How to Deal with Conflict Biblically - Pastor Rob Urban

Welcome to Logan City Christian Church podcast where we bring God's Word to you weekly.

We pray that what you hear will bring clarity to your situation and open doors in your life.

Enjoy the message.

By love and restoration, I want you to keep that if you can in the forefront of your mind

that everything I'm about to read and say the motive, the foundation of it, the end

game is restoration.

Amen.

So if you're in a situation now where things need to be restored, know this that the Word

of God will lead us to that place where it can happen.

You excited?

Amen.

Praise the Lord.

So some of these things that I will be sharing today have come over from nearly 30 years

in ministry that things I've noted and written down and speaking with a lot of different

people and I've seen what works and I've seen what does not work and what I'm sharing

with you today works 100%.

It works 100%.

But sometimes it just takes time.

It just takes time.

I'd like to start with Matthew chapter 5 verse 9.

Matthew 5:9

It says, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.

And so we are all expected to be peacemakers.

So how do you make peace?

You're going to find out as we go through but a peacemaker, Jesus says that they're

blessed.

Jesus didn't say that a peacekeeper is blessed.

He said blessed are the peacemakers.

So if we're trying to keep peace, we're going to wear ourselves out trying to keep peace.

But when Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers, because what does it say for they shall be

called sons of God?

Why does the word say that?

Why did Jesus say that they should be called the sons of God?

You know, what it is is that Jesus is saying, look at this.

This person in an area of conflict, because of their love for the other person, they're

going to challenge a few things for the sake of future peace.

That's what a peacemaker is.

And it needs to be done in the right spirit, but they're the ones that are blessed.

I'd like to go straight to Matthew chapter 18 from verse 15.

Matthew 18 · chapter mention

Now remember this is Jesus speaking.

So this is not left open to someone's interpretation, or this is Jesus speaking.

And he says from verse 15 of Matthew chapter 18, moreover, if your brother, when it says

Matthew 18 · chapter mention

brother, that's any person that was in the Christian community that you associate with,

and sometimes that can involve family or work colleagues if we're in the faith.

Now what I'm reading today, they are spiritual laws.

And so spiritual laws can work outside of the Christian faith as well, dealing in a

secular sense, because the word of God, it has a direction and it has a mission, and

it is very, very important.

So it says here, moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault

between you and him alone, and if he hears you, you have gained your brother.

Now let's just stop there for a sec, because if you go back to verse 10, it's speaking

about what do you think, sorry, verse 12, if a man has 100 sheep and one of them goes

astray, does he not leave the 99 and go to the mountains and seek the one that is straying?

And if he should find it, surely I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than

the other 99 that did not go astray.

So this whole thing here is speaking about restoration, and that is the mission.

And so whenever we deal with conflict, we must always remember our motive.

What is our motive?

Is our motive to get revenge?

Is our motive to, I'll give them what for?

And just remember this, if you set out on a journey of revenge, dig two graves, because

you're going to need one for you.

The devil does not miss anybody.

So he says, moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between

you and him alone, and if he hears you, you have gained your brother.

And so this is the biblical instruction.

So say there's a conflict and the person has done whatever they've done, notice that this

is initiated by the offended person or the person who has been wounded.

And so if you're in a place where you've been wounded, there is an expectation that we are

to initiate the process of reconciliation.

Now we're going to see a little bit later on, this is not always welcomed, but yet we

need to try.

So here it is.

It says to go to him or her or to that person alone and go and tell them the fault between

you two.

But this is sometimes what happens, is that a conflict arises and a person may get their

telephone and dial their friend and say, look, I'm just letting you know because it's, I

just need you to pray because there's a situation and tell you, I don't know, can you just do

that for me?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.

Next person.

Hello.

Yeah, I just got a bit of a problem and I normally wouldn't tell you, but I'm just telling

you because I need you to pray and you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Next person, next person, next person.

The next thing you know, this biblical model has been violated and there's no way that

we should or could expect a biblical result because the Bible says that if a problem arises

that we go to the person, ourself, that doesn't, when it says alone, alone means by yourself.

Alone doesn't mean with your best friend.

Alone doesn't mean with anybody else, it's just you and that person and then it says

something really amazing that it could seem confronting but it says, go and tell him his

fault between you and him alone.

So in other words, let him know what has happened and the reason why you're there is simply

because you want to see this resolved.

Why?

Because you love them.

You love them.

Praise the Lord.

So go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

You know, it's a sad thing that what if a person then, they went and told the person

the fault and told a whole heap of other people and then the brother or sister decides like,

you know what, I need to get this right and they come back together and they're reconciled

and they're praising God and next thing you know, they're in the company of the people

that the first person had told everybody and this person finds out that everybody knew.

This happens probably a little bit more than we may realize and this is why Jesus said,

when a problem arises, go and see the person, just you and them and nobody else and so when

that relationship is reconciled, nobody else knows.

No one else knows about it and the devil has got nothing to work with.

Amen.

And you know, by and large, I've seen the majority of relationships restored, the vast

majority this way and it has a great outcome.

Verse 16 starts with the word but.

But, in other words, as Jesus is saying here, it's not the end of the story.

While that is a good outcome, it's not always the outcome.

Verse 16 says, but if he will not hear you, take with you one or two more that by the

mounds of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

And so, we need to take the right people.

I could say a lot about this but I need to move on.

But if he refuses to hear them, so he hasn't heard you and he hasn't heard the two witnesses,

then what do you do?

It says here, then if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.

Now, telling it to the church is not standing up with the microphone and telling the entire

congregation what's happened.

Telling it to the church is speaking about, you speak to the leadership, to the pastoral

care that is watching over the souls of a congregation.

And so, then it needs to go to that place so that you are now relieved from the burden

of that stress that it is now in other people's hands that can take it somewhere.

You see, that is really important that we take things like this up, not out.

Up meaning we take it to someone or people that have a spiritual accountability and responsibility

to be able to deal with things like that but don't take it out to go tell everybody because

once that happens, it's like shaking a pillow full of feathers on a windy day on the top

of a mountain and then someone says you need to pick every one of those feathers back up.

How many of us know we're never going to be able to find them?

And so too are the words that we say.

If our words are not measured and our words are not wholesome, that's what happens.

So we need to be very careful.

Obviously, we need to ensure that we are not in the wrong to start with, that, you know,

it's often good to really reflect within our self but usually our motive and wanting to

be reconciled tells the story.

That if we truly desire relationship with that person, we will be honest within our

self, otherwise it's futile.

But then it says here and if it refuses to hear them, tell it to the church but if it

refuses to hear the church or hear the elders, now this is saying something that really by

and large in Christian circles is ignored and this is where it goes wrong.

This is where it really goes wrong.

Now what I'm about to read to you, you'll probably think, my Lord, really?

I can't do that.

But Jesus said it and He said it because there's a reason for it.

Are you with me this morning?

So here's this person that has done something, you've gone to them and they don't want to

hear a word that you're saying so you take two other people with you and they still don't

want to hear it and then you take it to the leaders of the church and they speak with

the person and they don't want to hear the leaders of the church.

This is what Jesus said.

He said if He refuses even to hear the church, let Him be to you like a heathen and a tax

collector.

And when you look at that, you just think, really?

Let Him be to you like a heathen, like an unsaved person and a tax collector, Republican

or whatever.

But it didn't say treat them like that.

It said let them be to you like.

It's not that they are, it's their behavior is like.

So therefore, because their behavior is no longer resembling Christian virtue, Jesus

is saying you cannot use verse 15's model of approach now on a person who doesn't want

to hear.

You can't use biblical principles as such to approach a person that doesn't want to

hear you, that doesn't want to hear the two witnesses, that doesn't want to listen to

the council of the elders of the church.

Jesus is saying, guys, you need to understand you're dealing with a different kind of person

with a different mindset and the initial approach is not going to work so you have to do something

different.

Are you with me so far?

Amen?

Amen.

This is exciting because I believe that the Word of God empowers us and how many of us

know that in attempts to try and be reconciled and sort out indifferences or whatever, or

differences, that we've made things worse.

Is there anybody here that has done that?

Oh come on, there must be more than just me and a few others.

You know, it happens because we try, our heart is, we want to be reconciled and then sometimes

when a person doesn't carry the same heart to be reconciled as you, anything you say

is stacked against you.

So we need to be very wise.

We need to know when to stop and we need to know when to re-engage a different principle,

a different avenue, a different approach.

Now does the Bible give a different approach on how to work on being reconciled to people

who will no longer listen?

Yes, it does.

It has a lot to say and I believe that if we just simply stick to what the Bible teaches,

we see the outcome what the Bible promises.

So please be assured that we are not to treat them like an unsaved person and a tax collector

and that's not what it's saying.

It's saying we need to be aware that that behaviour, you're not going to win, you're

not going to get through by that approach of just sitting down wanting to talk.

They don't want to talk.

So how do you reach a person that doesn't want to talk?

Let me show you another warning that the Bible gives and it's in Matthew chapter 7.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

I'll read from verse 1 as I think it's very important.

It says, judge not that you may not be judged.

Judging is probably one of the primary causes of relationship breakdown.

For what judgment you judge, you will be judged and with the measure you use it will be measured

back to you.

It's what I was saying about before that if we're going to judge people or you know,

not to get back at people, dig two graves before you start because it's coming back.

And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye and do not consider the plank in your

own eye?

Or how can you say to your brother, let me remove the speck from your eye and look at

the plank in your own eye?

Here it is.

If we're going to approach someone to be reconciled, the initial step, we need to do a lot of soul

searching ourselves to make sure we don't have a plank in our eye trying to remove the

speck in someone else's eye.

That is our personal responsibility and this is very important.

Jesus actually called them hypocrites in verse 5.

In other words, He's saying you're play acting, you're pretending to be someone that you're

not.

He says, first remove the plank from your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove

the speck from your brother's eye.

Now listen to this.

I mentioned before about what do we do once a person doesn't want to listen to you to

be reconciled?

What do you do when they don't listen to the two witnesses that you bring?

And what do you do when they won't listen to the council of the church?

What do you do?

Let me show you what you don't do.

Do not give what is holy to the dogs and cast your pearl before swine.

Listen to this.

Lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces.

You see it's saying here, do not give what is holy.

What is holy?

Like the word of God, the principles of God, one's attempts at being reconciled in the

spirit of love.

If a person is not responding within the Christian spirit, the Bible here is saying that these

people it relates to, now they're not dogs and they're not pigs.

It's just a term that is being used for people who are unresponsive to God's ways.

So it says here, don't give what is holy to the dogs.

In other words, your attempts when they've not listened to anybody and they're not listening

to godly counsel, if you try and continue bringing godly counsel to them over and over

and over, they're going to trample it under their foot because it's not what they want

to hear.

And we can be the people to make the situation worse by provoking and aggravating, thinking

we're doing the right thing because our motive is restoration.

But Jesus is saying here, don't do that.

The person is at a different place.

They may be going through personal things in their life.

Be understanding, just know that continually, you know, giving scripture or saying this

or that, the other, you know, holy things, they're not reading it, they're not wanting

it and so it's considered to be trampled on the ground.

It's not worth anything to them at the time.

And it says, don't cast your pearl before swine.

In other words, pearls of wisdom and all of your attempts at wanting to be reconciled,

it's not going to work because we cannot use the procedure of Matthew 18, 15 to just go

and see your brother in the Abba tour with a person that is in this state.

We are only going to aggravate it more and more.

So it says here, if we continue to do that, they trample them under their feet and listen

to this, and they turn and tear you to pieces.

And this is where conflict can go to a level that is just, you think, this is unbelievable.

So sometimes we, by wanting to do the right thing, have provoked it.

Now, we didn't start the problem, but we need to be wise as to follow carefully what the

scriptures say how to handle conflict biblically.

Amen?

Amen.

So, handling it biblically.

Let me find myself here.

I've got a few notes written down here.

Second Corinthians chapter 10, verse 3 and 4, for though we walk in the flesh, we do

2 Corinthians 10:3

not war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare and our carnal, but mighty

in God for the pulling down of strongholds.

So in other words, the way we approach it is not from a natural perspective or a natural

level.

It needs to be God's wisdom.

That stronghold will only be pulled down when we find God's heart in the matter and His

process in the matter.

That's the only way.

Ephesians 6, 12, where we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities,

against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness

and heavenly places.

Now, while this is not an excuse for bad behavior, it's a reason.

We need to remember that.

It's a reason why things are going on.

We got to remember while dealing with this, when it turns into a situation that has really

escalated, that we are no longer dealing with a person that has been able to maintain a

reasonable mindset, if you like.

So a different approach is required.

What I'm about to share with you now may seem like I've left this subject and going to another,

but please stay with me because what I have to share now is very helpful, extremely helpful.

Because where it says that they turn and tear you to pieces, this is not physical.

This is spiritual and it's emotional.

Where it says that they turn and tear you to pieces is that they use anything they can

find against you to tell other people to destroy you.

That's what happens.

You see the tearing, if you can imagine that totally destroying a person, so their way

of coping with it is that you have to be eliminated or you have to be exposed for whoever they

think that you are.

When it reaches that level, it's incredibly dangerous and we need to be extremely wise

on how to deal with it.

Because we are natural people, we're human beings, we have reason, we have emotions,

and we sometimes will want to deal with things in our own way.

But if it's not God's way, it's not going to work.

But we do need to have awareness in what's going on, you know, know the enemy.

The enemy is not the person, it's the spirit behind it.

And so our mission is to be restored.

But we need to know the process of what's happening so we know what to do.

If you can turn with me to Proverbs chapter 26.

Proverbs 26 · chapter mention

I'm going to use a word here a little bit and the word is tail bearer.

And the connection between dealing with a person that turns and tears you to pieces

and a tail bearer are the same.

It's a person that has become incredibly infuriated for whatever reason and they take on the mission

of wanting to destroy you.

And they will do that, they will accomplish that if we still think that Matthew chapter

Matthew 18:15

18 verse 15 is going to fix it.

We need to employ a different strategy and the Bible gives it very clearly here.

Now the work of a tail bearer is very clever.

Listening from verse 17 of Proverbs 26, he who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not

his own is like one who takes a dog by the ears.

Have you ever tried to restrain a dog like a dog savage dog?

I've had the privilege of doing that numerous times.

I had a mobile mechanical run for a number of years and many times your customers would

say look we're at work, the dog's chained up and you just go in the yard and on the

property and how many of you know that working dogs can be savage?

And you know you get there and they forgot to tie the dog up you realise well you've

got one hanging off your leg.

So somehow you've got to get the dog off you and your hands are bitten, your legs are bitten,

your clothes are torn, it's messy, it's painful and there's a lot of down time involved when

you have to deal with that.

But see here the person that's meddling in a quarrel not his own or in strife not his

own wasn't just the picture is not that they're just walking along and go oh look at this,

there's a quarrel, let me see if I can help, no.

What it is a tale bearer has already been there first, a tale bearer has enticed them,

has fuelled them, has given them their story and then they go well let me fix that up and

then they go in and start meddling in a quarrel or strife that are not their own and the Bible

is saying don't do that because it's exactly like trying to grab a dog by the ears and

you're going to come off second best.

It says like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows and death is the man who deceives his

neighbour and says I was only joking.

That word firebrands is the very same meaning in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 16 about the

Ephesians 6:16

fiery darts, they're a mission to destroy and so everything that we read here is that

you would be the target and so like a madman who throws these things and arrows and death

is the man who deceives his neighbour, the neighbour is speaking about the person who

they are actually doing it to and then when they find out that you know you tell them

exactly what's going on they go I was only joking.

No you weren't really joking because you took the bait and what do we do now?

You see tale bearers use lies and half truths to draw people on their team and they pull

out the victim card, it's very convincing and look at what they did to me.

You see a lie can travel halfway around the world while truth is still putting on its

shoes, isn't that true?

And see tale bearers are really good manipulators, they can lie, they can cheat, they can treat

you badly and some may manage to make it all look like it's your fault, can anyone say

amen to that?

So it's wise to stay away from people who act like the victim and the problem they created

can I say that one again?

It's wise to stay away from people who act like the victim and the problem they created,

you are never going to win there needs to be a different approach.

A tale bearer covets two things from people, one is empathy, the second is action, empathy

draws in the new recruit, action is what they entice them to do.

And I have done this to my own hurt and I have supported a tale bearer not knowing they

were a tale bearer at the time and it comes back on you.

There's a saying that says mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent and I realised

how much damage I caused to the innocent party because I believed a tale bearer.

Let me tell you they are very convincing, very, very convincing.

Listen to this, how do you deal with a tale bearer, how do you deal with a person that

has reached that point, they do not want to be reconciled, they have turned on you and

tearing you to pieces, what do you do, what do we do?

Here it is, verse 20 of Proverbs 26, where there is no wood the fire goes out and where

there is no tale bearer strife ceases.

As charcoal is to burning coals and wood to fire so is the contentious man to kindle strife.

So how do we deal with it?

Don't say anything.

You see the tale bearer needs information, the tale bearer needs substance, they need

the last thing that you've said and they will turn that against you and they use it for

their support network that they've created to come against you.

And sometimes in the goodness of our heart we can want to keep stepping into that arena

and saying to them, look, let's sort this out, let's do this, let's do that, let's try

and do this and then something will be said, it may be minor and they will take that and

convert it into something you never ever said.

So how do we deal with a tale bearer?

A tale bearer is a slanderer.

A slanderer is a person that will use information and manipulate it against you to utterly destroy

your character.

That's what a tale bearer is.

And so the answer is, don't give any more wood to be burnt.

Don't give any more coals to the fire.

Step back from the situation, step right back from it, keep our mouth closed and realise,

hang on a minute, what I'm doing is not working.

There must be another approach and there is.

And so, you know, here is a saying, a fish with its mouth closed never gets caught.

Is that true?

It's only when the fish opens its mouth and takes the bait, it's the same what a...

A tale bearer is a very good spiritual fisher people.

But if we keep our mouth closed, we're not going to get the hook and we're not going

to be caught.

And so where there is no wood, the fire goes out.

And as I said, sometimes from the goodness of our heart, we may be thinking we're doing

the right thing and we're doing the wrong thing.

Sometimes we can think we're so right yet be so wrong.

Sometimes we think that I've got to do everything I can to restore this broken relationship

or strained relationship.

But sometimes we've got to acknowledge maybe I've done everything that I can and what I'm

doing now is too much and causing more damage than good.

So there's a time to withdraw, there's a time to step back, there's a time to stop putting

wood on the fire, there's a time to stop giving coals, let the fire burn out and then if you

and I don't say anymore that we step back from that situation, that fire goes out, people

run out of things to say.

And how many of us know that time can heal a lot of things?

Sometimes people forget what the original argument was because it's been embellished

so much over the years.

You see, there are some fires in life that we have to stamp out but there are some fires

in life we have to let burn out.

Let them burn.

And once they've burned out, there's nothing left to burn.

And usually once it's burnt out, that's when God will move to stage two.

And I want to get to that in just a moment.

You see our motive behind all of this is restoration, yet it doesn't look like it in the beginning

at all.

It goes on to say that verse 22, the words of a tale bearer are like tasty trifles.

Who likes trifles?

Who likes little cakes?

Oh come on, there must be more than that here today.

But it says that their words are just like that.

They're tasty.

And they go down into the innermost body, in other words, they're considered to be truth.

Whatever they say, they're good at what they say.

Fervent lips with a wicked heart and earthenware covered with silver dross.

He who hates disguises it with lips and lays up to seat within himself and when he speaks

kindly, do not believe him.

There's a plan being devised there.

Is that clear about not giving it any more oxygen, don't give it any more wood, don't

give it any more coals?

You'll find that the majority of the problems will start to settle.

We can, from the goodness of our heart, think that we ought to fix it.

But we need to realise, has what we've done so far worked or has it made it worse?

And if it's making it worse, we need to employ a different strategy.

The first one is stop giving it fuel.

Remain silent.

Keep our mouth closed.

When texts come and messages come and phone calls come, don't react to it and certainly

do not respond to it.

It only makes it worse.

A peacekeeper will do that for the sake of future peace.

Amen?

Oh sorry, a peacemaker.

Thank you, Margaret.

Thank you, Margaret.

Sometimes you've just got to walk away.

But unfortunately, sometimes people interpret your walking away as cutting them off and

that's by far the furtherest thing from the truth.

Furtherest.

Cutting people off is the easiest thing to do.

People do that when they have no heart for reconciliation.

But when people walk away, it's because they want reconciliation and they've realised

that it's not going to happen the way things are going now.

And a peacemaker will walk away.

A peacemaker will hold their peace.

A peacemaker will withdraw from the problem for a season.

Amen?

It's usually during our time of absence when God begins to work.

When He can get us out of the way, then God can begin to work.

Our absence gives time for truth to surface and it liberates those that were caught in

the web of lies to start with and they see what's really going on.

Sometimes we restore relationships by doing nothing.

Does that make sense?

Let God do it?

Just walk away, you've shared your heart, you've tried your best, you've made your

peace, at least tried to.

But listen to this.

These are some of the things that I've written down over the last 30 years of things that

really stuck out to me and I've noticed and I've been able to reuse these things throughout

ministry and I've written them down.

I'm going to share them with you today.

Some people notice your reaction of detachment and never consider how their actions led to

that decision.

Sometimes you've just got to do what you know you need to do.

It may not be interpreted as that, but you know in your own hearts what you need to do

because your heart is for the relationship to be restored.

Perhaps an introspect can often provide deeper understanding than endless discussion.

How true is that?

How true is that?

Just walk away and come out from under that.

They say a fool is known by his speech and a wise man by his silence.

I didn't understand that until a few years back as to exactly what that means.

Sometimes your value isn't realized until your absence is felt.

God needs us to create a place of absence when there's strife at that level.

It's not that you don't love them, you do.

It's not that you don't care for them, you do.

It's just you're not adjusting your boundaries to accommodate the disrespect anymore.

That's what we're doing.

Because nowhere in the Bible does it say that any of us have to tolerate abuse from anybody.

Nowhere.

But the Bible does show us how to react or respond, I should say, to that.

You know, there's a saying that says that I didn't walk away to teach you a lesson.

I walked away because I learnt my lesson.

But what I've been trying to do hasn't been working, so I need to place some distance

in the situation, a big gap, and then pray and believe God is going to take that place

of absence and start to work firstly in our own heart.

Always pray.

Listen to me.

If there's conflict going on, always pray, first your first, my first prayer should be

God.

It doesn't rise up to anything that I don't see.

First, first, and then pray and believe that God is going to restore this relationship.

You see, the prodigal son came to his senses.

It wasn't by any counsel of man.

It was in the absence of his father that he found himself in a very lonely, dry place.

He was hungry, he was cold.

And circumstances, God allowed him to reach that place.

The father didn't go running after him, the father didn't go giving him counsel, the father

didn't do any of that, the father stayed home.

There's a lot of wisdom in this.

And when the prodigal came to the end of himself by himself, he came back with a changed heart.

That's what we're aiming for.

You see, remaining silent is so powerful.

It's not you're ignoring them, you're just not giving opportunity for the situation to

escalate.

And we do it because we love them.

We do it because we're hoping to see it restored.

Jesus, when he was betrayed and he stood before the governor and Pilate and others, it says

that he opened not his mouth.

Isn't that something?

So why would Jesus not open his mouth when he's standing before the rulers of the land

of that time?

I'll tell you why.

Because Jesus came into that time of being questioned as to who he is.

He already knew who he was long before that day.

And so here he comes under another authority, a human authority.

And they're asking him to answer them.

And Jesus didn't answer them for the simple reason that he did not want to come under

their authority.

He did not want to come under their questioning, their ruling, because it was ungodly.

And this is what silence does.

It gives you or me that peace that when there's conflict going on and we step back and you

remain silent, you find then that you are no longer under the authority of your accuser.

You're free.

And I believe it is so important to find that place because that's where God speaks to us

too.

That where there's no, you know, tit for tat, no fighting, no texting, no emails and crossing

over, no, you've stepped out and you have found a place of peace.

And it's in that place of peace that we begin to pray.

It's in that place of peace that God may address some things in our lives that we haven't got

right.

We need to find that place of peace.

Or some people see it as you cutting them off and it's not.

We're doing this for the future sake of peace.

We're doing this because what we've been doing is not working.

I've employed another strategy.

I'm not arguing, I'm not engaging anymore, I'm not putting any more wood on the fire.

I'm not giving any more coals to be burnt so that fire...

I'm actually doing the opposite, if I can keep this thing closed, then therefore that

fire is going to starve of fuel.

And when that fire starts to die down and then it's down to ashes, nothing but ashes,

that's when people...

God can start ministering to people.

And we are the ones that can initiate that.

Yes, it's often interpreted as something different, but you know in your heart that I'm doing

this because I know it's right.

You see, it's not about who is right and who is wrong.

That's where arguments start.

But if we could come to the middle and find out what is right and do what is right, it's

no longer about who's right, who's wrong.

It's about what is right.

And the Bible shows us clearly what is right, what the right approach is.

And if we simply just follow that, we will begin to see God move.

Isn't that awesome?

So as I close, I'd just like to mention it would be wrong for me to assume that every

person here today have made their peace with God.

Maybe you're in church for the first time today.

That's great.

You've made a great choice.

But do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?

Have you ever, ever encountered God?

I was 30 years of age when I got saved.

And I had no idea that all of this existed.

I had no idea.

Find a place of great peace and joy.

Sometimes people go to church because they're experiencing problems or you made the right

decision.

Sometimes we're just looking for peace or you'll find peace with Christ.

But there's one thing that needs to be done that I don't believe is spoken about enough

today in the hour that we're living in.

That the Bible says that a person must be born again.

When we are born again, born again means that when we were born as a little baby, we were

born with a nature to sin.

No matter how hard we try to be good, we always have that tendency to do wrong.

We were born with it.

We inherited it from Adam.

But Jesus came to fix that up.

When you and I come to Christ and we ask Jesus to change our life, to come into our life,

He does exactly that.

But He also gives us a new nature.

No longer do we have a nature of sin.

We have a nature of righteousness.

And there, and that's the only way that you will find anywhere where any human being can

make their peace with God.

And that is through Jesus Christ.

The price He paid on the cross at Calvary was not in vain.

That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, the Bible says, He shall be saved.

You will be accepted by God regardless of what's happened in your life.

You will be saved.

You will be accepted.

You will be accepted into the family of God and God will treat you as His own child.

How good is that?

But it doesn't happen automatically.

People don't end up in heaven by accident.

It's by choice.

And we choose.

You chose to come here today.

And today maybe you might choose to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Maybe you're here today and you've been away from God for a while and you want to make

things right and back with God today.

Would you allow me to give you this opportunity this morning?

That you don't have to stand up.

You don't have to do anything.

I'm just going to pray a very simple prayer that I prayed years ago when I got saved in

our dining room at 2 a.m. in the morning.

I'd had a big day on substance and I remember saying to Chantelle, oh, maybe I need to get

changed and wear something a little bit more acceptable to God.

And I remember she says, no, you just come as you are.

Just how many have been saved in their pajamas?

Anybody?

Anybody here today?

Oh, one.

Do we have two?

God doesn't care.

I've led guys to the Lord in greasy overalls before.

God wants your heart.

That's what he wants.

And if you give him your heart today, I tell you, your life will change.

If you really want Christ today, you're looking for a change of life.

You want to get close with God.

This is how you do it.

Would you pray this prayer after me?

And now this prayer is going to invite Christ into your life.

It's not the end result.

It's the beginning of many steps that you're going to take, but it's surely a good step

to take that you will be accepted by Christ.

Would you pray after me with your voice?

Father God, I come to you in the name of Jesus.

I believe in my heart and I confess with my mouth that you, Jesus, are the Son of God

and you died for me.

God, you raised him from the dead for me.

This day, I ask you, Jesus, to save me.

I call on the name of Jesus to save me.

I turn away from everything I know is wrong and I turn to you, Jesus.

Thank you for accepting me and saving me.

Amen.

Now, if you've made that commitment today for the first time, why don't you just throw

your hand straight up quickly?

Anybody else?

I see that hand there.

Praise the Lord.

Is there anybody else?

There's another hand up the back, another one over there.

Praise God.

Another one over there.

Praise the Lord.

Another one here.

Praise God.

Are there any more?

You see, Christ loves you.

He really does.

He really, really does.

What I'd like to do, would you be so bold that if you could come out, I want to pray

a blessing in your life that God will bless you more than you could ever, ever imagine.

Would you be okay to do that?

Be bold.

We don't have any lions out here, so you're safe.

Just come out.

Would you come out?

Just come out.

I want to pray a blessing.

Yeah, praise God.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus.

Hallelujah.

Wow.

This is just awesome.

Just awesome.

Darling, would you like to come?

Just Pastor Francisco, Pastor Gus, Jackie, would you guys link hands together?

Would that be okay?

And we're going to pray for you guys because this is a turning point.

You know that when I got saved, I didn't have any, I had no idea that I'd be doing this

ever.

But I needed Christ.

We all need Christ, whether we're in a situation or not.

We need Him.

And today, from today, your life is going to change so much.

So much for the better.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the way it is now, but it's going to change

incredibly.

The thing that you're going to notice most is an incredible peace that will never leave

you ever, ever, ever.

A peace, an inner peace.

And that's Jesus.

That is the evidence of Christ in you, the peace.

Amen.

So we're going to pray.

But this decision you've made today is the first step of many to come.

So what I mean by that.

Yes, today you've received it, you're receiving Christ.

You will be a Christian, you'll be born again.

But then there are steps that we need to learn how to maintain that.

And so what we call is discipleship.

So you come together with a person, say one of us or whoever, and we take you through

some steps and to introduce you to the beginnings and moving through the steps of what it is

to be a Christian.

And it's just great.

It's just I really want to congratulate you all.

Now, you've all asked Christ into your life, otherwise you wouldn't be out here.

So what I want to do now is to pray a blessing that the Holy Spirit is going to come upon

you and is going to empower you and truly do amazing things in your life.

Water baptism is, I believe, your next step.

And we can organize that for you.

It's a great time of the year to be water baptized, hey, right in the middle of winter.

Praise the Lord.

Anyways, let's Father in the name of Jesus, Church, you can pray with me too.

In the name of Jesus, we present these people to you today that have just come and committed

their lives to you.

Holy Spirit, we ask that you would touch them.

Feel them.

Empower them.

In the name of Jesus.

In the name of Jesus.

Now, I'm going to lay hands on you all individually that what we do in the Bible, we pray for

you and there's impartation.

But what will happen is some one of the guys here are going to if it's OK, just maybe in

the back room there, they want to give you a little gift.

It's a bag.

It hasn't got lollies in it.

I'm sorry, but it's got Bibles and all this stuff.

Everything you need to be able to get started.

Amen.

So you ready?

Because the Spirit of God is really going to bless your life.

Amen.

Would you like to pray with me with everyone?

So, OK, if I, yeah, OK, Father in the name of Jesus, that the power of God touch this

woman of God.

We bind and break every assignment of the devil that's ever tried to hinder her, that

those assignments be destroyed right now in Jesus name.

Holy Spirit, Lord, show her the freedom, the forgiveness that is here right now in Jesus

name, in Jesus name.

You know this, I just had a word from God.

He said, Sissy Lord said this to me.

You don't have a past.

You don't have one.

That's for all of us from today.

You're free.

How good is that?

New day.

Lord, in the name of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Lord, that you would feel

this young man of God that has given his life to you today and Lord, that he would walk

strong in the ways that you have before him and Lord, that you would set him alight in

the spirit in Jesus mighty name, in Jesus mighty name.

Father, the power of the Holy Spirit to fill this woman of God, fill her, we pray in the

name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus.

Father God, that great peace, peace be her portion.

We thank you.

This young man of God in the name of Jesus, by the power of the Spirit of God, that you

would fill him and bless him in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus.

We all say amen.

Amen.

Wow.

Praise God.

God bless you guys.

Some of the leaders, Jackie, oh, you got it Gus, yeah.

God bless you.

Amen.

You know, I was just ready to close, but Spirit of God had just spoken to me just now, said,

I want you to pray to break the power of accusation of people's lives.

So there's obviously times when many of us have been through conflict of some kind and

when people accuse you of things or, you know, things you haven't even done, that can stick

sometimes.

It really can.

Sometimes we learn to coexist carrying these things that aren't even true.

And we can begin to believe that those lies and it can redirect your path for the rest

of your life.

I know some people that wouldn't get into ministry because of it.

Once they had this accusation destroyed off their life, they just came alive, been Christians

for years and their life just started to blossom.

Now you'll know what I'm talking about as I'm speaking.

If you know that, you will know that there's been like a false verdict, accusation or whatever

on your life.

Whoever those people are, if you could come very quickly, because when the Spirit of God

raises that up, we need to move, I feel, need to move.

Would you come out?

Would you just come out?

There must be quite a few because I sense in my spirit that that's exactly what's happening.

Harsh words, judgments against you and all these sorts of things.

As good Christians, we, you know, we say, oh, we forgive them and that sort of thing.

And we do.

We do forgive people.

But sometimes when mud is thrown, it sticks.

And today is going to be a deliverance from these accusations.

We know that the devil himself is the accuser of the brethren and he accuses us before God

day and night and he won't quit.

But you know, when a person comes under that and starts accusing people, guess what?

It is a lot more spiritual than you'll ever realize.

It is a lot more spiritual.

So today I know that the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, when I lay hands on you this

morning, before I get there, just have a listen to this.

Before I get there, before I get to you already in your heart, say, Lord, I give it to you

and I forgive the people who have done this.

That's very important.

And that leaves it very, very open, very open for the Spirit of God to move.

Are you ready?

Church, can you pray with me?

Can you pray with me as I do?

Praise the Lord.

Now, I'm going to go very quickly because it doesn't take long.

It's just a split second.

Praise God.

Father, in the name of Jesus, break the power of accusation off their lives.

Break those accusations off their lives.

We break those accusations off their life in the name of Jesus.

Break those accusations off their life.

Break those accusations and harsh words off their life.

We break those accusations and those accusations we break it right now in Jesus's name.

Those accusations be destroyed, broken.

In Jesus's name.

Those accusations destroyed in Jesus's name.

In Jesus's name.

Destroy those accusations.

Accusations destroyed right now in Jesus's name.

Those accusations go destroyed in Jesus's name in Jesus.

Those accusations go in Jesus's name.

Those accusations go in Jesus' mighty name. Go.

Those accusations to go in Jesus' mighty name. Go. Go in Jesus' name.

Accusations we bind and break and they go right now in Jesus' name.

In Jesus' mighty name. Every accusation be bound and go in Jesus' name.

In Jesus' mighty name. In Jesus' mighty name.

Every accusation be bound and go in Jesus' mighty name.

In Jesus' mighty name. In Jesus' mighty name.

In Jesus' mighty name.

You know, let's rejoice.

You might be thinking, some of you might be thinking, did anything ever happen?

You're going to find out in the coming hours and days.

You'll find out. God bless you. God bless you everybody.

Thank you. And today, after the service through the back room, we have tea and coffee.

Enjoy your time of fellowship. But remember this.

Remember this. Silence is often your best form of approach.

Amen. God bless you.

Thank you for joining us. We pray God's richest blessing on your life.

If you haven't already, make sure to join us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

You can also find us at LoganCityChristianChurch.com.

See you next week.