Sermon

Oneness - Kingdom Unity - with Pastor Marci Glisson

Anchor Faith Church

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  1. Thanks for checking out the Anchor Faith Message podcast

  2. from St. Augustine, FL.

  3. Now enjoy this message. Has he been good to us?

  4. Has he been faithful? Hallelujah.

  5. And so this morning I want to talk to you about Kingdom

  6. Oneness. Kingdom Oneness.

  7. You know, it seems like you know, through pastor and and

  8. those that have been ministering lately that God is trying to get

  9. this body in unity for our community.

  10. Amen. Amen.

  11. Trying to get. Us.

  12. Unified in all that we're doing. Because where there is unity,

  13. there is great power, and nothing is impossible.

  14. Nothing is impossible. You know, we can look at this

  15. with the Tower of Babel. What were they were building a

  16. tower to heaven to reach God. And the Lord said, God said that

  17. it seemed as if nothing would be impossible for them, because.

  18. They were unified. Amen.

  19. So unified that he had to disrupt or bring confusion to

  20. their language, 'cause they were all speaking the same thing,

  21. Come on. Unified on the same vision and

  22. purpose. And what did they do?

  23. They were able to accomplish a great and mighty feat that he

  24. had to come down because they were doing it obviously not to,

  25. you know, honor God, but they wanted to build a heaven to be

  26. with him. Amen.

  27. So Kingdom oneness, what am I talking about with this?

  28. Actually out of Ephesians chapter 4 and verses one through

    Ephesians 4 chapter mention

  29. 7 it says this. Therefore, the prisoner of the

  30. Lord beseech you to Walt, worthy of the calling with which you

  31. were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with

  32. long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, say, bearing

  33. with one another in love. The first thing we're going to

  34. have to recognize that if we are going to have oneness, if we are

  35. going to be unified for the Kingdom of God, we have to

  36. recognize we're going to have to bear with one another in love.

  37. Amen. We are going to have to walk in

  38. love with one another, us brothers and sisters in Christ.

  39. We're going to have to bear with one another.

  40. That means we're just going to have to bear some things right

  41. that you think, man, I shouldn't have to be burying this with

  42. that person or that person. But guess what?

  43. He says. We can bear.

  44. With them, as long as we are operating in the love of God and

  45. his love is agape. Amen.

  46. So he says, bearing with one another in love, say one

  47. another, one another, one another.

  48. You know today is communion Sunday.

  49. And, you know, communion has to do with the fact that we are in

  50. union with Christ. But to be in union with Christ

  51. means that we are in union in the body with one another.

  52. We are a part of one another. We are in union with one another

  53. because we are in Him. In the body of Christ, we are in

  54. union together. We're a part of one another.

  55. That's why he says. We're going to see later on bear

  56. one another's burdens. Amen.

  57. Amen. So we're a part of one another,

  58. say one another, one another. Verse three says this

  59. endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

  60. So we are to endeavor right to keep the unity of the Spirit in

  61. the bond of peace. We are so positioned so that we

  62. as believers are to be so unified that whenever there's

  63. not peace, it would bother us. Right.

  64. And this has to do with anything and everything that's going on

  65. in the body of Christ. We must get to a place, and I

  66. believe that, you know, we've already said that this church is

  67. a place that's going to grow you up and mature.

  68. You right. We are not here to feed you

  69. elementary principals alone, but we are here to mature the church

  70. that he's coming back for what? A church that's in his fullness

  71. is mature, without spot or wrinkle or blemish and maturity.

  72. For us to walk in the fullness of that, we have to recognize

  73. that we are a part of one another.

  74. We're in union together and we must, we must in our hearts say,

  75. what am I going to do to continue to bring unification in

  76. the body? I do not want to be a part

  77. that's not going to bring unification or.

  78. Right. Strife or division, not going to

  79. be it. I'm going to be a person that's

  80. going to be a peacemaker. Amen.

  81. In every situation, in every circumstance that I encounter

  82. with each other. We're going to make sure that

  83. we're going to be peacemakers. So that we can what protect the

  84. bond of unity, right? Because this is important.

  85. This is important because I'm going to tell you what God has

  86. anchor faith doing in this community.

  87. The devil doesn't like it when you start getting City Council

  88. and people, mayors and and individuals, asking you what can

  89. we do to change? Our whole community.

  90. The devil doesn't like it, and So what he's going to do is try

  91. to come in and bring division and bring people into a place of

  92. not being unified together, of bringing distractions, of

  93. bringing chaos and and discord, and strive to try to tear down

  94. what the God is wanting to do in this community.

  95. We have full open doors in this community, full open doors in

  96. this community and communities asking us to transform their

  97. places. This is what the Kingdom was

  98. always supposed to be about. Amen, Hallelujah.

  99. But I'm going to tell you the first thing the enemy wants to

  100. do is try to come in and disrupt what God is wanting to do.

  101. So we are to grow up, you know. Ephesians 411 through 16 says

  102. this, that he gave some apostles, prophets, evangelists,

  103. pastors, teachers for the what? The quipping of the Saints for

  104. the work of service, Say work of service work.

  105. Of service Say it again. Work of service.

  106. Say it again. Work of service.

  107. Say it again. Work of service.

  108. Why is he equipping a body of believers for the work of

  109. service? That means there's something

  110. that he wants us to do to serve. Yes, and it's what?

  111. Yes, a four letter word WORK which churches don't want to

  112. hear today. Say work of service, say it

  113. again, work of service, say it again, work of service.

  114. Amen. We are called for the work of

  115. service. To the building up of the body

  116. of Christ until we all attain to the unity of faith and of the

  117. knowledge of the Son of God. To a what a mature man.

  118. A mature man understands that this is about the work of

  119. service for the Kingdom of God. An infant or a babe in Christ or

  120. a carnal Christian doesn't want and doesn't recognize that this

  121. is about a work of service and doesn't want to work, doesn't

  122. want to serve in any capacity, OK?

  123. Say Amen. Amen.

  124. And then he goes on to say this to the measure of the stature

  125. which belongs to the fullness of Christ, say the fullness of

  126. Christ. So he expects the body to mature

  127. and grow into a place of the fullness of Christ.

  128. And the fullness of Christ is going to function and flow when

  129. there's unity. When there's unity, right, The

  130. fullness of Christ. What does that mean?

  131. That everybody is going to be in his proper fit, proper working,

  132. proper place, proper assignment, doing what God has called them

  133. to do for the building up of the church.

  134. Say the building up at the church.

  135. See, everybody you know has a problem with wanting to serve in

  136. the church. They don't mind doing all these

  137. other community outreaches and out.

  138. But listen, our number one purpose as a believer is to

  139. build up the body of Christ, which has a work of service.

  140. So every time we come in to do something that God has assigned

  141. us to do in the body with serving internally, what are we

  142. doing? We are help building up the body

  143. of Christ. We're actually helping mature

  144. people. Listen, if we were not here as a

  145. church, if the parking lot wasn't here, if the greeters

  146. weren't here, if the worship team wasn't here, if those that

  147. were serving and children's weren't here.

  148. Marissa, you have only been coming, what, a year and a half?

  149. Guess what? She wouldn't be able to grow in

  150. the knowledge of the Lord if there wasn't a body here to

  151. bring her in to greet her. Come on to help her and assist

  152. her. What are you doing?

  153. You're helping her grow. Have you grown?

  154. Since you've been here. And she told me she just LED a

  155. Muslim to the Lord. Glory to God.

  156. So if there was no body, if there was no one in the work of

  157. service for the building up, you are building her life up so that

  158. she can grow up spiritually and mature.

  159. And if we weren't here to do that, guess what?

  160. Nobody would be growing and maturing and the church would

  161. not be built up. Hallelujah.

  162. So all those that think, oh, we don't have to serve, we just

  163. need to love. The Lord is not biblical.

  164. It's not biblical. Amen.

  165. He lets us know what. It is the work of service for

  166. the building up of the body of Christ.

  167. Amen, so that we can all grow. And when we all grow, what

  168. happens as a result of us doing this?

  169. We will no longer be children, tossed here and there by waves

  170. and carried about by every wind and doctrine, by the trickery of

  171. men, by the craftiness and deceitful scheming of Instagram.

  172. Profits and Facebook teachers. The church that tell you they

  173. just want too much from you. The church you don't have to go

  174. to church. They just want too much from

  175. you. Listen, this is you think I

  176. don't hear all the bogus stuff that goes on.

  177. I mean, it's ridiculous when the scripture clearly identifies

  178. what it is saying. Amen.

  179. But if you don't submit to a pastor of a local body church,

  180. you will be tricked, you will be deceived, and you will listen to

  181. anything like a bird flying around with its mouth open,

  182. letting anything. Just drop in glory so it says in

  183. verse 15. But speaking the truth in love,

  184. that's what I am doing. Amen.

  185. Speaking the truth in love. You know people don't understand

  186. even today what speaking the truth is in love, because if you

  187. speak something opposite of what someone wants to hear.

  188. Then, oh, you don't. You're not walking in love or

  189. oh, you're judging or oh. But because I love people, I

  190. want to speak the truth so that they don't follow the.

  191. The lies of the enemy. Because this, the word of God,

  192. is absolute truth. Everything else is a lie.

  193. The Word of God is absolute truth, and everything else is a

  194. lie. So speaking the truth in love,

  195. we are to grow up into all aspects unto Him who is the

  196. head, Even cries from whom? The whole body say the body is

  197. being fitted and held together by every joint supply according

  198. to the proper working of each individual part.

  199. Causes what? The growth of the body.

  200. So again, he's letting us know when every individual is jointed

  201. and fitted in its proper working and doing what it is that God

  202. has assigned and equipped for them to do in the body.

  203. What does it do? It builds its IT helps growth

  204. happen in the body and builds it up in love.

  205. In love, when we're all doing what it is that God is asking of

  206. us to do in serving the work of service to the Church.

  207. Amen. Ephesians.

  208. Chapter 218 through 22. It says I'm just laying a

  209. foundation because I can't wait to get to the rest of my

  210. scriptures. For through him we both have our

  211. access in one spirit to the Father.

  212. See that? So then you are no longer

  213. strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the

  214. Saints. And are of God's household.

  215. If you don't want to participate in what God is doing in the

  216. household, you alienate yourself.

  217. You become an alien. You actually become a stranger.

  218. Some of these that you don't see but once a year, well, you're a

  219. stranger to me, right? Right and.

  220. Then right. Or those that alienate

  221. themselves, and he's letting us know we're not supposed to be

  222. aliens any longer, or strangers any longer, because we've been

  223. brought into. The body of Christ, which is the

  224. household of God, the family of God.

  225. And so we need one another. Say we need one another.

  226. We need. One another it says, being built

  227. on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ

  228. Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole

  229. building being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in

  230. the Lord in whom you also are being built together into a

  231. dwelling of God in the Spirit, say I'm being built.

  232. Together I'm being. Built together.

  233. You're being built together with Christ, and if you are in

  234. Christ, you are in His body. One spirit, 1 faith.

  235. Come on, one body. You cannot say that you, you

  236. know, don't need the household of God or the family of God when

  237. someone actually leaves the family.

  238. What do you usually call that? Rebellious.

  239. Like a teenager going. I'm gonna.

  240. I'm. I'm leaving.

  241. I'm moving out. Yep.

  242. You call that rebellious spirit, don't you?

  243. Come on. Amen.

  244. Just think about it. So what is he saying?

  245. We are. Being built together, fitted

  246. together, growing into a holy temple in the Lord and who you

  247. also are being built together in a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

  248. So again this is letting us know that we are being built in

  249. Christ. One Spirit, 1 body, one faith.

  250. One spirit, 1 body, one faith. Look at Romans chapter 12 and

    Romans 12 chapter mention

  251. verses four and five. It says for as we have many

  252. members in one body but all the members do not have the same

  253. function so we be many are one body in Christ.

  254. Say one body in Christ one. Body is Christ.

  255. And listen and individually, members of one another say one

  256. another. We are members of one another.

  257. Say one another, we're going to. Say this all morning long one

  258. another Very good. I didn't even have to prompt

  259. you. We're going to say it because

  260. I'm telling you, it is time that we recognize that we are a part

  261. of what God is building. Come on his body.

  262. To so recognize that we are so necessary, each and every one of

  263. us, and that we are a part of one another.

  264. And listen, When you hurt, we all hurt.

  265. Isn't that what he says? When one hurts, we all hurt.

  266. Listen, I'm telling you, we have to take up this cause of

  267. unification in the body, especially in this House.

  268. I don't care what's happening everywhere else, but in this

  269. House, we need to be 1. That means we're not going to

  270. back by. We're not going to talk about

  271. one another. We're not going to have odd

  272. against one another. We're not going to hold grudges

  273. against one another. Come on.

  274. Because we are a part of each other.

  275. Hallelujah. We're members of one another.

  276. First Corinthians chapter 10. Just in speaking in communion,

    1 Corinthians 10 chapter mention

  277. verses 16 through 17, it says is not the cup of blessing which we

  278. bless a sharing in the blood of Christ.

  279. Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ,

  280. since there is one bread? We, who are many, are one body,

  281. for we all partake of the one bread.

  282. You see that? He's letting us know.

  283. Listen, we are one body and we are all in Christ.

  284. Those that are born again, those who have called on the name of

  285. the Lord, those who have confessed Jesus Christ as their

  286. Lord. We are one in the body, we're

  287. one body. We are one body.

  288. Every individual. Every working different part,

  289. but we are one, and we all partake of His blood and the

  290. blessing of that. Amen. 1st Corinthians 10 four

  291. says this. And we all drank the same

  292. spiritual drink, For there were drinking from a spiritual rock

  293. which followed them, and the rock was Christ.

  294. Hallelujah. I'm all into Christ.

  295. Come on. I've drank his blood and eat his

  296. body. Come on, because I am one with

  297. him. Amen.

  298. And I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it

  299. is the power unto salvation. Hallelujah.

  300. Glory to God. Glory to God.

  301. So I don't care what everybody thinks, right?

  302. Everybody wants to think what they want to think.

  303. So be it, and they'll go to hell for it.

  304. Amen. Come on, we've got to get to a

  305. place where we know what we believe, who we believe in, and

  306. that we are unashamed to completely sell out to the body

  307. of Christ. I'm sold out to this body, to

  308. the body of Christ the. Household of God that He's

  309. placed me in Hallelujah and I'll die.

  310. I will die standing on the word of God and in the love of God

  311. for each and everyone of you because I fight for you in

  312. prayer and you don't pray for those you don't love.

  313. So moving on, Charles Spurgeon said.

  314. This says Satan always hates Christian fellowship.

  315. It is his policy to keep Christians apart.

  316. Anything which can divide Saints from one another, say one

  317. another. He delights in it.

  318. He attaches far more importance to godly intercourse that than

  319. we do. Yeah.

  320. That is called godly. When we have fellowship with

  321. God, we are literally in communion with Him.

  322. We are in intercourse with the Father, with the body of Christ,

  323. and we are to be that same with you.

  324. And the devil don't want us to have true intimacy with one

  325. another, become vulnerable with one another.

  326. To love one another, see them in their faults but still love them

  327. and walk them through it. Listen to what there's going on

  328. in their hearts and still saying but God, but God can't come

  329. through. If you would just stand on the

  330. word, this marriage don't have to end.

  331. If you would just stand on the word.

  332. Come on, being loving people enough to speak the truth and

  333. walk them through it, because we're a part of one another.

  334. And when what hurts, we all hurt.

  335. So he attaches far more importance to God, the

  336. intercourse. That's what we then we do.

  337. Since union is strength, being unified has strength.

  338. There's strength and unity. We know the Scripture A3 corded

  339. strand cannot be easily broken, and that's why he doesn't want

  340. you to actually have true fellowship and vulnerability and

  341. intimacy with one another. And I understand why.

  342. Because some people become critical because they aren't

  343. doing the word some. People want to voice their

  344. opinions because they're not doing the word, but that does

  345. not negate the fact that he says we need it and we must have it

  346. if we are going to actually properly grow and mature and

  347. develop and have true unity, so. He said since union is strength,

  348. he does his best to promote separation.

  349. He does his best to promote separation.

  350. Now let's move on. Ephesians Chapter 4 and verse 25

    Ephesians 4 chapter mention

  351. says, therefore laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one

  352. of you with his neighbors, for we are members of Speak.

  353. Truth. To your neighbors.

  354. This is not your neighbors down the road, though you may need to

  355. if the Lord leads you to. But this is talking about our

  356. neighbor. We are neighbors, we are in the

  357. household of God. We are family.

  358. But He relates it to a neighbor. And we are to speak the truth to

  359. one another because we're members of one another.

  360. That means you're going to hear people say some things maybe you

  361. didn't want to hear at the moment, but because they love

  362. you, right? They're going to speak the truth

  363. to you. Because they love you, they're

  364. going to share with you a few things, right?

  365. Speak the truth to each one of you.

  366. Amen. Now look at Hebrews.

  367. This is really the scripture that I had from the very

  368. beginning that the Lord gave me and all these others were laying

  369. the foundation. This was my original text.

  370. I just got this text, Hebrews 10/24 and 25.

  371. I'm going to read it out of the amplified.

  372. It says, And let us consider and give attentive, give attentive,

  373. continuous care to the watching over one another, to the

  374. watching over one another. He's letting us know that we

  375. should be watching over one another and being attentive to

  376. it, watching over one another, the King, James says,

  377. Stimulating one another, right says this continuous care to the

  378. watching over of one another, studying how we may stir up or

  379. stimulate and excite to love and helpful deeds and notable

  380. activities. You see that?

  381. Let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to

  382. the watching over of one another and studying how we may stir you

  383. up, one translation says. Stimulate you right to good

  384. works and love that, King James says.

  385. Have you thought about that? We're so focused on our lives,

  386. just trying to maintain, keeping our watching over our own

  387. family, our own kids. But yet, he says we're

  388. responsible for one another, that we should be attentive and

  389. watching over one another to make sure that we're stimulating

  390. and stirring one another up for good works, good deeds, noble

  391. activities and love. Oh, why they always asking us to

  392. do something, watching over one another.

  393. We all had. This is not just the pastor's

  394. assignment. This is our assignment, as the

  395. body of being a part of one another, that we ought to be

  396. encouraging one another, stimulating one another,

  397. watching over one another, making sure you're doing those

  398. works that he has asked us to do, stirring you up.

  399. To the to love and good deeds you see that?

  400. Got quiet. Amen.

  401. It got quiet, Hebrews said. It say one, another one.

  402. Another. Say we're responsible for one

  403. another. We're responsible.

  404. For one another. Because we are a part of one

  405. another. Because we are a part of one.

  406. Another. And so it's our assignments to

  407. making sure that one another is following and doing the things

  408. that God has asked them to do, and stirring people up and

  409. encouraging people to do those things.

  410. Amen. And of course he goes on into

  411. verse 25, and I was really just focusing on 24.

  412. But 25's good 'cause it's all in connection, so we might as well

  413. read it. Not forsaking or neglecting the

  414. assembling of ourselves together as believers, as is the habit of

  415. some people, but admonishing, warning, urging, and encouraging

  416. one another. And all the more faithfully as

  417. you see the day approaching, say one another.

  418. We're responsible for one another.

  419. We're responsible for another. We're a part of one another, one

  420. another. And I should be just as

  421. concerned about your spiritual walk and your spiritual life,

  422. just as a regular believer as my own.

  423. As a regular believer. Amen.

  424. John 1517 says this. It says this.

  425. I command you that you love. Say it every time.

  426. Now I'm just going to let the Bible speak for itself because

  427. there was 150 scriptures in the New Testament about us being a

  428. part of one another, 150 scriptures in the New Testament.

  429. And of course John lets us know a million times that we're to

  430. love one another and we're commanded to love one another.

  431. And this is not our fantasy of what love is.

  432. This is actually agape love, and agape love loves selflessly,

  433. right? Does it keep a record of thanks?

  434. No. But how many of us think evil of

  435. one another? Think they're out to get you?

  436. Or they said something wrong to you.

  437. And come on. So he says we're commanded that

  438. you love one another. Romans 12/10/11.

  439. How about this one being devoted to one another and brotherly

  440. love, Give preference to one another and honor.

  441. Wow. Give preference to one another.

  442. And honor. I would prefer you before

  443. myself. And guess what that relays?

  444. Honor. Honor.

  445. Honor devoted to one another. Are we devoted to one another,

  446. or do we just blow people off? And then do we like them?

  447. You know, when they do for us. But then you don't want to speak

  448. to them for months at a time until you need something else.

  449. Or when they got on your last nerve so you don't associate

  450. with them anymore. And then you go find another

  451. friend. Come on, don't think this isn't

  452. happening. I.

  453. Know it is. We're the watchers of your soul,

  454. right? Right.

  455. Being devoted to one another in brotherly love.

  456. Give preference to one another in honor, not lagging behind in

  457. diligence, fervent in spirit in serving the.

  458. Lord. Again, serving the Lord.

  459. We should have a fervent spirit. In serving the Lord, we should

  460. be passionate about whatever it is that God needs us to do for

  461. the household of God to build. Up the body of Christ.

  462. I should have a passion and be diligent and not lazy or lagging

  463. behind. Wow.

  464. Ephesians 521. Y'all, just look at the word.

  465. It's just the word talking to you this morning.

  466. Be subject to one another in the fear of the Lord.

  467. Be subject to one another. You know what that means?

  468. That means because you're in the body of Christ and you say

  469. you're a believer, then you should be subject to me.

  470. Not just me because I'm a pastor, but as another believer.

  471. Being subject to the fact to where if I'm encouraging you in

  472. the word or something's going on in your life that maybe not

  473. lining up in the word I'm, you should be subject to be able to

  474. receive the word that would be spoken to you concerning that

  475. situation. You should want somebody to love

  476. you enough to say hey. What about what the word says

  477. here? Maybe you can make a little

  478. adjustment there and it might help the situation.

  479. Is there anything wrong with that?

  480. Not when you don't want to not be submitted to one another.

  481. There is, because we know people have a submission problem.

  482. And who do you think you are trying to tell?

  483. Why do we take that attitude with one another?

  484. Who do you think you are? You think you're better than me?

  485. I've been in this church longer than you.

  486. You think I don't hear those things?

  487. People say those things. How immature.

  488. How immature. It shows you that there's some

  489. maturing and growth that needs to be developed.

  490. And actually one another is supposed to help iron sharpen

  491. iron, which will help build you in some areas.

  492. Instead of getting offended about things, you ought to say,

  493. OK, let me think about that. Let me pray about that Is this

  494. happening and and do I act like this all the time?

  495. And do I respond this way all the time?

  496. And is there something I should change about myself that would

  497. help me look more like Christ? Come on and imitate him and who

  498. he is better and and I don't want to do anything that would

  499. dishonor him or put a bad taste in somebody else's mouth.

  500. Wow, What is so difficult about that?

  501. Galatians 62 says bear one another's burdens and thereby

  502. fulfill the law of Christ. So when we help bear one

  503. another's burdens, when we come up underneath a brother and

  504. sister in Christ that may be going through something and say,

  505. hey, how can we help? We're helping bear them up in a

  506. hard situation. And when we do that?

  507. It says we fulfill the law. What of Christ?

  508. When we do that? When we pick up and undergird

  509. and help bear somebody that's going through a hard time.

  510. Hallelujah. Because.

  511. It's not just about us, but the Western Church in the United

  512. States of America has turned the Church into the great.

  513. I am so we're to bear one another's burdens, and when we

  514. do that, it fulfills the law of Christ.

  515. Philippians 2-3 do nothing from selfish or empty conceit, but

  516. with humility of mind. Regard one another as more

  517. important than yourself. Regard one another more

  518. important than yourself. That means we have to put off

  519. selfishness. We're gonna regard you more than

  520. what it means that I'm going through You don't know the

  521. struggles I'm going through, but I'm gonna regard I'm not even

  522. gonna. It doesn't even matter what I'm

  523. going through, 'cause I'm gonna put you first and what you're

  524. going through, and your need and your trial or your situation,

  525. I'm going to regard you more important than me and my problem

  526. and my situation. And I can guarantee you, if we

  527. would start operating in that arena, Come on, things that you

  528. are going through will change on a dime because you are operating

  529. in the law of love. But as long as you keep poor on

  530. me and my problems and you don't know what I'm going through,

  531. well, maybe you ought to let us in on what you going through,

  532. 'cause maybe I can give you a word for you that will help

  533. bring you through the problem. Yes, bear your burden with me so

  534. I can help gird you up instead of you just staying pitiful and

  535. pathetic because you don't want nobody to help you.

  536. Good. Word.

  537. Come on, I mean, this is the word of God.

  538. It's the word of God. And you just read it for what it

  539. says. 1st Thessalonians 511 Therefore, comfort each other

  540. and edify one another. Say one another.

  541. I'm to comfort you. I'm to edify you.

  542. And let me tell you, you're the way you want to be edified, may

  543. not want be the way the Lord wants to edify you.

  544. So we got to be edified in how the Lord wants to edify us.

  545. Oh, well, you didn't edify me. I didn't feel like you lifted me

  546. up in that situation. Well, that's your problem, not

  547. my problem. When I did what the Lord said

  548. and gave you the word of God, your problem.

  549. Say it's your problem, not my problem.

  550. What does? This do it helps grow us, it

  551. helps mature us, it helps equip us and makes us stronger in.

  552. Different things that we may be going through.

  553. So where to comfort you, where to edify you, right.

  554. But again, that edification is to come from the Lord and how he

  555. uses you to bring it, you know? I know.

  556. There's some people that don't come and want to get comfort

  557. from me and that's OK. But those who do, I can

  558. guarantee you they own the other side.

  559. Some of you want to just have comfort from somebody that's

  560. going to, you know, be more pitiful with you.

  561. And you know, there are the gifts of love and and mercy.

  562. And and I've said I don't have that gift of mercy, but I do

  563. love you. And I can guarantee you you will

  564. win if you listen to me. It's guaranteed.

  565. Guaranteed because it will always be backed by the word of

  566. God. And when the word of God comes,

  567. it will never fail, Never fail, because He's faithful.

  568. Amen. Hallelujah, Ephesians 432.

  569. It says Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each

  570. other. I can be tenderhearted when I

  571. need to be tenderhearted. I can be kind because the fruit

  572. of the spirit that is in me. Come on.

  573. And we have to recognize that that not everything you're going

  574. through you need kindness to. Show up.

  575. That's right, when the devil's getting ready to kill you and

  576. destroy you and beat you down, you need somebody to be able to

  577. get up in there and fight for you and not whine and cry with

  578. you and not, you know, sweat with you with these tears and

  579. cry all over you. You need somebody to get up in

  580. there and snatch you up out of your situation and say listen

  581. here, so every situation determines what's needed at the

  582. time, but we still. Are to be kind to one another,

  583. tenderhearted and forgiving one another?

  584. We have to ask ourselves, are we tenderhearted with one another

  585. or do we have walls up with one another?

  586. Amen. Are we hard towards?

  587. One another, it's a good question to ask ourselves,

  588. because if there's hardness there towards people, then this

  589. is something you need to make an adjustment about, because that

  590. is not going to bring unity. That's right, period.

  591. It's not going to bring unity. It's not going to bring oneness

  592. to the body of Christ that he's looking for.

  593. If you've got walls built up with people right now, look at

  594. 14 Romans 1419, it says. So then pursue the things which

  595. make for peace and the building up of one another.

  596. You see that? Pursue the things that make

  597. peace and the building up for one another.

  598. So we are to pursue it. We are to make every effort

  599. we're to pursue. Building people up and to bring

  600. peace in the situation with one another.

  601. So what are we doing if we know there's something going on with

  602. individuals in the body of Christ, you know?

  603. What we should do, the mature thing would be to do is to go to

  604. that individual because the scripture.

  605. Actually says if you have something against someone, go to

  606. them in private. Then you would go to them and

  607. say, you know what? I just feel like there's a wall

  608. here with us and I don't want it there.

  609. And you know what? They don't have to think that

  610. there's a wall, and maybe they don't think there's a wall, but

  611. you've got the wall, so you get it right and say I'm just going

  612. to bring peace. Right, right.

  613. Hey, I don't have a problem with you.

  614. I didn't know you had a problem with me.

  615. Well, that's good. Good.

  616. Then everything's great and we can walk in peace and love each

  617. other and not have an issue. See what I'm saying?

  618. How easy that is. And, and you know what?

  619. The Scripture says? We ought to pursue that.

  620. We ought to pursue it to make sure that there's nothing there

  621. between any of us, because we're a part of.

  622. One another, and we are to help build up one another.

  623. Romans 15-5 How about this? Now may the God who gives

  624. perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind

  625. with one another, according to Christ of the.

  626. Same mind. So our thinking has to all get

  627. in alignment with the word of God.

  628. How about that? Because he actually says we have

  629. the mind of Christ when we get born again, but he lets us know

  630. that we all should have the same mind with one another according

  631. to Christ, so you don't get to hold on to your opinions of the

  632. word if it doesn't. Line up to the word.

  633. And this is how we get into the same mind, the same thinking.

  634. What does the scripture says 111 way we can say it is.

  635. We are what? Like minded.

  636. We believe the same things. We function the same way.

  637. We speak the same way. That's why it should be hard for

  638. people to come in here and start speaking against someone else.

  639. Because you ought to know. We don't think that we don't

  640. speak that way. We don't talk that way.

  641. We don't act that way towards one another.

  642. You see that? OK, Romans 15, Seven.

  643. Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ always accepted

  644. us to. The.

  645. Glory of God, accept one another.

  646. Now that is not what the world calls acceptance, right?

  647. We honor one another because you are a human being, and we accept

  648. one another because we're in the body of Christ.

  649. But that don't mean I have to accept behavior.

  650. You see that? Because I'm not going to accept

  651. just any old behavior. We're all one in Christ, so we

  652. should only be wanting to demonstrate the behavior that

  653. the Word of God says. Right.

  654. So Romans 1413, let us not judge one another anymore, but rather

  655. determine this not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in

  656. a brother's way. How many of us have put a

  657. stumbling block in a brother's way?

  658. You see that we're not to judge one another, we're not to put a

  659. stumbling block in any path of anybody's way.

  660. You see that he takes this very seriously, that what we do on a

  661. day in and day out out basis and how we interact with the body of

  662. Christ and with one another is extremely important to God and

  663. to unity of the household of faith.

  664. Extremely important. James 411 Do not speak against

  665. one another. Do not speak against one

  666. another. Brethren talking to the body to

  667. believers, he who speaks against a brother or judges his brother

  668. speaks against the law, and the judges the law.

  669. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but

  670. judge of it. So do not speak against one

  671. another. What does that mean?

  672. I'm not going to go. Around and speak against you to

  673. other people on what I think about you and your situation and

  674. like I'm judging your situation like well, if I was them I would

  675. be doing. This or if I was them, I don't

  676. know why they're doing that. That's bringing your judgment to

  677. the situation that is speaking against your brother or your

  678. sister. That's going through a

  679. situation, No, especially you should be you.

  680. Nobody else should even be concerned about what somebody

  681. else is going on in their life. If you have information about a

  682. situation, and certainly you shouldn't be judging it because

  683. you have no idea. All.

  684. The information, that's right, that's.

  685. Right, so do. Not speak against one another,

  686. James, 59, says. Do not grumble against one

  687. another. Well, I tried to do something

  688. with them and they just did this to me.

  689. And you know, I'm never going to ask them to do anything for me

  690. again, and you shouldn't either because they don't ever do what

  691. they say they're going to do. And you know, this person, they

  692. just crumbling, complaining about them being critical, a

  693. critical spirit talking. I'm telling you, one of the

  694. worst things on the face of the planet is a critical.

  695. Spirit and it will cause a root of bitterness.

  696. Guarantee it. If you don't deal with that

  697. critical spirit and always picking out everybody's flaws

  698. and talking about everybody and just so critical about how they

  699. do this and what. They're doing here.

  700. It will become a bitter root on the inside of you.

  701. I don't know why they do it that way, and I don't know.

  702. Well, why don't you go and ask them instead of having a

  703. critical spirit that breathes nothing but cancer.

  704. That is the truth, and you will become withered up and die on

  705. the inside because you're always picking out everybody else,

  706. Galatians 526 says this. Let us not become boastful,

  707. challenging one another and envying one another.

  708. And a lot of times, the reason why some people are so critical

  709. is because they're envying the very thing that that person is

  710. actually doing, or how that person is actually overcoming or

  711. living, and God's blessing them. And you've become so envious

  712. that your life is not living up to what you've expected God to

  713. do for you. You become critical about

  714. everybody else. So let us not become boastful,

  715. challenging one another and envying one another.

  716. Because where there is envy, there is every evil work.

  717. The scripture says where there is envy.

  718. There is every evil work, and when you look up that word.

  719. I haven't even studied this, but I've studied it before, so I

  720. know what it means when you look it up.

  721. It means every root of wickedness, wickedness.

  722. When you allow envy to be a part of your life, and it starts by

  723. being critical, that's the root of it.

  724. That's the root of it. So he lets us know we should not

  725. envy one another, challenge one another, or become boastful.

  726. How many more can you handle? I got six more.

  727. Can we handle it? First Thessalonians 513.

  728. And that you esteem them very highly in love because of their

  729. work. Live in peace with one another,

  730. which we have said before, live in peace with one another.

  731. You should be being a peacemaker as a believer.

  732. Blessed are. The.

  733. Peacemakers. It Listen, time is too short to

  734. have so much stuff going on that is not even important.

  735. If we would just recognize the love of God and that we would

  736. honor him, honor one another in the body of Christ, listen to

  737. me. I'm telling you, we should just

  738. live at peace. That don't mean we let.

  739. We don't hold people accountable.

  740. I'm not talking about those scenarios, but all the little

  741. bitty things we should just say, I don't even listen.

  742. How do you I mean? How are you?

  743. Even expecting to live in peace, if you are always problematic

  744. with everybody else's business, I got enough to be concerned

  745. about and focused on. I don't need to be concerned

  746. about everybody else's pettily little stuff that will bring you

  747. no Peace of Mind. So we're to live at peace.

  748. With one another first, Thessalonians 515 see that no

  749. one repays another with evil for evil, but always seeks after

  750. that which is good for one another and for.

  751. All people? Wow.

  752. Have we as the body of Christ gotten to this place that we

  753. would care so much more and always seek after the best of

  754. others, all people? Or are we still so self?

  755. Consumed that we're not even thinking about how our lives

  756. effects one another. Romans 1514.

  757. And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that

  758. you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with the

  759. knowledge, and able to also admonish one another.

  760. We should be so filled up with the word of God that we

  761. recognize. We then should admonish other

  762. people, to live by the Word, to walk by the Word, to be built up

  763. in the word, to share with people what's going on.

  764. Listen, this stuff is important and I'm telling you, as he says

  765. in Hebrews 25, as the day draws. Near And are we living in the

  766. last days as it is drawing near and you're seeing the chaos in

  767. the world and everything that's going on in the world, you ought

  768. to be thankful that you would have a household of God

  769. somewhere you can come home to. And what do you do when you go

  770. home? You feel safe.

  771. You feel secure. You feel like everybody's got

  772. your back. They're going to tell you the

  773. truth, but they're with you. They're for you.

  774. Come on. Whereas we can't trust not one

  775. person in this world, and I don't care even if you say

  776. they're good. I've known a lot of good.

  777. People that hurt good Christian believers.

  778. Well, and I've I've, I've seen the other spectrum too.

  779. But it's because we don't mature.

  780. I'm going to tell you, people in the world should not be loving

  781. their spouses better than the men of God in this house.

  782. Hallelujah. People in this world should not

  783. have better marriages than our marriages in this House.

  784. People in this world should not have better children being

  785. raised than we have in this House.

  786. He came to give us a better quality of living, a better

  787. quality of life, and everything about our lives should be a

  788. better quality in it than the things of this world.

  789. Amen. I should not hear Christian

  790. girls saying, well, I don't want to marry a man like him because

  791. look what he did to his wife and he was in the church.

  792. Do you know how many times I've heard that shame on us that they

  793. think they can find some good guy out here better than a

  794. better man in here because of the way they've seen men treat

  795. their wives in here and vice versa?

  796. You women think these guys out here are so much better than

  797. your guy, I would say. Well, they go taste and see and

  798. see. They'll destroy your life and

  799. sell everything from you and sell you out to the next woman

  800. that walks across their face, because that is a lie.

  801. Of the enemy. It's a lie from straight pit of

  802. hell that you're listening to and entertaining.

  803. Nobody does it better than God and when you do it right.

  804. It's right. I'm hearing this mess.

  805. Oh, I'd much rather date somebody outside the church,

  806. 'cause they're just this, this and this and that.

  807. Give me a break. Scripture says you're unequally

  808. yoked. So what about that?

  809. Think they going to go marry somebody that's not even born?

  810. Again. Come on, think about it.

  811. It's a lie from the pit of hell. Just because people failed

  812. doesn't mean God has failed to His word and his standard.

  813. No. People make a decision not to

  814. live the word and be sold out completely.

  815. And that's why things are still going on in people's lives as

  816. believers. Because they're not submitted to

  817. God. They're not truly submitted to

  818. the word. That's just the bottom line,

  819. Galatians 513. For we were all called to

  820. freedom. Brethren, only do not turn your

  821. freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love.

  822. Here we go. Serve one another, serve one

  823. another. Is that our?

  824. Heart. How can I serve you?

  825. Is that your heart When you're coming in, when you're going,

  826. when you're living your life and a sister from church calls you

  827. and ask a question or something, Is your heart to be there, to

  828. serve them in any capacity? Are you thinking about you and

  829. what you have going on? You.

  830. See. So simple, but so profound.

  831. And if we are the body of Christ, that is actually going

  832. to be in a position to mature and grow and build up and walk

  833. in the fullness that God has for us.

  834. We have to get this, and we have to pursue it and make it our

  835. passion that I am going to so care for others more than

  836. myself, that in whatever capacity I can build this church

  837. up, I'm going to do it. That should be our heart.

  838. And do you know what? There is nothing wrong with

  839. someone asking that of you, because it's God asking that of

  840. you. It's God asking that of you.

  841. It is not me, and it's not pastor, and it's not the

  842. overseer of Nautilus Junior. And it's no, it's God.

  843. It is God himself asking that of you to serve his body, to help

  844. build his body up in whatever capacity that is not about you.

  845. It's about what can I do to help Marissa grow.

  846. What can I do to help so and so grow and mature and come to walk

  847. in the gifts with Abby. What can I do come on to help

  848. Antonio raise up to be a man of God.

  849. What can I do to serve you? That should be our heart in

  850. whatever capacity. Whatever we can do first, Peter.

  851. And we're closing first Peter for 8:00 and 11:00 above all.

  852. Above all, keep fervent in your love for.

  853. So our love I should be so fervent about the love that I

  854. have for you. Just as fervent as the love that

  855. I have for my own family, my own children, my aunt, whatever my

  856. love for. You should be.

  857. Fervent your love for one another.

  858. Do you actually love anybody else in this body?

  859. Fervently. You see what I'm saying?

  860. It's. Not this.

  861. The Scripture is not the Scripture burning within our

  862. hearts. Is this not the word of God

  863. speaking for itself, speaking for itself?

  864. That I'm telling you that if we're going to do all that God

  865. needs to do through this body, we are going to have to take up

  866. this call to be fervently loving one another?

  867. And because love covers a multitude of sins, verse 9.

  868. Be hospitable to one another without complaint.

  869. How about that without complaining?

  870. Oh, I got to go do that. They asked me to do that.

  871. That's a complaint. I got to go do that.

  872. I got to go serve over there. How about I?

  873. Get to I get to serve the body of Christ.

  874. I get to help someone come into the Kingdom of God.

  875. I get to help somebody grow and hear the word of God for the

  876. first time, maybe that they ever heard it.

  877. I get to without complaint as each one has received a special

  878. gift, employ it in serving one another.

  879. God gave every one of us a gift. And you know what that gift is

  880. to? Serve one another.

  881. To serve one another. To serve one another.

  882. And he says, employ it. You know what that means.

  883. Put it to work. I'm going to employ it.

  884. I'm going to put it to work. I'm going to serve one another,

  885. and I'm going to do it without complaining, without

  886. compromising what's coming out of my mouth.

  887. I'm not going to show up to where I'm serving and have an

  888. opinion about, well, why did we have to do it this way and why

  889. do we have to do it that way? Well, you do it because that's

  890. the way we do it. What does it matter?

  891. Is it changing people's lives? See that employ it, and serving

  892. one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God?

  893. So saving grace was not just for you to get saved.

  894. Sit in a religious service so that one day when you die, you

  895. get to go to heaven. Know the manifold grace of God

  896. included serving grace, Grace to be able to serve and to do the

  897. work of service of what God has asked us to do, to employ it for

  898. the building up of the body of Christ.

  899. James 516 And if I would have known this, I would have had

  900. this happen today says confess your sins to one another.

  901. Confess your sins to one another.

  902. How about that one? Now, we're not talking about

  903. Catholic going to the Father, Father, I've sinned.

  904. But that means if something's going on and you know that

  905. you're not in a right spot and you need help to get out, you

  906. should be comfortable enough to go to one another and confess

  907. that sin so that they that we could pray for you, so that

  908. people can pray for you so that you can overcome it, not

  909. thinking that Well. If I tell them they're going to

  910. tell everybody in the church and they're going to judge me, that

  911. is a lie from the pit of hell. And that's what the enemy wants,

  912. For you to be isolated, all alone, and to not overcome that

  913. sin. Actually, you see that.

  914. Confess your sin to one another. Pray for one another so that you

  915. can be healed. Some people have even sickness

  916. in their body because they've got sin that they've not dealt

  917. with. And if you're not coming to the

  918. altar, what are you doing? Go to somebody that can help

  919. you. Go to somebody that can help

  920. you. And the last scripture I'm going

  921. to read, which is which I what I wish we would have done today,

  922. but we're going to do communion. And it's just the same in John

  923. 1314 it says this. If I then the Lord and the

  924. Teacher washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's

  925. feet. Thank you so much for listening

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