320 but there's also time for peace. 49:44.080 --> 49:46.660 And then it says the beginning of strife 49:46.660 --> 49:49.420 is as one that when one leteth out water, 49:49.560 --> 49:51.940 therefore leave off contention before it be meddled with. 49:53.120 --> 49:56.400 The Bible says foolish and unlearned questions avoid. 49:57.140 --> 49:59.460 Knowing that they do gender strifes 49:59.460 --> 50:01.440 and the servant of the Lord must not strive 50:01.440 --> 50:03.500 but be gentle unto all men apt to teach patience. 50:03.900 --> 50:06.540 The Bible's saying, look, don't just get involved 50:06.540 --> 50:09.140 in every foolish question, vein, jangling. 50:09.460 --> 50:11.720 Some topics just don't touch it. 50:12.160 --> 50:13.340 Just stay away from it. 50:13.520 --> 50:16.840 Stay out of it if you don't have something productive to add. 50:17.540 --> 50:21.000 If it's unprofitable, if it's vain, stay out of it. 50:21.520 --> 50:23.880 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, 50:23.900 --> 50:25.000 live peaceably with all men. 50:25.320 --> 50:26.800 You know, I don't have to right every wrong 50:26.800 --> 50:27.460 in my neighborhood. 50:29.060 --> 50:31.320 You know, somebody might be playing their music 50:31.320 --> 50:32.720 too loud or something, you know, 50:32.780 --> 50:35.800 maybe I'm just gonna shut the window, right? 50:35.900 --> 50:37.680 Maybe I'll just turn on something of my own 50:37.680 --> 50:39.380 in the house to drown it out. 50:39.600 --> 50:41.440 Maybe I'll just put on some headphones or something. 50:41.440 --> 50:44.600 Not like I gotta go be the neighborhood police. 50:44.960 --> 50:47.880 I'm gonna be the HOA, Karen from hell, 50:48.280 --> 50:51.620 just going up and down the street, just righting every wrong. 50:52.040 --> 50:53.460 I mean, what if I just, I mean, look, 50:53.800 --> 50:55.260 I go on walks a lot in my neighborhood. 50:55.340 --> 50:56.660 What if I went on a walk in my neighborhood 50:57.120 --> 50:58.840 and I just, you know, the other day I was walking 50:58.840 --> 51:00.480 and I saw a car that was parked on the street 51:00.480 --> 51:01.420 and had no license plate. 51:05.700 --> 51:07.560 You think I'm just gonna hop on the phone 51:07.920 --> 51:09.480 and just, oh, call the police. 51:10.300 --> 51:12.660 This car is supposed to be registered 51:12.660 --> 51:14.900 or else you can't park it on the public street, you know? 51:15.640 --> 51:17.320 It's like, it's just none of my business. 51:17.500 --> 51:18.540 It's just not my problem. 51:18.780 --> 51:20.100 I'm just not worried about it. 51:21.440 --> 51:23.760 You know, there was like, there's like some camper 51:23.760 --> 51:27.240 that was just like parked on the corner for months 51:27.240 --> 51:30.300 and it's just like, it's like, it's not my problem. 51:30.360 --> 51:31.420 Yeah, it's a little inconvenient 51:31.420 --> 51:32.280 because it's right on the corner. 51:32.340 --> 51:34.460 You have to like drive weird to go around it sometimes 51:34.460 --> 51:34.940 or whatever. 51:35.080 --> 51:39.120 It's just like, okay, get over it, you know? 51:39.120 --> 51:41.500 And it's like, you're just, you're driving on the road 51:41.500 --> 51:42.740 and people are parked illegally. 51:43.800 --> 51:45.420 You know, citizens arrest. 51:45.840 --> 51:47.060 It's just like, let it go. 51:47.980 --> 51:49.880 You don't have to right every wrong and worry about, 51:50.000 --> 51:51.100 you know, especially with your neighbors, 51:51.480 --> 51:52.660 you're stuck with your neighbors. 51:53.360 --> 51:54.640 And you know, if you have good neighbors, 51:54.800 --> 51:56.040 you should thank God for that. 51:57.340 --> 51:59.820 Because it's nothing worse than having nightmare neighbors. 52:00.560 --> 52:03.440 So you gotta strive to get along with your neighbors, 52:03.920 --> 52:07.660 overlook their faults, try to be friendly and nice 52:07.660 --> 52:09.240 or maybe just avoid them if there were. 52:09.440 --> 52:11.940 Like, you know, the neighbor that's got that weird 52:11.940 --> 52:14.700 like transgender faggot poop flag, 52:15.000 --> 52:16.600 just stay away from them. 52:17.720 --> 52:19.360 Right, I'm not saying you're gonna be their buddy. 52:19.860 --> 52:21.380 I'm not saying you're gonna hang out with them. 52:21.600 --> 52:23.680 But you know, it's probably better to just stay away 52:23.680 --> 52:26.660 from them, just avoid them and not sit there 52:26.660 --> 52:28.440 and feel like I gotta fix every problem 52:28.440 --> 52:30.740 in the neighborhood, every landscaping problem, 52:31.100 --> 52:33.840 every parking problem, every noise problem. 52:34.180 --> 52:35.520 I'm the neighborhood watch. 52:35.900 --> 52:39.860 You know, it's just, it's stupid to get involved 52:39.860 --> 52:41.860 in strife when you don't have to. 52:42.540 --> 52:44.780 Just try to get along with everybody the best you can. 52:45.080 --> 52:46.920 Oh, look, sometimes things can be extreme. 52:47.460 --> 52:49.240 Somebody's pit bull is on the loose, 52:49.400 --> 52:51.340 just attacking your children every day or something. 52:51.820 --> 52:53.240 You know, eventually you have to say something. 52:53.780 --> 52:55.780 But I'm saying, in general, 52:55.880 --> 52:58.520 you wanna try to be cool in your neighborhood. 53:00.840 --> 53:01.920 What does the Bible say? 53:02.020 --> 53:03.300 Look at Matthew 538. 53:03.300 --> 53:05.120 It says you've heard that it has been said 53:05.560 --> 53:07.200 an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 53:07.340 --> 53:10.640 And that is a true, and look, Jesus is not undoing 53:10.640 --> 53:11.720 what the Old Testament says. 53:13.220 --> 53:15.480 The preamble of this whole sermon is, 53:15.720 --> 53:18.880 think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. 53:19.320 --> 53:21.480 He's not saying that an eye for an eye and a tooth 53:21.480 --> 53:22.720 for a tooth is not legitimate. 53:23.340 --> 53:25.660 Eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is God's word. 53:26.580 --> 53:29.280 That is God's standard of justice and God never changes. 53:30.180 --> 53:31.760 He's the same yesterday, today and forever. 53:31.760 --> 53:33.760 But what the Bible is saying is 53:33.760 --> 53:36.900 that we don't always have to right every wrong. 53:37.160 --> 53:39.940 We don't always have to avenge every evil. 53:40.240 --> 53:42.360 We don't always have to fight every battle. 53:42.780 --> 53:45.320 So he says, but I say to you that you resist not evil, 53:45.880 --> 53:48.420 but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, 53:48.780 --> 53:50.200 turn to him the other also. 53:50.300 --> 53:50.820 What's the Bible saying? 53:51.200 --> 53:53.440 Everyone who attacks you, you don't have to retaliate. 53:55.620 --> 53:58.320 Obviously there's a time for fighting back. 53:58.580 --> 54:00.180 There's a time for justice. 54:00.180 --> 54:01.000 But you know what? 54:01.120 --> 54:03.460 When someone smites you on the right cheek, 54:03.660 --> 54:04.920 you don't always have to fight back. 54:05.020 --> 54:06.600 You could just turn to him the other also. 54:07.760 --> 54:08.780 You know, turn the other cheek. 54:08.900 --> 54:09.560 And you know what's funny? 54:09.940 --> 54:12.800 Is that this is one of the most famous verses in the Bible. 54:14.000 --> 54:15.320 I think this is probably like one of, 54:15.440 --> 54:17.160 if we were to just do like a, I don't know, 54:17.660 --> 54:19.380 family feud survey says, 54:19.840 --> 54:23.680 what are the most top 10 famous sayings of Jesus? 54:24.060 --> 54:25.240 I feel like turn the other cheek 54:25.240 --> 54:26.260 is gonna be on the list. 54:27.180 --> 54:29.020 Who thinks that this would probably be a top 10? 54:29.020 --> 54:30.780 You know, it's probably survey says, 54:31.080 --> 54:31.940 ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. 54:32.480 --> 54:33.860 Turn the other cheek, you got it. 54:34.080 --> 54:36.500 This is one of the most famous statements of Jesus. 54:36.720 --> 54:38.600 And yet it's funny how people, they don't get it. 54:40.220 --> 54:43.180 They think that if anyone slaps me, 54:43.760 --> 54:45.600 I have to freak out about it. 54:45.680 --> 54:46.900 I have to retaliate. 54:47.100 --> 54:48.080 I have to call the cops. 54:48.300 --> 54:49.200 I have to sue them. 54:49.520 --> 54:50.220 I have to do whatever. 54:50.860 --> 54:51.400 I mean, folks, 54:51.800 --> 54:54.960 this is the most famous statement of Jesus arguably. 54:55.260 --> 54:57.520 And yet, why does nobody believe this? 54:58.120 --> 55:00.480 And look, I made a decision a long time ago 55:00.980 --> 55:03.000 that if someone slaps me in the face, 55:03.120 --> 55:05.500 I will not hit them back, okay? 55:06.220 --> 55:08.140 Because the Bible says that the pastor 55:08.140 --> 55:10.000 should not be a brawler or a striker. 55:10.320 --> 55:12.120 And so I made a decision a long time ago 55:12.120 --> 55:15.040 that if somebody punches me with a closed fist, 55:15.620 --> 55:18.160 then I reserve the right to retaliate. 55:18.400 --> 55:20.680 Because if somebody punches me with a closed fist, 55:20.860 --> 55:22.080 then there's a good chance 55:22.080 --> 55:25.120 that that person is actually trying to hurt me, harm me. 55:25.380 --> 55:26.100 And at that point, 55:26.100 --> 55:27.740 I think that it could become self-defense. 55:28.280 --> 55:29.420 Depending on the situation. 55:29.980 --> 55:31.220 You know, one time I had this granny, 55:31.800 --> 55:34.280 this demon-possessed granny punch me in the face 55:34.280 --> 55:34.940 when I was out of soul, 55:35.060 --> 55:36.020 with a closed fist, 55:36.440 --> 55:37.720 and it didn't hurt. 55:38.680 --> 55:40.240 It was like I was in her dream 55:40.240 --> 55:42.220 and she was doing that where you punch 55:42.220 --> 55:43.240 and you can't get any power. 55:43.720 --> 55:45.280 Turned out I was a character in her dream 55:45.280 --> 55:47.660 and because she was punching me and there was no power. 55:48.260 --> 55:48.980 So here's the thing. 55:49.100 --> 55:50.500 If somebody punches me in the face 55:50.500 --> 55:51.680 that I'm not scared of, 55:52.060 --> 55:53.160 I'm gonna take that too. 55:53.700 --> 55:54.600 I'll take the punch. 55:55.270 --> 55:57.560 But if I'm in a situation where there's real danger 55:57.560 --> 55:59.400 for myself or my loved ones 55:59.400 --> 56:00.960 and I feel like I need to defend myself, 56:01.180 --> 56:02.220 okay, I could see that. 56:02.340 --> 56:05.200 If somebody punches you in the face with a closed fist, 56:05.380 --> 56:08.420 I can see you acting in self-defense at that point. 56:08.540 --> 56:11.020 That's reasonable in some situations. 56:11.540 --> 56:12.220 But you know what? 56:12.660 --> 56:14.640 When somebody slaps you across the face 56:14.640 --> 56:15.640 with an open hand, 56:16.260 --> 56:18.180 that your life is not in danger. 56:18.900 --> 56:21.760 You, because people who are in a real 56:21.760 --> 56:23.420 like knock down drag out fight, 56:23.420 --> 56:26.420 they don't slap with their palms open, do they? 56:27.900 --> 56:30.040 You know why somebody slaps you in the face? 56:30.280 --> 56:32.700 Is they are trying to humiliate you. 56:33.320 --> 56:35.260 They're trying to insult you. 56:35.780 --> 56:37.240 They're trying to offend you. 56:37.540 --> 56:40.640 They're trying to hurt your pride more than your body. 56:41.600 --> 56:42.660 I hope you're listening to me 56:42.660 --> 56:43.480 because this is important, 56:43.600 --> 56:45.000 especially you kids out there. 56:45.380 --> 56:47.040 You know, when somebody slaps you in the face, 56:47.200 --> 56:49.200 it's not like, oh, it's on and Taiwan 56:49.200 --> 56:51.060 and you know, you're just gonna give them everything. 56:51.460 --> 56:53.640 No, when somebody slaps you in the face, 56:54.380 --> 56:55.380 you turn the other cheek. 56:56.760 --> 56:58.340 And look, I've been out soul winning 56:58.880 --> 57:02.800 and had grown men slap me in the face out soul winning 57:02.800 --> 57:05.380 because I, and I wasn't even being mean or rude, 57:05.620 --> 57:06.800 but there are some people out there 57:06.800 --> 57:08.320 that just anything makes them mad. 57:09.000 --> 57:10.560 There are gonna be people out there 57:10.560 --> 57:11.900 who are demon possessed. 57:12.340 --> 57:13.680 There are gonna be people out there 57:13.680 --> 57:16.680 who are just hotheads, just looking for a fight. 57:16.740 --> 57:20.040 They're trying to provoke you into a fight, okay? 57:20.460 --> 57:23.160 And so I've had people get mad at my preaching, 57:23.700 --> 57:25.120 get mad at me out soul winning, 57:25.360 --> 57:26.720 get mad at me in conversation. 57:27.500 --> 57:30.580 And I have been, over the past 21 years of pastoring, 57:30.780 --> 57:33.120 I've been slapped in the face many times, 57:33.220 --> 57:34.520 actually, if you can believe it. 57:34.920 --> 57:37.120 I've had many people, and when I say many, 57:37.300 --> 57:39.400 I'm using the definition of many means four or more. 57:40.780 --> 57:41.660 Absolutely, easily. 57:42.540 --> 57:45.920 I've been slapped across the face multiple times, 57:46.320 --> 57:47.100 many times. 57:47.220 --> 57:48.860 I've had people also just shoved me. 57:49.400 --> 57:50.760 I've had people get mad at me 57:50.760 --> 57:52.760 and just shove me and throw me. 57:52.880 --> 57:54.720 One time a guy shoved me into a window 57:54.720 --> 57:55.900 so hard that the window broke. 57:56.360 --> 57:58.320 Now it was a single pain, admittedly, 57:58.420 --> 57:59.920 and then you look at them wrong and they break. 58:00.260 --> 58:02.400 But this guy shoved me into the window. 58:02.500 --> 58:03.580 Did I punch the guy? 58:03.740 --> 58:04.080 Did I fight back? 58:04.180 --> 58:04.280 No. 58:04.960 --> 58:06.540 Oh, you're just a weird pastor Anderson. 58:07.040 --> 58:08.200 Look, at the end of the day, 58:08.400 --> 58:12.160 we want to avoid fights as much as possible. 58:12.240 --> 58:14.160 You don't know how fights are gonna end, number one. 58:14.540 --> 58:16.620 Number two, winning a fight 58:16.620 --> 58:18.380 is not necessarily pleasing to God. 58:19.160 --> 58:21.160 Just beating somebody up because you can. 58:21.880 --> 58:22.780 There's no virtue in that. 58:23.020 --> 58:24.280 And again, this attitude of, 58:24.680 --> 58:25.940 oh, I don't want to be a whimper or whatever. 58:26.080 --> 58:27.060 Isn't that just pride? 58:27.600 --> 58:28.580 Isn't that just arrogance? 58:29.160 --> 58:31.080 That says, oh, this guy slapped me and I'd prove. 58:31.300 --> 58:32.900 And you know, of course there was the famous incident 58:32.900 --> 58:36.660 a couple years ago when, was it Chris Rock? 58:36.880 --> 58:37.580 Is that the guy's name? 58:38.180 --> 58:40.420 This comedian, Chris Rock, 58:40.860 --> 58:43.600 said something insulting about this other comedian, 58:43.980 --> 58:45.260 Will Smith's wife. 58:46.440 --> 58:49.300 And basically, Will Smith got up out of his chair, 58:49.760 --> 58:50.760 walked up on stage, 58:51.400 --> 58:54.020 and just slapped Chris Rock across the face 58:54.020 --> 58:55.040 like as hard as he could. 58:56.160 --> 58:57.760 And then just went back and sat down. 58:59.540 --> 59:01.340 Now look, I kind of felt like the whole thing 59:01.340 --> 59:02.440 was just kind of staged. 59:02.980 --> 59:04.400 They probably get together in advance 59:04.400 --> 59:05.740 and agree upon these things. 59:05.920 --> 59:06.740 And it's like, you know, 59:06.840 --> 59:07.560 because then they're both, 59:07.960 --> 59:11.360 they both got a lot of mileage out of it online. 59:12.300 --> 59:13.060 They get publicity. 59:13.560 --> 59:15.760 But let's just say that it was real for a second. 59:15.820 --> 59:19.000 Let's just pretend and assume that it was real for a second. 59:19.520 --> 59:19.880 Okay? 59:20.200 --> 59:22.420 Then I would say that, you know, 59:22.740 --> 59:25.680 Chris Rock is basically doing the right thing 59:25.680 --> 59:26.980 by just, he just took it. 59:27.720 --> 59:30.820 Basically he just got slapped real hard across the face 59:31.440 --> 59:32.540 and he just took it. 59:33.440 --> 59:34.620 And he just moved on. 59:35.200 --> 59:37.960 And again, you could argue about whether he deserved it 59:37.960 --> 59:38.980 and blah, blah, I don't really care. 59:39.260 --> 59:40.640 I don't even remember the context. 59:40.860 --> 59:41.880 I don't really care about the context. 59:41.880 --> 59:45.660 The point is a man walked up and slapped another man 59:45.660 --> 59:47.620 and it looked like he slapped him as hard as he could. 59:48.500 --> 59:51.000 Slapped him really hard and the guy was okay. 59:52.220 --> 59:54.780 A grown man slapped him as hard as he could. 59:55.260 --> 59:56.260 Just wham! 59:56.860 --> 59:57.500 And he's okay. 59:58.000 --> 59:59.360 Well, typically, you know, 59:59.500 --> 01:00:01.320 who here would say I have been slapped 01:00:01.320 --> 01:00:03.460 across the face before in my entire life? 01:00:03.720 --> 01:00:05.380 I've been slapped, put up here. 01:00:05.520 --> 01:00:06.700 Nobody wants to put up their hand. 01:00:06.740 --> 01:00:07.400 Everybody's embarrassed. 01:00:07.660 --> 01:00:09.200 But I think, you know, 01:00:09.380 --> 01:00:10.520 and we're all still here. 01:00:10.520 --> 01:00:11.600 We're all alive. 01:00:13.040 --> 01:00:16.440 Who knows someone who died by being slapped in the face? 01:00:16.640 --> 01:00:18.360 Like being slapped in the face killed them 01:00:18.880 --> 01:00:21.760 or that a violent criminal started the assault 01:00:21.760 --> 01:00:25.360 by just a slap and then pulled out the chains 01:00:25.360 --> 01:00:26.980 and knives and guns and stuff. 01:00:27.340 --> 01:00:29.340 Now, you know, that's not really the way it works, 01:00:29.420 --> 01:00:29.740 my friend. 01:00:30.200 --> 01:00:31.800 And I know I'm spending a lot of time on this point, 01:00:31.840 --> 01:00:34.420 but I think it's an important point to understand 01:00:34.420 --> 01:00:36.720 is that everybody now is just like, 01:00:36.720 --> 01:00:38.680 oh, you touched me. 01:00:39.020 --> 01:00:40.240 Oh, you pushed me. 01:00:40.340 --> 01:00:40.900 You shoved me. 01:00:40.980 --> 01:00:41.760 You shoulder-checked me. 01:00:41.880 --> 01:00:42.780 You slapped me. 01:00:43.060 --> 01:00:44.960 So then it's just, oh, either A, 01:00:45.160 --> 01:00:47.380 I'm just gonna now just beat the hell out of you. 01:00:48.280 --> 01:00:51.180 Or B, I'm just gonna call the cops now. 01:00:51.420 --> 01:00:54.120 And it's like, hey, look, this guy pushed me. 01:00:54.220 --> 01:00:56.340 And look, if you use a magnifying glass, 01:00:56.520 --> 01:00:58.660 you can see this little mark here that was left, 01:00:58.780 --> 01:00:59.320 you know, and whatever. 01:00:59.600 --> 01:01:02.340 And I wanna press charges to the full extent of the law. 01:01:04.200 --> 01:01:07.960 Folks, this is not a Christian reaction to sit there 01:01:07.960 --> 01:01:09.760 and wanna call the cops on everybody 01:01:09.760 --> 01:01:11.460 and beat the crap out of everybody. 01:01:11.900 --> 01:01:15.240 You know what the Bible says, turn the other cheek. 01:01:16.240 --> 01:01:17.200 That's what the Bible says. 01:01:17.520 --> 01:01:19.080 And look, let's face it, unfortunately, 01:01:19.340 --> 01:01:20.800 I'm not saying that this is a good thing, 01:01:21.160 --> 01:01:23.340 but in marriage, let's face it, 01:01:23.600 --> 01:01:25.460 there are husbands that will slap their wives 01:01:25.460 --> 01:01:27.020 and wives that will slap their husbands. 01:01:27.540 --> 01:01:28.240 You know, I'm not gonna ask 01:01:28.240 --> 01:01:29.380 for a raise of hands on this one. 01:01:29.640 --> 01:01:31.340 Who's been slapped by your wife 01:01:31.340 --> 01:01:32.940 or who's been slapped by your husband? 01:01:33.380 --> 01:01:35.260 But you know what, if I did and people were honest, 01:01:35.440 --> 01:01:37.100 there'd probably be a lot of hands that would go up 01:01:37.100 --> 01:01:40.480 because obviously this is just a thing that exists. 01:01:40.780 --> 01:01:43.000 And again, today it's like, oh, you gotta call the cops. 01:01:43.420 --> 01:01:44.540 Oh, you got, really, is that what the, 01:01:44.660 --> 01:01:45.580 what Bible verse is that? 01:01:47.000 --> 01:01:48.020 What Bible verse is that? 01:01:48.140 --> 01:01:50.540 And look, don't call me some male chauvinist 01:01:50.540 --> 01:01:51.620 because you know what, it's like, 01:01:51.740 --> 01:01:53.340 for every time I hear about a wife 01:01:53.340 --> 01:01:54.840 calling the cops on her husband, 01:01:55.080 --> 01:01:57.340 I hear about husbands calling the cops on their wives. 01:01:58.860 --> 01:02:01.040 She attacked me, I had to call the cops. 01:02:01.040 --> 01:02:03.500 It's like, bro, just defend yourself. 01:02:04.420 --> 01:02:05.700 Like, figure it out, man. 01:02:05.980 --> 01:02:09.580 Like you literally can't survive an attack from your wife. 01:02:10.520 --> 01:02:13.320 Now look, I'm not, and I'm not talking about guns 01:02:13.320 --> 01:02:14.940 and knives and stuff, okay? 01:02:15.260 --> 01:02:17.420 Yeah, obviously if you bring a knife 01:02:17.420 --> 01:02:19.160 to a gunfight, you're in trouble, okay? 01:02:19.600 --> 01:02:21.200 But what I'm saying is, look, 01:02:21.480 --> 01:02:23.240 when it's just a bunch of slapping 01:02:23.240 --> 01:02:28.160 and you know, oh, but this little drop of blood, 01:02:28.340 --> 01:02:30.380 you know, from when, because I had a buddy 01:02:30.380 --> 01:02:33.480 and his concubine attacked him, 01:02:34.120 --> 01:02:35.220 and I kid you not, 01:02:35.700 --> 01:02:38.580 she had to be like almost a foot shorter than him. 01:02:39.120 --> 01:02:40.920 This concubine was super petite, 01:02:41.060 --> 01:02:42.240 she was like a little Chihuahua 01:02:43.500 --> 01:02:45.320 with violence though, unfortunately. 01:02:46.060 --> 01:02:48.480 And so his little Chihuahua of a concubine 01:02:48.480 --> 01:02:50.900 just kind of went crazy on him, 01:02:51.300 --> 01:02:54.340 she's just punching him and you know, 01:02:54.800 --> 01:02:56.400 caught him with a fingernail, 01:02:56.560 --> 01:02:57.720 made his neck bleed a little, 01:02:57.720 --> 01:03:01.260 but she's not over here slitting his throat, you know? 01:03:01.840 --> 01:03:03.640 He just needed to just tackle her 01:03:03.640 --> 01:03:05.580 and hold her down like a football player or something, 01:03:05.720 --> 01:03:06.180 you know what I mean? 01:03:07.140 --> 01:03:09.320 But it's like, no, he's got to call the cops and whatever. 01:03:09.480 --> 01:03:11.320 But hey, I guess the guy who won't marry you 01:03:11.320 --> 01:03:13.180 is probably the same guy who's going to call the cops on you 01:03:13.780 --> 01:03:16.360 when you get a little, you know, crazy. 01:03:16.760 --> 01:03:18.780 And women get a little crazy from time to time, amen? 01:03:19.840 --> 01:03:20.700 It's just life. 01:03:21.760 --> 01:03:22.840 But you know what, I'm not going to, 01:03:22.940 --> 01:03:24.780 and you know what, I'm going to keep preaching 01:03:24.780 --> 01:03:25.540 what the Bible says. 01:03:25.760 --> 01:03:26.360 Turn the other cheek. 01:03:27.860 --> 01:03:29.060 Don't resist evil. 01:03:29.320 --> 01:03:30.940 Whoever will smite you on the right cheek, 01:03:31.060 --> 01:03:31.920 turn to him the other also. 01:03:32.460 --> 01:03:33.920 If any man will soothe you at the law 01:03:33.920 --> 01:03:36.040 and take away thy coat, let him out of thy cloak also. 01:03:36.420 --> 01:03:38.240 You don't have to fight every legal battle. 01:03:38.860 --> 01:03:41.700 Sometimes it's better to just not sue. 01:03:42.260 --> 01:03:44.000 And what does the Bible say in 1 Corinthians 6? 01:03:44.100 --> 01:03:46.480 We should not sue brothers and sisters in Christ. 01:03:46.900 --> 01:03:49.460 We would rather just suffer ourselves to be defrauded, 01:03:49.920 --> 01:03:52.660 just get ripped off, take the loss 01:03:52.660 --> 01:03:55.600 and just give him your cloak also. 01:03:56.280 --> 01:03:57.980 Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, 01:03:58.480 --> 01:03:59.240 go with him twain. 01:04:00.140 --> 01:04:01.560 Not because you have to. 01:04:01.960 --> 01:04:03.060 Not because it's right, 01:04:03.400 --> 01:04:06.120 but just because it's not worth fighting over. 01:04:08.140 --> 01:04:09.600 Give to him that asketh thee, 01:04:09.680 --> 01:04:10.700 and from him that would borrow up thee, 01:04:10.780 --> 01:04:11.300 turn out that way. 01:04:11.540 --> 01:04:13.860 He said, look, everything doesn't always have to be fair. 01:04:14.240 --> 01:04:15.580 You don't have to right every wrong. 01:04:15.860 --> 01:04:17.120 You don't have to fight every battle. 01:04:17.340 --> 01:04:18.900 You don't have to die on every hill. 01:04:19.860 --> 01:04:21.320 Let things go. 01:04:22.320 --> 01:04:24.120 Let it go is what Jesus is saying. 01:04:24.880 --> 01:04:25.880 And I'm out of time, 01:04:27.640 --> 01:04:29.540 and that's pretty much the end of the sermon anyway. 01:04:29.640 --> 01:04:30.540 I'm skipping a few things, 01:04:30.680 --> 01:04:32.100 but at the end of the day, 01:04:32.200 --> 01:04:33.400 go back to Ecclesiastes 3. 01:04:33.520 --> 01:04:35.260 We'll just quickly close with this one thought 01:04:35.260 --> 01:04:38.540 that God will ultimately take care of everything 01:04:38.540 --> 01:04:39.780 and he will right every wrong. 01:04:40.940 --> 01:04:42.460 We don't have to right every wrong. 01:04:42.700 --> 01:04:43.960 We don't have to fight every battle. 01:04:44.240 --> 01:04:45.320 We don't have to die on every hill. 01:04:45.620 --> 01:04:47.220 God will ultimately do that. 01:04:47.980 --> 01:04:49.220 Look at verse 16. 01:04:49.480 --> 01:04:49.700 It says, 01:04:49.860 --> 01:04:52.120 And moreover I saw under the sun 01:04:52.120 --> 01:04:54.600 the place of judgment that wickedness was there. 01:04:54.680 --> 01:04:55.320 Isn't this frustrating? 01:04:55.980 --> 01:04:57.840 Oh, man, it's a place of judgment. 01:04:58.000 --> 01:05:00.120 It's the courthouse and wickedness is there. 01:05:00.440 --> 01:05:01.780 They're over here, you know, 01:05:01.880 --> 01:05:03.760 letting murderers go free, 01:05:04.240 --> 01:05:05.360 you know, because they were 01:05:06.460 --> 01:05:07.860 temporarily insane or whatever. 01:05:09.840 --> 01:05:11.240 You look at the place of judgment, 01:05:11.380 --> 01:05:12.180 wickedness is there. 01:05:12.400 --> 01:05:13.680 You look at the place of righteousness, 01:05:13.980 --> 01:05:14.600 iniquity is there. 01:05:14.600 --> 01:05:16.680 You know, church is supposed to be a godly place. 01:05:17.620 --> 01:05:18.100 Wickedness. 01:05:18.760 --> 01:05:20.600 The courthouse is supposed to be 01:05:20.600 --> 01:05:21.420 a place of justice. 01:05:21.780 --> 01:05:22.860 All kinds of wrong 01:05:23.640 --> 01:05:24.900 verdicts are being handed out. 01:05:25.220 --> 01:05:26.380 You know, I think of Pastor Shelley 01:05:26.380 --> 01:05:29.220 in Dallas, Texas, who basically, 01:05:29.400 --> 01:05:31.400 you know, had just this total 01:05:31.400 --> 01:05:33.540 airtight lease protecting him 01:05:33.540 --> 01:05:35.040 and then, you know, 01:05:35.180 --> 01:05:36.720 his landlord just evicts him anyway 01:05:37.200 --> 01:05:39.500 and just wants to charge him for damages, 01:05:39.500 --> 01:05:40.740 which were really improvements. 01:05:41.220 --> 01:05:43.580 And because the court just doesn't like 01:05:43.580 --> 01:05:44.900 the preaching of God's word, 01:05:45.320 --> 01:05:47.340 they just end up just siding with the landlord, 01:05:47.880 --> 01:05:49.340 just totally going against 01:05:49.340 --> 01:05:51.540 what the, you know, it's frustrating 01:05:51.540 --> 01:05:54.080 how much injustice there is in this world, right? 01:05:54.900 --> 01:05:56.300 But look what it says in verse 17. 01:05:56.680 --> 01:05:57.440 I said in my heart, 01:05:58.160 --> 01:06:00.200 God shall judge the righteous and the wicked. 01:06:01.520 --> 01:06:03.700 For there's a time there 01:06:03.700 --> 01:06:05.160 for every purpose and for every work. 01:06:05.260 --> 01:06:06.760 He's saying, look, you know, I saw 01:06:06.760 --> 01:06:09.420 the place of judgment, that wickedness is there. 01:06:09.760 --> 01:06:10.840 I see the place of righteousness, 01:06:10.840 --> 01:06:12.040 there's iniquity there. 01:06:12.280 --> 01:06:13.900 But then I just realized, you know what? 01:06:14.740 --> 01:06:17.020 In the end, God's going to judge. 01:06:17.560 --> 01:06:18.460 He's going to judge the righteous. 01:06:18.680 --> 01:06:19.300 He's going to judge the wicked. 01:06:19.760 --> 01:06:23.600 And ultimately, it will all be put to right. 01:06:23.740 --> 01:06:25.240 So we don't have to fight every battle. 01:06:25.760 --> 01:06:27.120 We just need to be patient 01:06:27.120 --> 01:06:29.300 and let God take care of things. 01:06:29.680 --> 01:06:31.160 And look, I'm not saying to never fight. 01:06:31.280 --> 01:06:32.680 There's a time for war and a time for peace. 01:06:33.480 --> 01:06:34.580 There's a time to speak. 01:06:34.880 --> 01:06:36.220 There are times when we need to speak up 01:06:36.220 --> 01:06:37.880 and when it's not right to stay silent. 01:06:37.880 --> 01:06:39.720 When we need to open our mouths 01:06:39.720 --> 01:06:42.140 and speak truth, but then there's a time of silence. 01:06:43.360 --> 01:06:44.320 There's a time 01:06:44.320 --> 01:06:45.680 to turn the other cheek. 01:06:46.080 --> 01:06:47.860 There's a time to ignore 01:06:47.860 --> 01:06:49.080 and let it go. 01:06:49.540 --> 01:06:51.080 We've got to use discernment. 01:06:51.920 --> 01:06:53.420 God has a plan 01:06:53.420 --> 01:06:55.900 and a purpose. Our lives are going to be good. 01:06:56.060 --> 01:06:57.400 They're going to be bad. They're going to be ugly. 01:06:57.860 --> 01:06:59.060 We've got to just keep going, 01:06:59.600 --> 01:07:01.680 keep serving God, keep doing right, 01:07:02.060 --> 01:07:04.220 trust Him, trust His Word, 01:07:04.660 --> 01:07:05.740 trust the plan 01:07:05.740 --> 01:07:07.500 and strive to know 01:07:07.500 --> 01:07:08.960 when to 01:07:09.620 --> 01:07:11.180 sow and when to rend, 01:07:11.640 --> 01:07:14.060 when to gather stones together, when to scatter, 01:07:14.800 --> 01:07:15.600 when to 01:07:15.600 --> 01:07:17.500 embrace, when not to embrace. 01:07:17.920 --> 01:07:19.580 We've got to study the Bible to know 01:07:19.580 --> 01:07:21.860 what is the right time and place for everything. 01:07:21.960 --> 01:07:22.760 Let's memorize the number repair. 01:07:23.200 --> 01:07:24.780 Father, we thank You so much for Your Word. 01:07:25.600 --> 01:07:27.440 Lord God, help us to take 01:07:27.440 --> 01:07:29.260 these things from Your Word 01:07:29.260 --> 01:07:31.000 and put them into practice in our lives. 01:07:31.440 --> 01:07:32.840 Help us to be the best Christians 01:07:32.840 --> 01:07:35.000 that we could possibly be following Your Word, 01:07:35.500 --> 01:07:36.540 trusting Your timing 01:07:36.540 --> 01:07:38.760 and continually learning more 01:07:38.760 --> 01:07:41.040 about Your will so that we can know 01:07:41.040 --> 01:07:43.000 what is the right time 01:07:43.000 --> 01:07:44.520 for every purpose under Heaven. 01:07:44.640 --> 01:07:45.580 In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.