Paul's Last Words Part 2 - The Way of the Steadfast

Hello everyone, I'm Dr.

Steve Holtz.

I want to welcome you to the Road Church Podcast.

Each week we go into God's Word.

We teach chapter by chapter and verse by verse.

And we are here to build a Kingdom of God revolution through empowering people to change the world.

So we pray this will minister to you at your heart level and change your life.

Today, be encouraged by our guest speaker.

Last week I opened up with the top 10 church bulletin bloopers of the week.

So this week I ran across something amusing that someone handed to me, and I thought maybe you'd find a little bit humorous as well.

So scientists at NASA, they built this gun specifically to launch dead chickens at the windshields of commercial airplanes and military jets and even the space shuttle, all traveling at maximum velocities.

It was to simulate collisions with flocks of birds because they wanted to test the strength of their windshields.

So the British heard about it and they thought, man, that would be great to test against the windshields of our high-speed passenger trains.

So they made arrangements and NASA sent them the gun.

And when the Brits fired the gun, they were horrified to see the chicken shatter their shatterproof windshields.

It blasted through the control panel.

It snapped the engineer's headrest off in two places, and it embedded itself in the wall, back wall of the cabin.

And they were frantic.

They emailed the NASA and they said, um, told them the horrifying results, and he said, uh, hey, we're begging any advice you have, please give it.

So NASA sent them back a one-line memo which said, please sell out the chickens first.

Probably would be a good idea.

So last week, uh, you know, I attempted to cover 2 Timothy chapter 4.

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

I got through two verses.

It was just so jam-packed.

This week I will land the plane.

I'll get through 2 Timothy 4.

And we have communion this week.

You know, once a month we have communion.

But I think communion for a lot of churches and for some people, it's take it for granted because it's so rushed through.

It's like, where can we squeeze communion into our service flow chart?

And I told the people this morning, it's sometimes it's it's treated like the redheaded stepchild of the service.

And so today I want to talk more about communion and really elaborate and talk about three steps to take communion that will give it a different meaning and different paradigm.

So let's get jump in the Bible.

If you have your Bibles with you, turn to 2 Timothy chapter 4, and while you're turning there, I'm gonna pray.

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

Well, Father, I just thank you for your word, your anointing upon your word that breaks every yoke of bondage.

Not some, but every yoke of bondage.

Father, I pray anything of me this morning, just fall by the wayside.

Everything of you, let it penetrate our hearts, bear fruit, and take root in the name of Jesus.

In Jesus' name.

So we're starting in verse 3, because I went through verses one and two last week, and I'm gonna be reading from the New King James.

So here we go.

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.

Very important sentence.

Instead, to suit their own desires, they'll gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Verse 3 the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.

If you've been walking with God for any length of time, and you've been reading your Bible for any length of time, I can guarantee you you're gonna run across some verses that A, you don't understand, B, you don't agree with, or C, offend you.

Why does this happen?

Well, God says in Isaiah chapter 55, verses 8 and 9, he says, My thoughts are not your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8

My ways are not your ways, says the Lord, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts than your thoughts.

And so it's important to note that when I come across something that is confusing, I don't agree with, or offends me, the Bible is the source of truth.

It's the plumb line.

So if anything needs to change, who needs to change?

Me or the Bible?

Me, right?

So when I come across something that I don't understand, I don't agree with, I just pray, God, I don't understand this, I don't agree with it, but I know I'm not right, because you're right all the time, and so I must be wrong.

Would you allow me to see it from your eyes?

Would you allow me to see it from your vantage point?

And you know, as I chew on it and ponder on it and ponder on the things of God in that verse, he shows me, show me from his point of view, and I was just like, oh, I get it.

If I'm offended by those verses after the sting wears off, I always ask God, God, what was in me to begin with that allowed me to be offended in the first place?

And people, if you ask God that question, rest assured, he's gonna tell you, and you gotta want to know it, the answer.

Because he's always faithful to show me what an idiot I was or ignorant I was, and I have to go back and repent.

But what happens with some people, they read those things, and who has to change them, or the Bible they do, they don't want to change.

And so they seek people around them that say what they want to say.

When people refuse to change, pride sets in.

My brother, who's probably one of the smartest, wisest guys I've ever met, he said, people err in two different ways.

They don't know what they don't know or what they think they know that isn't so.

And that's what happens.

When that happens, Romans 12.2 is so vital.

Romans 12.2 says, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

God's saying, Al, you need to get a check up from the neck up when I don't agree with him.

He says, You need to get rid of your stinking thinking.

And so um I do, and I asked to see it from his point of view.

Verse 3.

Instead to suit their own desires, they gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

A great number of teachers.

I found it interesting that it said that.

This implies that this is not an isolated incident.

It's not one or two people here or there.

A great number of teachers means it's probably happening with a lot of people, and it may be happening with a lot of churches, that they're in error on some of the things that they believe.

Doesn't mean everything, but some of the things.

Ed Cole was a national men's ministry leader.

He had so many great quotes, and one of them is truth is absolute, but our perception of it is fragmentary, meaning we only see part of the puzzle.

That's why we desperately need other people in our lives.

And as we all come together, we begin to see the big picture.

Ephesians 4 talks about as every joint supplies, then we come to the full measure of Christ.

But as we all come together, we see a truer picture.

We realize who we are, in fact, in the context of being around other people.

In verse 4, they said, and they turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

It sounds a lot like Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

Romans 120 says, For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen and being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead.

So they're without excuse.

What he's saying here, you can see the works of nature.

You can see the sun, the moon, the stars.

Says everybody's born with a knowledge that there's a creator.

When they reject that truth, God turns them over to a reprobate mind, Romans 1 says, so they do whatever they want to do.

It's important to note when people walk away from the truth, it's not that they now believe in nothing.

It means now they'll believe in anything, any fable, any myth, anything that comes along.

And they're not under that protection, that covering of the Bible anymore.

Verse 5.

But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of the evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

But you be watchful in all things.

It's saying, Be vigilant, be watchful.

1 Peter 5 8 says, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

It reminds me of Nehemiah when he was he got out of captivity, went back and they rebuilt the walls in Jerusalem.

There were people there that didn't want them to do that, and it was they're disrupting the work.

And it said the workers had a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other hand.

They were being vigilant, but yet they're serving with their gifts.

They're getting the job done, they're doing the work, they're being vigilant.

I think about some people, sometimes they'll say, I'm waiting on the Lord.

Hey, what have you thought about that?

Well, I'm waiting on the Lord, brother.

You know?

And it sounds to me, it sounds pretty religious sometimes, but I'm waiting on the Lord.

And they can almost see themselves sitting on the couch, waiting for God to come and supernaturally intervene in their lives.

And I tell them, I'd like to change your perspective of waiting on the Lord.

When you think about waiting on the Lord, think about a server waiting on a table.

They're actively serving with their gifts, and yet they're in high expectation, high expectancy of what God's about to do.

But the point is, they're not being idle, they're not being passive, they're actively serving with their gifts.

They're not sitting on the couch, they're doing what they know to do, but they're in expectancy.

It says here also, endure afflictions.

How many of you know that when you see the end, when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, when you can see the purpose, you're willing to put up with a lot of afflictions.

You're able to work through the pain when you see the purpose.

Pain is never wasted.

What brings us to tears often leads us to grace in the cross.

Pain never has to be wasted.

Philippians 3.10.

Everybody loves the first half of this.

It says, that we may know him in the power of his resurrection.

And he's like, yeah, all right, man, he resurrected Jesus, my man, you know.

Then they read the second half, and it says, and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death.

And it's like, oh, wow, I gotta take both of those.

So be willing to put up with afflictions.

When you know the purpose, when you can see the end in sight, Paul can see the end in sight.

He's willing to put up with afflictions.

Then it says to, he told Timothy, do the work of an evangelist.

It's implying, Paul's implying that Timothy, his probably his first gifting is not of an evangelist.

But he's saying, Do the work of an evangelist anyway, carry on my work, get the job done.

The next breath, he says, fulfill your ministry.

He says the sec the exact same thing in Colossians 4, 17.

He says, Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.

So he's saying, Get the job done, fulfill the ministry.

He said, For I'm already being poured out, verse 6, as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.

It was custom for the Romans back then, after a meal, to pour out an extra glass of wine on the ground for an offering to their gods.

Paul's not talking about that there.

Although in where is it?

Leviticus 23 and Exodus 29, it does talk about acceptable drink offerings for the Lord.

But he's talking about, man, I've done everything.

I've poured myself out.

There is nothing left.

I've poured out every drop.

I've given my all for the sake of the gospel.

It reminds me of when Mary broke open her alabaster jar of costly anointment and washed Jesus' feet.

She washed it with that costly perfume in her tears, and she dried his feet with her hair.

That costly perfume probably represented her whole life savings.

It was everything she had.

She poured everything out to wash the feet of Jesus.

I've mentioned in a bunch of different formats, even here, I think on a Sunday morning, that when I moved here, I was driving and I pulled into a wayside rest right as I crossed the Tennessee border.

I was moving from Athens, Georgia, go dogs.

And I saw this vision of the Front Range Corridor of Colorado.

From Boulder to Pueblo.

It's so dry out here, Isaiah 41 talks about a dry ground breaking forth with a stream in the wilderness.

And that's what I saw.

The stream coming up out of the ground, it got bigger and bigger, started overflowing its banks, became a river.

Everything in the natural realm is patterned after something in the spiritual realm.

In the natural realm, during flood time, the streams run together.

During revival in the spiritual realm, the denominations flow together.

We step across our denominational fences and we love our brothers and sisters again.

We should do it all the time.

I saw 40 people in this stream, they all had an alabaster jar.

I'm not going to tell the whole story, but they all broke their alabaster jars open at the same time, poured them out as a love offering.

They joined hands and he jumped in a river.

And so it was just pouring out.

And that's what Paul's talking about here.

Pouring out everything he had.

He said, The time of my departure is at hand.

Think about departure at the airport.

It's like Paul's got his ticket to heaven.

He knows it's right around the corner.

He's waiting for the boarding call to get on the plane.

And verse 7 says, I've fought the good fight.

I've finished the race.

I've kept the faith.

I fought the good fight.

How many of you know people that just like to argue?

Some people like to fight just because they like to fight.

I know people like that.

My mom says, be careful when you're arguing with a fool that he's not doing the same thing.

You know?

And so I always say that the best way to knock a chip off of someone's shoulder is just to compliment them.

But some people you just can't argue with.

The Bible says, how can two walk together unless they agree?

So, but Paul's not talking about that.

He's saying, I thought the good fight, the good fight of faith.

And he says, I've finished the race.

Paul used that metaphor of race, the race of the Christian life in a bunch of places for the sake of time.

If you have a pen and pencil, write these down.

But Philippians 3, 12 through 14, Acts 10, 24, 1 Corinthians 9, 24.

And again, Hebrews 12, 1.

He's talking about running the race.

He says, I've finished the race.

How many of you, by a show of hands, have run a marathon?

Keep them up.

I'm not talking about a 5K, which is 3.1, or a 10K, 6.2, talking about 26.2 miles of runner marathon.

Look around.

Not too many.

Why?

Because it's hard.

I don't look like it because I've got more chins than a Chinese phone book.

But I tell people I step outside on a hot day and skinny girls chase me for shade.

But I've run 30 marathons.

I've run three ultra marathons.

On my 53rd birthday, I ran 53 miles to celebrate.

I did it on a track.

212 laps around a track.

So my first marathon, I was 16 years old.

It was a Pavo Norman marathon, Hurley, Wisconsin.

First five miles were uphill, I thought I was gonna die.

You know, they say you go through no man's land for like 16 miles to like 20 miles, and it was way out in the country, nothing out there.

There's three cemeteries, and I thought if they're digging a hole, I'm gonna jump in one, you know.

But then I finished.

There's nothing more beautiful than a finishing shoot of a marathon.

My goal running was a big chunk of my life.

My goal was to qualify for the Olympic trials in 1980.

We boycotted the Olympics that year because of the Russians, but we still had an Olympic team.

To qualify for the trials, you had to run a 222 marathon.

To give you some context, a five-minute mile is a 210 marathon.

A six-minute mile is five or two twenty six or two twenty-seven, or two thirty-six or two thirty-seven marathon.

So I did a 228.

I missed it by six minutes.

I didn't qualify, but the whole point is you see that finishing shoot, all the pain and everything you're going through is worth it.

You send the speed up and you're sprinting toward the end.

Paul knew that.

Verse 8.

Finally, there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only me, but also to those who loved his appearing.

He's talking about two crowns.

One is a royal crown, he's not talking about that here.

The other one is a crown, a victor's crown.

The Greek word for that was Stephanos.

What's unique about that?

They named that after Stephen, who was the first martyr at the hands of Paul.

Talk about God turning things around for good.

So he received a victor's crown.

You know, it was custom back then during the Olympics and any kind of athletic games, that they gave the winner a crown of olive leaves and put it on their head.

Paul said, That crown perishes.

The crown he received is everlasting, it lasts forever.

1 Corinthians 9 25 says, and everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things.

Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown.

But we do it for an imperishable crown.

And 1 Peter 5 4 says, and when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

So he's talking about this victor's crown he'd be receiving.

Verses 9 through 12.

Be diligent, come to me quickly, for Demas has forsaken me.

Having loved his present world and he's departed for Thessalonica, Crescent's for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia.

Only Luke is with me.

Get Mark and bring him back with you, for he is useful to me for ministry.

And Tychicus I've sent to Ephesus.

He said, Be diligent and come to me quickly.

Paul so wanted to see Timothy one last time.

It doesn't say anywhere in the Bible that he did.

Um, and I looked up in even legends and lore and all that, and I couldn't find anything.

I'm thinking that he probably didn't because the time of his execution was shortly after this.

Some said this letter was on the eve of his execution.

I don't know about that, but I believe it was very shortly after that.

He was beheaded.

Paul was a Roman citizen, they couldn't um legally crucify him, so they beheaded him.

But it says, Only Luke is with me.

So Luke was the only one with Paul.

Quite a difference from his first imprisonment, when people were coming and going, he had lots of visitors.

This time it was only Luke.

He says, Get Mark and bring him with you, for he's useful for me for ministry.

Keep your finger in 2 Timothy and turn with me if you would to Acts 15.

So Acts 15, I'm picking it up in verse 36.

And after some days, Paul and said to Barnabas, hey, let us now go back.

And visit our brethren in every city where we preach the word of the Lord and see how they're doing.

Now Barnabas was determined to take with him John called Mark.

So Barnabas wanted to take Mark.

But Paul insisted that he should not take them with him because he had departed from them in Pamphyla and he didn't do the work with them.

Then the contention became so sharp that they departed one from another.

And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus, and Paul chose Silas and departed.

So Barnabas took Mark, Paul took Silas and he departed.

It got kind of contentious.

But here in 2 Timothy 4.11, it says, Go get Mark and bring him back with you, for he's useful to me for ministry.

So it means they reconciled.

Whenever we're offended, we're given two sets of two choices.

The first set of two choices is do you want to be right or do you want to be reconciled?

You could be right, but is that the hill you want to die on?

Because even though you may be right and win the battle, you may lose the war.

Or do you want to be reconciled?

If I were married right now, I'd always want to be reconciled because when I were all over in the morning, I want to see a bright, smiling face looking at me, not a barracuda waiting to attack, you know?

And vice versa.

Goes both ways.

But I always want to be reconciled instead of being right.

Even if I am right, it doesn't matter.

I'd rather be reconciled.

The second set of choices is do you want to get better or do you want to get bitter?

You can get better or you can get bitter.

If you get bitter, it begins to fester.

Pride sets in, and other things come in.

And it's not a good situation.

Unforgiveness is there.

I always want to get better.

You know, I mentioned at different times than five years ago, a little over five years ago, I was supposed to get married June 20th of 2020.

A month before the wedding, she broke up with me.

I'm bawling my guts out.

And I said, God, how long am I supposed to feel pain?

He said, Well, hell, that's entirely up to you.

But the real question is, when you come out on the other side, and you're gonna come out on the other side, are you gonna come out carrying a fistful of gems or are you gonna come out empty-handed?

I said, God, I want a fistful of gems.

He said, Be holy, be hungry, be humble, because I've got so much in store for you.

Did I want to be right or reconciled?

I want to be reconciled.

Did I want to get bitter or better?

I want to be better.

And instantly, instantly, all the pain disappeared.

No pain since that day.

And because I thought, man, if she's not the one, and I'm supposed to get married, then he's got someone better for me.

And I'm thinking, like, how can I not love a God like that?

You know?

So you can get bitter or better, right or reconciled.

Verse 13 says, Bring the cloak I left with corpus at Troas when you come, and the books, especially the parchments.

So it probably implies here that Paul was arrested at Troaz for his second imprisonment.

You know, in those days it was custom for the arresting soldiers to, you know, cast lots for any extra garments or possessions from those that were arrested.

Paul knew that, gave his cloak to Carpus, and his books his parchments.

Think about this.

The only two things he had: a cloak and parchments.

Two things.

That cloak would have came in handy because Paul in the prison area was probably freezing every night.

That cloak would have kept him warm.

The parchments or his books would have kept him busy, you know, and kept him occupied.

Two things that were important to him.

I've moved 52 times.

The last, eight of the last ten times, everything that I couldn't fit in my car, I gave away.

You know why?

Because it's just stuff.

Whatever I gave away, I knew God could give back to me.

And He has.

I mean, I've given away night, I gave away a Dotson 280Z, beautiful car.

Because I had another car I could fit more things in.

I just gave it away.

And um God is faithful.

We all have so much junk.

It's free to get rid of things.

It is.

Every time I go to, you know, every four months or so I'll go to through my closets.

I've organized my clothes to the fat clothes, fatter clothes, and fattest clothes.

I don't have any more skinny clothes anymore anymore.

In fact, I took my scale, threw it in the corner, and said, You're not coming out until you stop lying to me.

I bought a talking scale and it said, Excuse me, only one at a time.

So, but when but every four months I have at least one or two bags, take them to Goodwill or whatever, and it's a freeing, liberating feeling.

So, verse 14, 15.

Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm.

May the Lord repay him according to his works.

You also must be aware of him, for he has greatly resisted our works.

It's speculated that Alexander the coppersmith was the one that turned Paul into the authorities, and that's why he got arrested.

Verse 16, at my first offense, no one stood with me, for all forsook me, forsook me, may it not be charged against them.

Paul is so forgiving.

You know, I mentioned when he was offended, when he was wronged, he had choices.

He chose to be reconciled, he chose to be right.

Paul did the same thing here.

Verses 17 and 18.

For the Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear.

And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for his heavenly kingdom.

To him be the glory forever and ever.

Amen.

He was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

God also delivered Paul from the shipwreck.

He delivered him from a lot of different things.

But Acts 27, 28, he's talking about being delivered from the shipwrecked.

You know, when I journal things, if I think God is saying something, I write it in red, red ink.

If I'm saying something, I write it in blue or black ink.

And whenever I get in a pickle and I think, how am I gonna get out of this one?

I just look back at all the things that were written in red.

And I notice that God's delivered me every other time.

Why wouldn't He deliver me again?

So I don't worry.

I never worry.

You know, seven near-death episodes.

I don't worry.

Why?

Because most of the things we worry about never happen.

Most of the things we hope for do.

So worry less and hope more.

Verse 19 through 22.

See, I can land the plane.

Greet Prisca and Aquila and the household Anisophorus.

Erastus stayed in Corinth, but Profumus, I have left in Miltus, sick.

Do your utmost to come before winter.

Ubulus greets you as well as Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren.

The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Grace be with you.

Amen.

You notice Paul mentions a lot of people here.

Why?

When I thought I was dying, I wanted to take as many people as I could with it.

Paul wants to honor as many people as he can.

He's just that kind of guy.

So he's mentioning all these names.

Greet Prisca and Aquila in the household of Oniphorus.

He's always thinking of others.

He was very inclusive.

Betrophumus, I've left in Milta sick.

So that means that Paul didn't heal everyone he prayed for.

First 200 people I prayed for, nothing happened.

Two of them died.

And I said to God, God, that's not a good, that's gonna ruin my street rep.

I said.

And then God said, Al, it's not your responsibility to heal people, it's mine.

It's your responsibility to pray for people.

I said, Well, God, that's the easy part.

I can do that.

So Paul's saying here, he's human.

It's speculated that Erastus and Trophimus were both with Paul when he was arrested at Troaz.

According to some traditions, Paul was beheaded the same day Peter was.

And Peter was crucified upside down.

Paul was a Roman citizen, so he couldn't be crucified.

But this chapter is the final chapter of a life that was well lived for God.

So that's 2 Timothy chapter 4.

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

Next seven minutes, we want to talk about communion.

I think often communions are just kind of squeezed into the service.

And I know I've been guilty of taking it for granted and just going through the motions.

I don't want to do that.

I want to offer a three-step process for taking communion.

So if you look at the communion, one of the communion chapters, I'm just going to read it.

It's 1 Corinthians 11, starting verse 23 to 30.

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread.

And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take eat, this is my body, which is broken for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

In the same manner he also took the cup, and after saying, This cup is the new covenant of my blood, this do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

That's what everybody thinks of when they take communion.

But let me go on to read.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes.

Therefore, whoever eats this bread and drinks his cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

But let him examine himself, very important.

So let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup, for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

For this reason, many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep, it says.

Some versions say many have died.

So I think there's a three-step process.

One is reflecting on what Jesus actually went through.

So, you know, I don't think we take time to reflect enough on the sacrifice, the suffering, and the pain that Jesus went through on the cross to pay the price for our sins.

So I want us to reflect on that, and I want us to reflect on that they stripped him and humiliated him in front of everybody.

Reflect on the fact that they took a crown of thorns and they shoved that into his skull and blood came streaming down his face.

Reflect on the fact that they took whips and whipped him.

They took rods and they beat him.

They pierced his side with a spear.

Reflect on the fact that they took nails and pounded them through his hands and feet.

Reflect on the fact that even though he was beaten and battered, they made him carry his own cross up the hill.

Finally, I want you to reflect on the flogging that he took.

You know, they took sharp bits of bits of rocks and glass and steel, and they sold that into the ends of the whip.

And when they whipped him, those bits of glass and steel and jagged rock got under his skin, and when they pulled the whip back, it filleted his skin, and blood came gushing out.

He said, As often as you eat the bread, reflect back and do this in remembrance of me.

If we do this first step right, I think the next step will lead right into it, and that is repent.

Psalm 139, 23-24 says, Search me, O God, and know my heart.

Try me and know my anxieties, see if there's any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

1 Corinthians 11, 27, 28.

I just read, therefore, who eats his bread or drinks his cup in an unworthy manner is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

If you have anything against your brother or sister, don't take communion.

Before you take communion, forgive them.

They may or may not be in this room.

If they're not in this room, picture them in your mind's eyes and forgive them.

Release them.

Clear your heart, clear your mind, clear your spirit of anything that may be offensive to God before you take communion.

It says, by not taking communion correctly, many are sick, many are weak, some have died.

If we do these first two steps, it leads into step number three, and that is we can rejoice.

God could have left us in our sins, but he didn't.

The value of everything is paid by the price you're willing to pay for it.

God paid the ultimate price to redeem us back to himself.

He gave his son Jesus.

We can rejoice that Jesus became a scapegoat for our sins.

We can rejoice that the blood of Jesus has restored our relationship back to the Father.

Thank you for listening to the Road Church Podcast.

We pray today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world.

For more information about the Road Church and to find more content like this, go to theroad.org.

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