Religious Freedoms Under Fire

If you got a Bible, I want you to turn to John chapter 17.

John 17 · chapter mention

John 17.

And while you're turning there, I want to give you the title of this message.

Because for some of you, it's going to throw you for a loop, but it's okay.

Take a deep breath.

You'll get through it.

All right?

The title of this message is The Devil Does Not Want You To Hear This.

The Devil Does Not Want You To Hear This.

And the reason I entitled this message as such is really one verse of scripture.

And it's Ecclesiastes chapter 4, verse 12.

Ecclesiastes 4:12

And when I read it, you'll immediately know what we're talking about today.

It says this a person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back to back and conquer.

What we're talking about in this message is unity.

And when you look at the landscape of things on the earth, it will not take you much time at all to see the unity, especially in the family of God, is under attack.

The devil hates unity.

I realize some of you don't like the fact that I put the devil's name in the title, but listen, scripture is clear, we need to understand his playbook so that we can stomp him out the way we're supposed to.

All right?

I don't know if you've ever been in a season where you were praying for something and it was like way up here, and it was such a big deal to you that everything else you were praying for was like down here.

Have you ever been there before where something was so important that it was up here, and everything else seemed in comparison like it was down here?

In John chapter 17, Jesus finds himself in such a situation.

John 17 · chapter mention

Many call this Jesus' last prayer, his final prayer on the earth.

And in John chapter 17, you see Jesus praying for one thing.

John 17 · chapter mention

Let's take a look at what it is.

John chapter 17, verse 9.

John 17:9

Jesus says, My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you.

All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory.

Now, I am departing from the world, they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you.

Holy Father, you have given me your name.

Now, protect them by the power of your name, so that they will be united just as we are.

Skip down to verse 20.

Jesus goes on and he says, I am praying not only for these twelve disciples, but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.

I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one, as you are in me, Father, and I am in you.

And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one.

I am in them and you are in me.

Now watch this next part.

May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

That is a powerful sentence of scripture right there.

Jesus says, May we experience such perfect unity that the world would know that God sent his son to the earth, and that the world would also know that God loves them just as much as he loves his son.

All because of perfect unity.

Now, as we go into the points of this message, understand something.

The first two points of the message are about the devil.

Because remember, I want to help you understand not just his playbook, but his motivation for dividing us in the house of the Lord.

All right?

So let's jump into the first point.

All right, here's point number one.

The devil is a deviant divider.

The devil is a deviant divider.

The Greek word for devil is diabolos, and it shares a root with the verb diabolein, which means to split.

Found in his name is the fact that he is a splitter, he's a divider.

But the question is, why is the devil such a deviant divider?

Well, let me give you two things to ponder that just might motivate him to be the divider that he is.

Here's the first one: the devil hates the father, hates the son, and hates the Holy Spirit, and he despises their unity.

The devil hates the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and despises their unity.

Think about it.

The Trinity is the epitome of unity.

The Trinity is the epitome of unity.

Father, Son, Holy Spirit, three in one.

And it's as though the devil looks at the three of them and says, huh, okay.

The three of you are gonna be known for unity.

That's how it's gonna be?

Fine.

I'm going to be known for division.

Adam and Eve, divided.

Cain and Abel, divided.

Jacob and Esau, divided, Joseph and his brothers divided, divided, divided, divided, divided, and on and on he goes.

Why?

One of the reasons he is the divider that he is, is because he hates the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and despises their unity.

But I think there's an even bigger reason that the devil is such a deviant divider.

A house divided cannot stand.

Mark chapter 3, verse 24, Jesus says, if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

Mark 3:24

And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

The devil knows a house divided cannot stand.

Of course, he's trying to divide us in the house of God.

If you're taking notes, I want you to write this one-liner down because it's one of my favorites in the message.

If you're not taking notes, what's wrong with you?

Here's the one-liner.

All right?

Write this down.

Of course, the devil does not want the church of God to stand.

Because it's only when we stand that we can step on his neck and crush him beneath our feet.

Of course he doesn't want us to stand.

Of course he's going to try and divide us.

And when he knows that a house divided cannot stand, he's going to try and divide the family of God and the house of God.

There are a couple of ways I feel like he's ahead in this dispensation of time.

Think about this.

Acts chapter 2 helps us understand that one of the reasons that the first church exploded the way that they did was unity.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Think about it.

They worshiped in the same place consistently.

They all had one mind, and they saw everything that they owned as belonging to the whole, not to the individual.

Unity was one of the big reasons the church exploded in the beginning.

I fear that too many believers have become so comfortable with distance from the house of God and the family of God that they merely see worshiping together on the weekends as an inconvenient scheduling conflict in an already all too busy schedule.

It's one of the ways the devil, I believe, is winning.

Statistics say that the average believer doesn't even attend church twice a month.

Preston, the church planner's handbook would clearly state that you cannot tell people in this day and time that they need to be in church every weekend.

Yes, I can, and yes, I will.

Listen, don't applaud me.

Listen, the reason is obvious.

Go all the way back to the beginning of the church.

Worshiping together as a family consistently was a key part of the church being healthy and powerful and will remain a crucial part of the church of God being healthy and powerful until Jesus comes back for it.

So we've got to talk about it.

Well, Preston and days gone by, there were not children's uh sporting events the way there are now, and that's why we go to church once every month.

Hogwash.

I get it, we're there too.

I'm like a taxi service.

But we have to fight for unity, especially in the house of the Lord.

And it's no good if we're worshiping together inconsistently.

How will we ever experience the powerful unity the church in the beginning experienced when we worship together so inconsistently?

Let me give you another area where I feel like the devil's winning in the family of God by dividing us.

He's using politics.

He's using politics.

And understand something.

If a church is divided by politics, it is only because its members value policy more than they value people.

And yet there are still so many running around.

I'm a this, I'm a that.

Listen, it's gotten to a place where we have let what divides us become what defines us, but it's long past time for what unites us to be what describes us, and his name is Jesus.

I'll show it to you in scripture.

Colossians chapter 3, verse 11.

Colossians 3:11

In this new life, it doesn't matter if you're a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave or free, Christ is all that matters.

And he lives in all of us.

Listen, I'm all for public discourse.

But when discourse causes division in the family of God, we are discussing the wrong things in the wrong ways.

We've got to listen, we don't agree on every position, but we do agree on a person.

Capital P, and his name is Jesus, and we've got to get back to what unites us, not what divides us.

That leads us to point number two.

Satan hates his notes on unity.

Kind of a random point, isn't it?

Satan hates his notes on unity.

I think some believers are under the mistaken impression that the devil has all knowledge.

Only God has all knowledge.

The devil does not have all knowledge.

Listen, if God and Satan were playing Jeopardy, it would be a whole bunch to nothing.

But while the devil doesn't know everything, I'm convinced it's because he doesn't know everything and God does know everything that he takes such copious notes.

And he has been doing so since the beginning.

I think if we were to sneak away with the devil's notebook, the notes he's been taking since the beginning, Adam and Eve, since the beginning of humanity.

I think if we were to pour through his notes, I think we would see things like this.

Be careful, unity gets answers.

I'll show it to you in Scripture.

Matthew chapter 18, verse 19, Jesus says, I also tell you this: if two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.

Matthew 18:19

Unity in the name of the Lord gets answers.

And the devil has seen God make good on this promise time and time again.

Unity in the name of the Lord brings answers.

Have you ever thought about this before?

Have you ever thought about why there is such a battle at the end of every message where you feel like you're supposed to go forward for prayer?

You know, you get that feeling and you start wrestling, no, I'm not gonna go forward because I don't want people to think this or that.

And it's like there's there's this intense battle.

And you might have thought that the battle was between you and yourself or you and your pride, but the battle is actually between you and the devil.

Well, Breston, why would the devil be trying to war with me at the end of a message where I feel the Holy Spirit leading me to go receive ministry at the altar?

I'll tell you why, because the devil is desperate to keep you from agreeing with anyone in the name of the Lord.

So he's gonna try and stop you.

Because unity brings answers.

I think we would see something like this in the devil's notebook as it relates to unity.

Unity is more effective against its enemies.

Unity is more effective against its enemies.

Ecclesiastes chapter 4, starting in verse 9.

Ecclesiastes 4 · chapter mention

Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.

If one person falls, the other can reach out and help.

But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.

Skip to verse 12.

A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back to back and conquer.

Three are even better, for a triple braided cord or a cord of three strands is not easily broken.

The devil has seen this one time and time again.

Where two of us coming together in the name of the Lord become a whole lot more frightening to him than one of us coming with the best intentions in the name of the Lord.

The devil hates when we come together to fight him together because unity is more effective against its enemies.

Let me say it like this alone is the easiest way to be attacked.

But unified is the wisest way to bring an assault.

Alone is the easiest way to be attacked.

But unified is the wisest way to bring an assault.

Why?

Because unity is more effective against its enemies.

I think we would also see this next thing in the devil's notebook as it relates to his notes on unity: that unity drips, does, and demands.

Unity drips, does, and demands.

Psalm 133, verses 1, 2, and 3.

Psalms 133:1

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brethren brothers or the brethren dwell in unity.

It is like the precious oil representing the anointing.

It's like the precious oil on the head running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron running down on the collar of his robes.

It's like the dew of Hermon.

And I don't know if you know this, but dew in the desert is a hot commodity.

And I'll tell you why, because dew brings refreshing in between rains.

He says, Unity is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion.

For there where?

Where the brothers dwell in unity.

For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.

When you draw near to the one person in your life which you are most frustrated with, I believe the God who sent his son to die for that person draws nearer to you.

And you know what he comes bringing?

He comes bringing his anointing, his refreshing, and his blessing.

Now I want you to think about this for a moment.

If the devil's mission is to steal everything from you, to kill you and destroy you, everyone you love, and everything you touch, if that's his mission, do you think he wants to see you experiencing the anointing of God, the refreshing of God, and the blessing of God?

No.

Of course he's as motivated as he is to divide us.

Because unity brings God's anointing, his refreshing, and his commanded blessing.

But I think if we went through the devil's notes on unity, there is one thing we would see that stands out more than anything else.

Unity is unstoppable.

Unity is unstoppable.

Remember in Genesis chapter 11, and I'm going to read it to you, the story will become familiar probably for many of you very quickly.

Genesis 11 · chapter mention

Genesis chapter 11, verse 1 says this at one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words.

Genesis 11:1

As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there.

They began saying to each other, Let's make bricks and hardened them with fire.

Then they said, Come, let's build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches in to the heavens.

This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.

But the Lord came down to look at the city, and the tower the people were building.

Look, God said, Look, the people are united, and they all speak the same language.

After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them.

After what will nothing be impossible for them?

After they realize what they're capable of when they're unified.

And this is unity with bad motive.

Do you not think the devil was sitting in the front row that day at the Tower of Babel?

Watching how God responded to unity even with the wrong motive?

And what did God do?

God rips down the tower, scatters all of the people across the earth, and gives them all different languages.

Okay, if you're taking notes, I want you to write this one liner down too.

And remember, we've already established if you're not taking notes, we're gonna have altar ministry at the end, and you can come receive prayer.

But I want you to understand something.

The devil has been trying to separate us from God since he fell.

But he has been violently trying to separate us from one another since he saw that tower fall.

I believe when the devil saw that tower fall, it was like a lightning bolt and it came to him.

Why do you think he is so passionate about unity on his side and division on ours?

Because he saw how God responded to unity.

And if that is what unity with bad motive is capable of, can you even wrap your mind around what unity in the name of the Lord is capable of?

Listen, it's downright frightening to the devil.

One of the biggest bullets I believe you can fire in this season of your life is to fight for unity with the person you find yourself most frustrated with in your life, whom God has created you to be able to grow through life with.

Fight for unity.

The devil can't stand unity.

And listen, he's been taking thorough notes since the beginning of humanity.

And understand, he's been paying close attention to everything God responds to and every one of God's uses for unity in the family of God.

Understanding all of this is crucial to understanding why the devil is so motivated to divide us.

Now, the first two points involved the devil.

But let's transition and start talking about you for a moment.

More importantly, let's not just talk about you.

Let's talk about you and that person in your life whom God has given you that you are so frustrated with and so distant from.

I get it.

We've all been there.

Many of us are there right now.

So let's talk about it together.

Point number three.

Unity demands your commitment.

Unity demands your commitment.

Ephesians chapter 4, verse 3 says, make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.

Ephesians 4:3

When you become content with distance from one another, you are creating space between one another.

Let me say it in another way, and I hope you never ever forget this.

All right?

The devil owns all of the acreage between two divided people.

No wonder family members get caught up in the crossfire.

Because the devil owns all of the acreage between two divided people.

Listen, it's easy to come up with another reason why we should be distant and why we should remain divided.

But it takes a commitment to come close and stay close.

A commitment to what, though?

Let me give you three things that we must be committed to if we're going to walk in unity together.

We've got to be committed to these things.

Here's the first one.

We must be committed not to judge.

We've got to commit not to judge one another.

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to judge the person you're most frustrated with?

They ever noticed that before?

It's so easy.

It's easy to just sit back and go, well, the reason they did that was this.

And the reason they said that was this.

And the reason they behave like this is that.

And it's really, it's not because you know everything.

It's actually because you have a critical spirit.

Because a big part of judging is you thinking that you know the motive behind their behavior.

We can't judge one another like that.

Not if we're gonna walk together in unity.

And understand this about a critical spirit.

A critical spirit will drive you further away from others than any plane, train, or automobile ever could.

If we're gonna criticize one another constantly, we might as well get used to or comfortable with being far from one another.

Now, Preston, how do I know I'm judging someone?

Well, I think judgment can be accurately measured by the distance between two people.

Isn't it interesting that the closer you are with someone, the less you tend to judge them?

You just let things go.

But the more intentional distance you create between you and someone else, the more judgments you tend to heap upon them.

Right?

Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 7, verse 1.

Matthew 7:1

He says, Do not judge others, and you will not be judged, for you will be treated as you treat others.

The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.

How do you judge others?

How do you judge yourself?

How would you like to be judged?

Typically, we judge others by their actions, we judge ourselves by our intentions.

But I don't really want to be judged by either one of those.

If my wife and children are going to judge me, you know what I want to be judged by?

My best moments.

Judge me by my best moments.

Can you imagine what would happen if you began to judge the person that you are most frustrated with by their best moments rather than their worst?

What would happen?

I'll tell you what I think would happen.

I think you would actually draw nearer to them, then move farther away from them.

But the devil has many of us judging that person we're so frustrated with by their worst moments.

None of us look that great if you judge us by our worst moments.

If we're going to walk together in unity, we cannot judge one another by our worst moments.

Here's something else we've got to be committed to.

We've got to be committed to being quick to apologize and to forgive.

We've got to be quick to apologize and forgive.

Jesus in Matthew chapter 5, verse 23 says, so let's just say you're presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the temple.

Matthew 5:23

I think that's how Jesus talked at times.

At least that's how he talks to me from time to time.

So, Preston, let's just say, hypothetically, that you're presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the temple, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you.

Leave your sacrifice at the altar, go and be reconciled to that person.

Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.

You know what he's saying.

And any of us who have distance between someone in our life, we don't want to hear it.

But this is the picture.

God kind of looks and goes, Preston, I love it when you come into my presence and you want to be alone with me.

But even if you come into my presence with some incredible sacrifice, you need to understand if you have a relational fire over here that you're pretending doesn't exist, when you come into my presence, hey, I love that you're here, but go be reconciled to that person and then come back and be with me.

We have to fight for reconciliation.

How do you do that?

We have to be quick to apologize and forgive.

Notice that I said apologize before I said forgive.

Because many of us are waiting for the other person to come and ask for our forgiveness before we then ask for theirs.

Listen, always be first to apologize and to forgive.

For doing so creates an atmosphere the devil despises and a relationship he fears.

Be quick to apologize.

Be even quicker to forgive.

That brings us.

Oh, I love this one lighter.

I gotta say this before I move to the last sub point.

Oftentimes, the best relationships require the most forgiveness.

Just ask Jesus.

He loves his relationship with you.

But he's got to forgive you and forgive me a whole lot.

We need to be more like him.

We need to be more like the Father and forgive and apologize.

Be quick to apologize and even quicker to forgive.

Here's the third commitment we're gonna have to make.

We're gonna have to commit to see, appreciate, and celebrate.

To see one another, to appreciate one another, and celebrate one another.

The reason you keep seeing the devil in the person you're so frustrated with is because you keep listening to what the devil is telling you about them.

Write that one down.

Well, that person is just like the devil.

Yeah, you're always gonna believe that as long as you listen to what the devil is telling you about them.

And isn't it so interesting how conveniently religious we are as believers?

When the devil comes to us to tempt us, we say, get thee behind me, Satan.

But when the devil comes to talk negatively about someone we are frustrated with, it's as though we pull up a chair for him.

I'm telling you.

And sometimes the biggest open door that you have in your life for the devil to walk through has less to do with the area in your life where there is the greatest temptation, and more to do with the one relationship in your life where you are experiencing the most frustration.

It creates a wide open door for the devil to walk right through, wreak havoc in your life and theirs, and on every square inch of ground in between the two of you.

We've got to fight to see one another the way God sees us.

My son Tyler is here.

Tyler, come here.

Come up here, buddy.

I promise I'm not gonna embarrass you.

You have that deer in headlights look for a second.

He didn't know this was gonna happen.

Hey, buddy.

Good looking man right here.

This is my mini-mate.

We call him mini-mate, don't we?

He looks like me.

He thinks a lot like me.

When he's looking to buy something, he researches just like me.

You look at his toes, they're just like me.

And I'll catch Holly from time to time looking at Tyler, doing something, and she'll roll her eyes and say to me, babe, that is so you.

And I will catch myself watching Tyler do something, and I'll say, That's so me, and I love it.

I don't know if you know this, but that's what God says about you.

You were created in his image.

Another way to say that is, you're like his little mini-mate.

And there are times God peers over the balcony of heaven watching you, saying, Oh, look, look, he's about to do it, she's about to do it.

I love it when she does that.

That's so me.

That's just like me.

Why?

Because he created you in his image.

But I think we all need to be reminded of the fact that he also says that about the people we are so frustrated with.

They were made in his image too.

They are like his many me as well.

I want you to close your eyes for a moment.

And I want you to think about the person you are so frustrated with.

Start writing a list in your mind for all the reasons why you're so distant from them.

I believe the Holy Spirit's speaking to many right now.

A name, giving you a face.

Come on, just write the list of why you're so frustrated with them in your heart.

Now I want you to open your eyes and I want you to look at my son Tyler, and I want you to look at him and remember the same way I look at my son is the same way God looks at the person you're so frustrated with.

They're one of his.

Don't you think it grieves him to watch you be so frustrated with someone he is so obsessed with?

Listen to me.

Take your list you just made in your heart and burn it.

It's time to end all that nonsense.

Life is too short to keep judging them, being mad at them, staying away from them.

It's time for all of that to end.

It's time for you to fight for unity with one another.

As the family of God, as your own family in your own house, it's time to fight for unity, to come together so that we can come against the one who has been getting in between us, trying to divide us, so that we might not experience God's response to our unity.

I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes.

We're gonna sing one more song at the end of this service before we dismiss.

And when we do, I'm gonna have everyone stand in just a moment when I'm done praying.

And when they stand, if the Holy Spirit gave you a name, if you just sense wherever you are right now, the Holy Spirit knocking on your heart, telling you it's time to close the gap.

In a moment, when I'm done praying, every person at every one of our campuses is gonna stand.

We're gonna sing one more song of worship.

The Holy Spirit is speaking to you about that one person.

I want you to leave your seat in just a moment and come pray with somebody.

I want you to let the altar ministry team member pray over you and any hurt that you might have in your heart.

But then before you go back to your seat or before you go home, I want you to pray the hottest blessing over the person you're so frustrated with.

Holy Spirit, I pray right now for every person who can hear the sound of my voice.

I pray it would become impossible to remain divided any longer.

In Jesus' mighty name.

Amen.