Sunday Message - Pastor Mark Bryan (March 06, 2016) | Life Bible Church

privilege of knowing these folks for quite a

while. We've actually been in partnership. I've

been over to their church several times, probably

three or four, and so I'm way overdue from inviting

them to come and speak. Pastor Mark Bryan, some

of you know that we've had, you know, I know

Dave Bryan had Jess Parker here. Well, Dave Bryan...

Mark is his brother. And so they pastor a great

church in Meridian, Idaho. And we are thrilled

to have them here today. His wife, Dee Dee, is

also someone that you might recognize. She is

one of the daughters of Brother Dick Iverson.

So they are a great stalwart family, great inheritance.

Would you welcome Mark and Dee Dee? Dee Dee,

would you just come and say hello to the church

as well? Just give them a Life Bible welcome.

Welcome them to the podium. Thank you. What an

amazing church. You guys should look at each

other and say, we got an amazing church. You

know, during the prayer meeting, you guys had

an awesome prayer meeting. The presence of the

Lord was very strong. And I'd encourage every

one of you to come to prayer and to intercede

for what God wants to do in this region. The

thing the Lord was speaking to me about you was

that he has set his love upon you. Individually,

he's drawn you here to this place with his plan

upon your life. His hand is upon individually

you for good. And when God's people who've been

drawn by his spirit come together, that have

been responding to the wonderful love of God,

sometimes we think we have to do all the work.

Do you sometimes feel like, oh, I should do this,

and I didn't read my Bible yesterday, and I didn't

do this? But the Spirit of God is drawing you

with cords of love that cannot be broken. He

loved us first. He loves us first. We love him

because he loves us. Yeah. And I just really

believe that the love of God is here in such

a powerful way. And God is bringing you guys

together. He's joining you together. The barriers,

they're just gone. They're just gone. They're

just going. You know, if you think, oh, I feel

I'm brand new. God is placing you in this church.

God is blessing you. And you guys continue to

believe on for what God is going to do. This

double service on Easter, it's not going to end

at Easter. God is doing a mighty work. of his

spirit. Amen. Amen. Thank you, honey. And it's

good. From my heart, again, greetings. It's good

to see you. We bring you greetings from our congregation,

Harvest Church in Meridian, Idaho, and our family,

which has had the privilege of knowing your pastors

and had them over for ministry. And it's just

such a privilege for us to be able to come here.

And by the way, congratulations on this beautiful

facility that you have finished. It's such a

beautiful facility. Come on, give the Lord a

hand for what he's enabled you to do. I believe

that you will go out of here better than you

came in because the presence of the Lord is here,

and in His presence we change for the better.

Turn to your neighbor and say, you look better

than you did last week. The Bible says the path

of the just is as a shining light that shines

more and more to the perfect day. And if we have

been justified by faith in Jesus Christ and have

peace with God, then that is speaking of us.

And it's a progressive journey, and it is beautiful,

and it is daily, and it is moment by moment.

And just congratulate yourself that you made

the right choice to be in church today, all right?

Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Ephesians

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4. I want to share a word that is from

my heart that is very real and practical and

down to earth and where we live, but very strong

in the Scripture as a theme. And it's the theme

of the togetherness of the body of Jesus Christ.

Now, any of us that have ever been upon a tragic

car accident or seen a body in trauma knows what

it is to the human eye and mind to see blood

or to see dismemberment, and it is considered

tragic. Yet, if we in the spiritual realm use

that analogy and realize that God put us together

as a body, And it is traumatic to take us apart.

And use that analogy as an overlay of what we're

going to say today when the Bible repeatedly

gives us the illustration. We are the body of

Jesus Christ. We are members, individual, but

set in a many -membered body, just as your own

body has many members, but you are one. Now let

us read Ephesians chapter 4 and verses 1 to 5.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you

to walk in a manner worthy of the calling which

you have been called. And then he describes what

this might involve. With all humility and gentleness,

with all patience, bearing with one another in

love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit

in the bond of peace. Verse 4 says, there is

one body. Everybody say one. There is one spirit.

Everybody say one. Just as you were called with

one hope, everybody say one. That belongs to

your call. One Lord. Everyone say one. One faith.

One again. One. One baptism. One God. Come on,

say one, one, one, one, one, one, one. Try it

again. Ready? One, one, one, one, one, one, one.

Go. Come on. Everybody say it with me. One, one,

one, one, one, one, one. That's seven ones. What's

the point of Ephesians 1 to 4? One. One is obviously

the point of Ephesians 1 to 4. One Lord, one

faith, one spirit, one baptism, one God, who

is over all and in all through you all. urge

you this this concept where he says I urge you

in verse 1 to walk and I want to bring out just

some clear foundational points here as we start

the urging here of the apostle Paul to the Ephesian

church is an urging that denotes an object to

be carefully and earnestly watched over and promoted

I urge you to carefully and earnestly watch over

and promote this walk of worthiness to your call

how with humility gentleness patience bearing

with one another in love eager to maintain the

unity of the spirit and this eager again is this

spirit of diligence this spirit of earnestness

this spirit of i i give all heed and care to

this thing, and that is maintaining a unity in

the spirit, in the bond of peacefulness. The

Bible talks actually more about unity than it

does other important subjects like heaven and

hell. It's that important, the togetherness of

the family of God, the overcoming the human tendency

of offense and criticism and negativity and doing

exactly the opposite of what the Bible tells

a Christian, thinking the worst about people

instead of thinking the best about people. The

Bible says to think about the good things, think

about praiseworthy things, and there is just

something about our human nature that wants to

think about the bad things and think about the

terrible things about people. And if somebody

hears something terrible, it's like, can you

believe? Did you hear that? Well, we want to

talk today about how we walk worthy of the call

and what it is to obey the Apostle Paul. You

know, a lot of people think that the goal of

Christian life is a destination or a ministry

when really in... the words of Oswald Chambers,

the goal of the Christian life is the process.

Because it's in the process of all the variety

of lives that you are living that as you live

them with grace and peace and patience and wisdom

and carefulness over your spirit, cleansing your

mind and heart from things that interfere, that

God is glorified in your daily walk and it sets

you apart from the heathen that don't know him.

It is more your walk Monday through Friday that

sets you apart from the unsaved than your attendance

here today. Because you can be unsaved and attend

here today. But you can't be unsaved and walk

with righteousness, peace, and joy Monday to

Friday. The Bible is concerned about your walk.

Now walking to church is a part of that walk.

And being here today is definitely biblical and

a part of it. I'm here today. I'm glad I'm here

today. And I'm really glad you're here today.

This would be an exercise in public speaking

futility if none of you were here. So I am thrilled

that you're here. But let's start with a couple

of clear understandings. The first one is this.

Jesus said in Matthew 16, 18, I will build my

church and the gates of hell will not prevail

against it. Now, I want to look at this. statement

of Jesus, which comes right after, of course,

this is when the disciples were in Caesarea Philippi,

and Jesus asked the disciples, who do men say

that I am? And they said, Elijah, prophets, all

this stuff. And then he said, who do you say

that I am? And Peter, in one of his great moments

of strength, said, you are the Christ, the Son

of the living God. It was like, who? Way to go,

Peter. For once, it's the right thing. And Jesus

said, flesh and blood has not revealed this to

you, but my Father in heaven and upon this rock,

not Petros the rock. This is an imagery Jesus

is using on the rock of the revelation of who

Jesus is, the church will be built. So it's Jesus

is going to build his church, and then the gates

of hell cannot prevail against it. Or the terminology

there, let me just... Tell you if I may that

gates are symbolic in the Bible of places that

elders meet. So you could say the leadership

of hell. Or the strategies of the devil and his

lieutenants. Cannot prevail against the church.

Now again going into the Greek word prevail.

It's actually talking about it cannot stop or

hinder us. Not that. It's talking basically not

about us being the aggressors and we're holding

up the gates so they don't knock it down. It's

like we're the defenders, excuse me. It's talking

about us being the forward moving church building

blocks of the kingdom. My life being built along

your life into the house of God. And that process

of me becoming a godly Christian connected to

the people that God's planted me around. Having

healthy marriages and families and knowing how

to raise our kids in the fear and admonition

of the Lord. Lord, this cannot be prevented by

the devil's strategies. Come on now. This is

exciting news. That what God has called us to

do, me to be, and us all to walk in is a victorious

walk of breaking down the gates of hell, not

holding on against it. And sometimes in today's

world we can feel like we're just holding against

the press of hell. But Jesus is building a church

that will march to the gates of hell. Reach in

and take captive the ones that Jesus paid for.

And we're going to march on and overcome the

works of darkness because of the power of resurrection

life in us. I love the scripture in the book

of Acts. I love the scripture in the book of

Acts where Peter talking about Jesus raised from

the dead. He says it was not possible that the

chains of death could hold him. It's not possible

that he raised in resurrection life because of

the impossibility of him not raising. And that

impossibility is the same impossibility of the

resurrection life in you. It's not possible that

those chains of death will bind him. It is not

possible that the work of darkness against you

will succeed. Of course, unless you want it to

and believe it will and always confess it will

and tell everybody else that it is. But if you

will learn the lesson of the spirit of faith

and the lesson of obedience to Scripture and

the lesson that... Faith has a language just

like doubt was. And the Christian ought to get

his vocabulary straight. And know how to speak

words of faith. And speak the words of the Bible.

And speak the truth of Jesus. And let God's word

wash my mind and my heart. My attitudes and my

spirit. Until I am an overcoming Christian. Because

that's what all of us are called to be. Now you

say that sounds like a big vision. And it is.

But it's not because you don't have to do it

all at once. Remember, we're only called to obey

the Lord right now. Everybody say now. You can't

live the minute that just passed. It's already

gone. You can't live the minutes that's coming

because it ain't here yet. You can only live

right now. The kingdom of God is a... now thing.

Bible says now is your salvation nearer than

when you first believed. The redemption of your

life. But here we're talking about the walk and

the walk of a Christian is like every other walk

one step at a time. You don't get saved, baptized,

come through the basic membership, join the church

and all of a sudden be told you're going to run

some kind of a spiritual marathon next week.

No, no, no. You are taught you'll grow up by

walking one step at a time. The Bible says, as

you have received the Lord, so walk in him. How

did you receive him? With just enough knowledge

to do it. You didn't have a degree in basic doctrine

or theology when you accepted the Lord. You just

knew enough to believe. And you just didn't know

enough today to make it. For the next hour, serving

the Lord with your mind and your heart and your

soul and your strength. That's all you need.

After that, you'll need another hour. And after

that, another hour. It's step by step. It's really

not that complicated. There's a guy in our church

that actually had some kind of neurological disorder

in his legs and slowly lost his ability to walk.

And he's a big six foot three or four. you know,

early 40s businessman and, you know, just a specimen

of health in every other way, except he can't

walk. And he walks with a cane, and he's gotten

so bad the last few years that when he goes to

get up or move, people almost gasp and run around

him because it looks like he's going to fall

over. He's that weak in his legs. He's barely

able to walk, honestly. And recently, he walked

into the church. And he said to me, 782 steps

yesterday. And I said, what did you say? He said,

782 steps yesterday without my cane. And he said,

I had it with me, and then all of a sudden it

dawns on me what he's saying. I haven't counted

steps in the... Hundreds for a long, long time.

I mean, last time I was counting steps, it was

my mama counting over me, and I was a little,

little boy. Hey, he's taking three steps across

the room. You know, I mean, that went out a long

time ago. But when your walk is taken from you,

then every step is significant. And that's the

point of this illustration. Every step is significant,

and that's all you need to do to make it. is

take the next step. Just take the next step.

You say, I don't know if God can keep me from

the disasters of the past. He really only has

to keep you from the disaster of today. And if

you have enough grace for right now, you're going

to make it. Because you'll have more grace tomorrow.

It'll be okay. You can do this. One step at a

time. Serve the Lord right now. One person said,

every moment is contained in this moment. We

serve God right now. Our past is in the Lord's

hands. Forgiven. Thank the Lord. How many are

thankful for the past being in? Our future is

in the Lord's hands. So about the only thing

you can do anything about is right now. So I

encourage you to stay awake and listen to the

message. That's what you have to do. Jesus is

building a strong, victorious church and the

church is able to overcome Satan's kingdom by

the power of Christ working in you dynamically,

day by day, moment by moment, step by step. We

are the people of God and we are being built

into an overcoming church. Can I hear an amen?

God blesses a unified church. Many churches have

tremendous potential but don't realize their

potential because people spend too much time

criticizing one another. Too much energy is focused

inward. And self -focus, of course, is the opposite

of God -focus. Now, so the first primary understanding

I want you to have is that Jesus is building

a strong, victorious church. The second primary

understanding I want you to have is that Satan's

primary goal is discord in the church. It's not

addiction on skid row. That's not his primary

goal. His primary goal is frustrating the instrument

of God in the earth today any way he can. And

he's just found out that one of the easiest ways

is to get people sensitive and offended and willing

to betray one another. That's just his one easiest

tool. He's figured that out. And I'm quite frankly

shocked at how prevalent this is in Christianity.

In fact, Jesus talked about it when he talked

about the last days. In Matthew 24, he said,

many people will be offended and will betray

one another. And they will hate one another.

And because, listen to this, and because this

lawlessness will increase. This lawlessness,

which lawlessness? Offended, betray, hate. Offended,

betray, hate. Offended, betray, hate. Disobedience

to Scripture. Not being willing to reconcile.

Not being willing to forgive. Not being willing

to work it out. Because that lawlessness will

increase. The love of many will wax cold. And

that's not the brotherly love. That's the agape

love. That means people will lose their love

for God because of offense and division. and

bitterness, and hatred. It's a big deal. Now,

I'm not coming here saying it's worse in Harrisburg

than it is in Meridian, Idaho at all. I'm just

saying it's a big deal everywhere. In fact, I

come here to testify to you of some of the scars

that I bear on my body in the dying of the Lord

Jesus, like Paul said, from divisive people.

Divisive people. Offended, betraying, divisive

people. I had a man leave our church one time.

And I'd known him for years, since he was a kid,

actually. We were both from the church in Portland.

And he looked at me, sitting right in my pickup,

and he said, Pastor, I'm so sorry that my wife

and my sister are offended and will not forgive.

I've begged them to let it go and to forgive.

I'm sorry. but we're just going to leave the

church. I said, why leave? Why don't we work

this out? Well, I just think it's time for me

to go do something else. Well, please, let's

don't end this way. Can I help? No, I just think

it's time. Again, there you have it. Too bad.

It's the way it is. Let's go do something else.

We can't make the Bible work in our situation

for some reason, which we don't think is the

Bible. We probably think it's our faith in the

Bible, right? Did you all go to sleep on me right

there? If we can't work it out, according to

the Bible says, is it the Bible problem or is

it the we problem? It's the we little us problem.

We can't work it out according to what the Bible

says. Our faith is small. We don't get it somehow.

We are not empowered somehow. And so here we

have one of the strong and clear teachings of

the Bible. Now, going to this, I also want to

say, in just relationship to Satan's primary

plan is to bring discord, that the Bible tells

us in Ephesians 6 that we're to put on the whole

armor of God. You know that passage. Paul is

telling the Ephesians church to put on the whole

armor of God. That you may be able to stand against

the wiles of the devil. That always reminds me

of the wily coyote chasing a rabbit. Anyway,

so you may be able to stand against the wily

coyote, the devil, for we don't wrestle against

flesh and blood, but against principalities and

powers. Now, you probably know this because you're

in a well -taught church and your pastors are

good pastors. But that Greek word for wiles of

the devil means the meticulous schemes. It's

actually translated schemes in other translations.

It means a meticulous, thought -out plan to destroy.

Did you know the devil has a meticulous thought

-out plan to destroy you? You say, man, how can

I survive that? Only one way, my friend. That's

with the Lord, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit.

And if you don't think that's true, peek out

of your window at the culture and see what's

happening to the secular culture of America right

now. We wrestle not against flesh and blood,

but against principalities and powers. We have

then to take on this armor of God so we have

an ability to stand up against the orderly, detailed

procedure in the craft of deception. The orderly,

detailed procedure in the craft of deceiving

you. I had a leader one time who came to me with

a list of beefs. But all of the beefs had people's

name attached to them. And they were spread over

10 years. And I said to him, why are we talking

about this now? He said, well, there are issues.

I said, if they were just issues, they wouldn't

have people's name attached to them. The Bible

calls that offense. You're offended with this

person for doing that. You're offended with this

person for doing that. You're offended with this

person for doing that. No, no, no, no. Listen,

here's one of the most deceptive phrases of the

devil in the church today. Are you ready for

it? I'm not offended. Oh, you're not, huh? Maybe

you... I remember the... movie, Princess Bride,

and the guy kept saying, inconceivable, inconceivable,

and finally the Spanish guy looked at him and

said, I don't think inconceivable thinks what

you mean inconceivable means. Remember that?

You that have watched old classics, I don't think

you know what inconceivable means. And I feel

like saying to the whole church, I don't think

you know what being offended means. I don't think

you know what that means. Let's ask it a different

way. Have you got any ruffled feathers with anybody

for any reason? Here's my favorite statement

about that. The Bible says, love covers a multitude

of sins. So we need the love of God, right? Poured

out in our heart by the Holy Spirit every day

and every night and all the time. And he does

that willingly if we're open to it. But it doesn't

say all sin. But, according to the scripture,

That's where forgiveness and reconciliation principles

come in. Love can cover it. And this is what

I tell people. Cover it with love if you can.

You say, how do I know if I can? If it doesn't

stay covered. Like if it comes up again and again

and again. It peeks its head out from under the

cover. And you're going, oh yeah, they hurt me.

I said, if you can't cover it with love, then

it's pretty easy. Go to the Bible which says

be reconciled. I said to this leader, why haven't

you reconciled with these people? Most of them

are staff and other leaders. This was his answer.

Think of how weak and sympathetic this is. How

deceived. He said, I've tried. Think about it.

Does the Bible say try? Is that what it says?

Give it your best Boy Scout shot. Maybe it'll

work. Maybe it won't. No, it says be reconciled.

That means get it done. Fix it, pal. Go do it.

Deal with it. I don't know how. It's the scripture.

What do you mean you don't know how? Listen to

me. Let's go back to how we started. It's not

possible for that offense to keep you shut out.

from resurrection life and power unless you will

it so. Because you are a free will agent able

to choose your moral and spiritual destiny. And

you can call upon the name of the Lord and be

saved or you can disbelieve in the Lord and be

damned according to the Bible. Just say it like

it is, my friends. Not a cuss word, a Bible word,

right? So it's our choice. So you have the power

of choice. What is addiction? Addiction is the

seduction of the human will, the yieldedness

of free moral agency. When an addicted person

gets free, what do you have to tell them they

can pick up now? Free moral agency once again.

The ability to choose. They've yielded that and

said, I don't think I can. Well, I didn't last

time and I haven't for 30 times and I guess I'm

just addicted. One of the things you have to

energize, you don't have to just take out the

addictive tendency or substance or opportunity.

You have to then say to them, start where you

were when you were 12. Before you got into all

that and recapture this thought, you can choose.

You are not a plant or an animal. You are a free

will, moral agent. birthed in the image of God

into the universe of moral choice, and you have

the power to choose. So choose life, like God

said, before you use a choice, life and death.

Choose life. How could the God of heaven and

earth and hell and the ruler of everything and

the ultimate judge of the universe say that to

people who did not have the choice? It's morally

impossible. He couldn't. Say that. He can't judge

you for that which you cannot choose. How many

ever had that happen in school? You got tagged

for something you didn't do. You got tagged for

something somebody else did. And you think, it

just ticks you off. It's unfair. You go and say,

I didn't do that. They did that. They put my

name on that paper. I didn't. It's not fair.

Well, you think the God of the universe is worse

than the blind teacher or coach or leader that

treated you unfair? You think that's the way

he is? He's worse than that? No, he's not. He's

fair. He's just. He's good. He knows what he's

doing. You say, life isn't fair. Well, I'll give

you that. It's not really fair. But God is just,

and over time, justice reigns and truth reigns.

And you'll do best, always and forever, by grabbing

onto his train and following it down the track

by your choice. So you have to choose to forgive.

You have to say, okay, I will. Here's the answer

to the I tried thing. It goes back to a little

saying we learned a long time ago. If at first

you don't, then no kidding. What does the Bible

say about that? Go with a brother. If your brother

hears you, you've gained your brother. If he

does not, take another to your brother. If he

does not. Tell it to the church. If he does not

hear the church, a step most Christians miss,

most pastors miss. If he doesn't hear the church,

what on earth does that mean? Well, the first

one meant you talk to him. And the second step

meant to talk to him. So the third step must

mean that a bunch of people talk to him. Right?

Now, if you had... Everybody in this room loved

a person sitting right here that had been here

for years. They got offended and left. And every

member of this church, core member of this church,

called them and said, please don't be offended.

Please don't leave this way. Come on, in Jesus'

name. I'm praying for you. I'm fasting one day

a week for you. You cannot fail here. I will

not let you stay offended. Well, that would be

amazing if it happened once. But it would be

1 ,000 % more amazing if it happened 100 times.

Think if it happened 150 times. Think if every

friend you ever had at this church went to you

and pleaded with you in Jesus' name. I remember

years ago we were having some pastors stay with

us for a few days. And they'd come through our

city and they were in transition. And they actually

lived there for a few months. We were having

a conversation, and Dee Dee said to this pastor's

wife, well, that lady's offended with you. And

she wheeled around and looked at her, and she

said, well, I won't let her stay offended. I'm

going to go to her. I will seek her out. I will

win her back. I will not let her stay offended

with me. And I thought to myself, now that is

a Christian attitude. Right there. A Christian

attitude. Oh, well, they're offended. Let them

go. That is a lazy, carnal. Cultural attitude.

That's an attitude of the flesh. The Christian

attitude is reconciled. Come on. Walk worthy

of the call. 1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1. Not 2 -2 -5

-5 -6 -6. Whatever you want. I've said to people,

if we treated our jobs or our marriages like

we treat the church, we would be divorced and

broke. You got to have better attitudes to keep

a job. You got to be on time more to keep a job.

You can come late to church for months without

them throwing you out. Usually. Usually. I'm

not saying that's good. I'm just saying that

is. Come on, you got to give yourself to anything

that amounts to anything. So let's give ourselves

to the Lord. Let's give ourselves to the house

of God. Let's give ourselves to the kingdom.

Let's be faithful. Let's be diligent. Let's overcome

evil with good. Let's reconcile. Let's forgive.

Let's keep it together. Come on, friends, keep

it going on. We know that churches are made up

of people and there aren't any perfect people.

My dad used to say, if I find a perfect church,

I can't join it because I'll wreck it. Because

I'm imperfect, right? So, you know, the grass

isn't greener on the other side. The pastor isn't

nicer at the other place. He's got a weak spot

too. It will rub you too. Sooner or later, you're

going to have to deal with you. But here's what

happens. People don't deal with them because

they're deceived. So they think they're all right,

and they're not offended. So they go to church

B. And that doesn't last as long as church A.

Why? Because they carried their problem with

them. Because, in fact, the problem wasn't the

church. I didn't say the church didn't have any

problems. I said the. problem was not the church.

It was their offense, their sensitivity, their

willingness to be offended. Did you hear me?

Willingness to be offended. A long time ago when

I was a young man, I think I was just married,

my brother, the one he referred to, looks older

but actually he's younger. That's just a joke.

My baby brother Dave Came to me and he said,

how are you doing? And I poured out my offense

with the leader of Bible Temple. One of the leaders

there had offended me and something had done.

And I just said, I can't believe he said this

and I can't believe he did this. And I'm pouring

out. We're just like two years out of Bible college.

And I'm just blah, blah, blah. And my brother

looked at me and he said, well, why did you let

it hurt you that bad? You know what he was doing?

He was saying, get a hold of your will, brother.

You're willing to be hurt. And you're hurting

yourself more by talking about it. And you'll

hurt yourself again when you dream about it.

And when you think about it. When you talk again

about it. You get so locked into that wound.

We're like the person that walks in with an arrow

in them. And they've had this wound so long it

becomes their identity. I'm the wounded Christian.

And if you walk up to them and bump that arrow,

they go, Ouch! Don't touch the arrow. I've had

it for years. You go, you need to take that out.

You need to take that out. You tell, don't, don't,

don't touch that out. That arrow doesn't come

out. Well, the Bible says it does. I'm different.

I had this arrow before I knew about the Bible.

How many of you have seen, how many of you have

seen the video called The Nail, or It's All About

the Nail? Seen that? The lady has the nail in

her forehead and you can't see it. And they're

arguing. She's saying, there's just something

between us I can't figure out. Says, oh, honey,

I love you. And they go to kiss and the nail

in her forehead hits him. And he says, the nail.

And she said, don't talk about the nail. It's

not the nail. Something between us. Every time

we go to kiss, it hurts. She got a nail sticking

out of her forehead. Same picture. Same picture.

You can find it on the tube if you do those kind

of things. Come on now. Are we going to get this

on and do it right as Christians? You can't be

easily offended. You know, when the Bible talks

about offense, the Greek word for offense is

the word picture of a snare, a trap. Skadzalizo,

skadzalizo, or whatever it is. I'm sorry I didn't

look it up. But anyway, it's the, it's, I speak

English, by the way. It's a snare. It's a snare.

And what is a snare? Do you know what a snare

is? That's a trap set in the brush. In a way

that the animal can't see it. On a path the animal

usually travels. Come on now. We're talking about

a meticulous plot to destroy you. So what's your

thing? Self -worth. I have to be doing something

to feel good about myself. So if I don't have

a place of service in the church. I'm of no value.

That's a problem. Your value is supposed to be

in Christ. Not in your good works. Well, I was

hurt by my dad. So I've got an authority wound

or a dad wound or whatever your thing is. Just

remember, you better know it because the devil

does. And he's strategizing on how to reach around

and touch that sore spot in this church. So you

blow out again, go to another church for a shorter

period of time. And in a few years, you don't

go to church at all. You're a burdened over has

been used to go to church. Hate them all. Their

pastors are mean. They don't love you. All they

want is money for their building. Blah, blah,

blah. blah, blah, offended person. There's so

many of them in our valley. Pastors call that

group of people the walking, wounded, unchurched.

Want to be a part of that crowd? Well, then don't.

Don't do that. Let's get practical. Ephesians

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4. Let's go down to verse 12 where he

says that the gifted ministries are for the equipping

of the saints. Everybody say, I'm a saint. For

the work of the ministry. And that means I help

train you to do your job of ministering to the

people of God. And this is a lesson on how to

keep yourself in the ministry mode. One thing

you learn as a pastor is you cannot have thin

skin. People say all manner of evils against

me falsely. And I still have a hard time rejoicing

and being glad. Even though that's what Jesus

said to do. Because they persecuted the prophets

too. So just rejoice. Count yourself honored

that they speak evil of you. I have to confess.

I don't always feel emotions of honor when that

happens. But. I think the reason pastors have

to deal with a lot of relational and verbal abuse

and things said about them, written about them.

We've got bitter bloggers that say all kinds

of wicked things about our church. We actually

rented, we actually paid, we bought a $10 ,000

internet reputation program from the biggest

company in America that defends Forbes and Fox

News and everybody else. They said, we're reputation

.com. Get those bitter bloggers off of your front

page. They worked for about two months. Called

our person in our office and said, you got a

problem. We cannot, listen to me, the biggest

company in the nation that deals with the biggest

company couldn't help our little church from

the bitterness of the body of Christ. They just

said, the guy said to our staff member on the

phone, the only thing different, the only thing

that could be worse at your church this Sunday

is if you had live picketers with signs out front.

You got it bad as it gets on the media page.

And we were just going, and you know who started

it? The daughter of the guy who sat in my truck

and said, I'm so sorry, my wife and daughter

will not forgive and get over their bitterness.

And so. I think one of the reasons that those

kind of things happen is so that I can be an

example to my people of how to just forgive and

forget, love those people anyway, pray for them.

Bible says pray for your enemies. I have a great

prayer life. I got a lot of them. I got a lot

of them to pray for. It's sad. That's very sad.

I mean, I'm laughing with you, but isn't that

sad? What's the matter with the body of Christ?

And then we're worried about our nation. We got

more Christians worried about the economy of

our nation than the spiritual condition in our

nation. Come on, don't you realize that economy

came from liberty and liberty came from Christianity.

If we lose Christianity, we lose liberty and

we lose the blessing of God on our economy. That's

the fact of the matter. We are blessed of the

Lord. And unless we get back to godliness and

a revival in America and see 50 million people

born again in the next few years, there's little

hope that you're going to have the economy you

want in the next generation. Because the blessing

of the Lord is not upon our nation right now.

But it can be. And it is upon you. So you need

to use it wisely. You need to promote it everywhere.

I like what Charles Finney said when he said

when Jesus gave the Great Commission, he gave

it to the whole church of the day. All the people

gathered there. He didn't gather Peter and James

and John. He said it to everybody. That he said

it to everybody means that anybody who is a Christian,

who calls themselves a part of the church, it

is their... obligation to make it their, listen

to me, life work to convert the world. Your life

work. What if we actually took that seriously?

People said, what do you do? Say, I'm converting

the world. You're what? Well, I'm a plumber by

trade, but I'm actually... More than that, I'm

a mighty, mighty Christian, and me and my band

of friends, we're working at the conversion of

a million people in the Willamette Valley. What

if we just had that kind of view, that kind of

faith? It's the power of the gospel. All right,

so people get into conflict with each other.

As Christians, we need to learn how to deal with

these situations. Jesus said in John 17, and

this is where I want to bring it down. Jesus

said that they may all be one. Just as you, Father,

are in me, and I in you, that they also may be

in us. Think about those words. Jesus is praying

in his high priestly prayer just before he goes

to the cross. Father, this is the scripture where

he said, I'm not praying for these alone, but

for everybody that will hear and believe because

of their words, which means all of us. Every

Christian in history from the time of the apostles.

Jesus is praying for them that, listen to these

words, that they, that's us, everybody say us.

Say one, one, one, one, one, one, one. That they

should be one, listen to the words, as we are

one. I in you and you in me. That part messes

with us. Did you know we're supposed to be that

a part of each other? We're supposed to know

each other and love each other with a pure heart

fervently. Think about that. Let the word of

God have its effect in your life today. Do you

need more love for others? Of course you do.

So do I. We all do. I think this fervency has

to do with purity. You can't love fervently.

If you're not pure in your heart. If you haven't

walked in blamelessness. Not perfection, blameless.

That means you keep yourself maintained before

the Lord. Jesus said, Father, I'm praying that

they know supernatural unity. I'm praying that

the body of Christ, listen to these words, know

the unity of the Trinity. You know what we say

about the Trinity in basic doctrine? Our statement

about the Trinity is that the Trinity is distinguishable

but indivisible. You know, three persons known

as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, like and essential

and all their attributes. And then we say this

phrase, distinguishable, however, absolutely,

totally unable. to divide. And Jesus prayed that

about you and I. Paul said in 1 Corinthians,

he said, you should all be one, have the same

mind and the same judgment. I'm telling you,

one of the things that works against this is

our individuality. Our independence. We celebrate

a day of independence for goodness sake. We grow

up being told we should be independent. And then

we grow up and find out we've got to be dependent

upon God. We've got to be dependent upon one

another. We've got to love one another. We've

got to lock arms. None of us is as good as all

of us. So let's all go together. Stay together.

Love each other. Forgive one another. Work it

out. Love the Lord. Avoid situations that cause

arguments. Teach troublemakers to repent. warn

those that cause trouble that their negative

words are hurting others, and make an appeal

for harmony and unity. Paul said in Philippians

2, I plead with Euodia and I plead with Cynthia

to agree with each other in the Lord. There were

two very strong women in the church that Paul

named who were causing so much friction in the

church that Paul pleaded with them personally

and their names got in the Bible. How would you

like your name to be in the Bible for division

and strong will? Think about it. Their names

got in the Bible. And he just said, I plead with

you women. You two strong leaders, good leaders,

love people, working hard in the ministry and

came up with the difference. I plead with you.

Come together. Stay united. Fighting in the church

doesn't just affect the combatants. It affects

the whole church and the world. Jesus said, come

together in supernatural unity so that the world

may believe. You want a revival? It starts with

your unity. You want the testimony of Christ

to be strong in the Willamette Valley? It starts

with everybody in the room says, I'm committed.

This is my house. I'm going to let my roots go

down, my fruit grow up like the Bible says. I'm

not going to be waved and pushed around. I'm

not going to be offended if I hear somebody talk

and smack about somebody else. I'm going to go

and say, hey, you shouldn't talk that way. I

don't get a spirit of faith and joy and fervent

love of the brethren out of this conversation.

Come on now. Let's not be doing that. You say,

well, hey, pastor, you need to go talk to so

-and -so. Go talk to so -and -so yourself. What's

your problem? You're supposed to be the person

in the ministry. It's not the pastor's job to

do that. It's your job to do that. You go up

to your brother or your wife or your son or your

daughter or anybody. Say, well, I'm not going

to do that in my family. Why? Jesus said, come

on, I didn't bring peace but a sword. What is

the sword of Christ in the gospel? It's a sword

between those who obey and those who will not.

And it doesn't matter who they are relationally

to you. If you don't obey Christ and stand for

the truth in those times, then you deny Christ

and you stand with the devil's strategy to undermine

and destroy the church. You cannot do that. Remember,

one of the things that God hates, and I have

enough problems with me and the devil. I don't

need any hatred from God coming my way. If you

get my meaning. One of the things that God hates

is a person that sows discord among the brethren.

Killing people with small talk. Well, I heard.

Did you hear? You get this. Love for juicy morsels.

The Bible categorically condemns that. It condemns

it. It says don't do that. Don't slander. Don't

be a busybody. Don't gossip. Don't spread an

evil report. You know what an evil report is?

Truth. True facts. True events. True things.

Spoken with the kind of doubt that destroys faith

in the vision or the leader. That is what Numbers

13 calls an evil report. Don't be going around

giving an evil report about the pastor, about

something more. Well, I didn't. I just said a

lot of blah, blah, blah. I had a guy come to

me. I had to confront him. I gave him a whole

list. I gave him all the Bible words it says

to avoid. I said, I've had several men come to

me and say that you've been saying things critical,

negative, and you need to talk to me. Two men

have told me they've sent you to me. You haven't

come yet. I'm coming to you. What's the problem?

Pastor, I have no problem with you. We're brothers.

I love you. I just opened up the page. Don't

slander. Don't gossip. Don't be a busybody. Don't

spread evil reports. I had the whole page with

scriptures and definitions. I said, read this

for your devotions with your wife. I said to

him, I said, if you love me and you're not saying

critical things of me, why do other people say

to me they feel like when you talk, they've been

vomited on? You know what that did? Made him

mad at that guy. Okay, now he's getting some.

Of his own medicine. He's vomited on him. He

tells me, I think I got vomited on by him. He

needs to talk to you. And I told him, I give

him a week. In eight days, I go to him and I

say, quit vomiting on people. And he gets mad

at the guy that he vomited on because he told

about the vomit to the pastor who had to confront

him for the vomit. Come on now. I'd say that's

strategy. Come on. How many of you want to be

a mighty, mighty Christian? How many of you want

to see a mighty revival in our land? How many

of you say, I'm going to give myself to love

covering everything? What love can't cover, forgiveness

and reconciliation will. I just close with this

statement of unity. It is that worked for and

carefully guarded quality brought about by the

convictional habit of biblical forgiveness and

reconciliation, which God has promised to bless.

He's promised on this particular part of Christianity,

he'll bless you. If you work it out. I love you.

I'm proud of you. I'm praying for a biblical

supernatural unity that will command a blessing

and will command a harvest to come in to this

house. Because Jesus said in John 17, Father,

I give them the glory that you've given me that

they may be one. Could it be that Jesus' prayer

was not that we glorify ourself with ministry,

but we glorify ourself with unity? We always

think I need to do something great for God. Maybe

you need to be something great for God. Unified

together. And one, one, one, one, one, one, one.

God bless you. I love you. Come on, let's give

him a big hand. Thank you, Mark. Pastor Mark,

great work. If you are interested in hearing

other podcasts or contacting Life Bible Church,

go to www .lifebiblechurch .org or call us at

541 -995 -8282.