The Truth Will Divide

The title this morning is The Truth Will Divide. The Truth Will Divide, number 36 in the Acts series. And we are going through the book of Acts systematically.

So you can follow along, you can go back and listen to number one if you want. If you have some time, you're on a long drive, maybe catch up. We just talked about Paul.

Saul is his name here. He turns into the Apostle Paul. He had an incredible experience where he met Jesus.

How many of you remember that? He was riding along on, they call it, on his beast, I believe the King James. He's going to persecute Christians. He hates Christians.

There's a lot of hatred still today, isn't there? Many of you seen what's going on in Nigeria? I mean, massacring Christians. They just hate because the darkness hates the truth. And the more demonic you get, the more you hate the truth, the more you hate the light.

So what's happening is Paul is going to persecute them and Jesus said, nope, I have other plans. How many of you know when Jesus has other plans, it's going to happen? It's going to submit to that. And so he basically, when God wants to get your attention, He will get it.

He knocks him off of his beast and he's on the ground and this light is there, it blinds him. He's like, what is this? And Jesus said, you keep kicking against me. You keep resisting my will.

And Paul finally said, what do you want me to do, Lord Jesus? And now he's converted. And so you would think he would go away for a while and kind of just, you know, don't want to be too controversial. You just were persecuting Christians.

But verse 20 in Acts 9, follow along in your Bibles. Not these Bibles. Because what happens when I'm following along in this Bible, oh, I got text messages, Instagram pops up.

Oh yeah, my email. If you can do it, okay, good for you, but try the leather bound. Bring those Bibles.

And what I like to do is encourage people to highlight in there what spoke to you. We believe God's Word speaks to us. It's living, it's powerful.

Verse 20, so after this incredible experience, immediately, immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues where he used to reject Christianity. Now he's going into the synagogues and saying that Jesus, the guy who died on the cross, remember the guy we killed? He's actually the Son of God. Can you imagine? Unbelievable.

And so we see here though, when you are filled with the Spirit, there's always urgency. When you're filled with the Spirit, you speak the truth. When you're filled with the Spirit, there is boldness.

So if you want to know, man, am I filled with the Spirit? And it's gonna be different. You're not gonna be sometimes, you're not gonna be a loud, bald-headed guy. You can be very calm, but yet bold.

Anybody know my mom? Man, you guys, when she wanted to get bold, I remember she'd get up in her chair and she'd say, listen, and she would just, man, you knew it's coming. And very quiet and direct. And so it doesn't, but there are signs.

There's an urgency about the Gospel. There's an urgency about getting people's lives right with the Lord. And we've seen so much fruit.

That's why there's urgency in my messages. Get to this altar. Get to that prayer room.

Get to baptism. Get to the cross of Christ and be changed. And you see, there was urgency in Paul's preaching.

There was urgency in John the Baptist's preaching. There was urgency in the prophets. There was urgency in Jesus.

Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, repent and turn to me. There's always urgency. Because when you're filled with the Spirit, Christianity is not boring.

It's not an afterthought. It's not an afterthought. It's who you are.

Is it not? And I should clarify, as believers, which I'm assuming most of you are, you have the Holy Spirit at conversion. You have all the Holy Spirit. But does he have all of you? See, that's what happens.

Sometimes we're converted and I love the Lord, but I don't want to give up this sin. I don't want to really deal with that unforgiveness. I kind of like this part of the world.

You cannot serve both Babylon and the bridegroom. And because of that, we quench and grieve the Spirit. I'm not going to go into detail, but that's what I did all of my 20s.

If I could take back one thing, it would be from about age 13 to about 29. Redo it. I would not turn to Coors Banquet and the party lifestyle.

And I was a Christian, I was convicted. How many times are you next morning, oh Lord, help me? And you do that about 1,000 times. That's called the prodigal son state.

And finally, when full surrender took place, full surrender took place, and you do have to work on those things that are pulling you down, then what happens, the Bible says, then there's a fullness of the Spirit. Because you're no longer quenching and grieving, quenching the fire, grieving the Spirit. Now the Spirit has full reign, and now the fire is fueled.

And that's where the boldness comes from. That's where the love for God's Word, and that's where the love for worship. And so there's always urgency because of that.

You want to read God's Word. You want to get to church. There's an urgency about things.

Now it doesn't mean you feel like that all the time. Sometimes you got to tell your feelings to shut their mouth. I don't feel like going to church.

I don't care, we're going. I don't feel like going to Bible study. I don't care, we're going.

I don't feel like putting on worship. I don't care, we're putting on worship. We're turning off Amazon Prime for the night, and we're putting on worship.

I don't feel like it. See, sometimes you got to tell your feelings what you're doing. If you constantly let your feelings dictate you, you're going to be miserable.

You're going to eat too much. You're going to drink too much. You're going to date too many people.

If you're married, you're going to fall into lust. They're constantly drawing you away from God. Also, when you're filled with the Spirit, you speak the truth.

There's no way around it. Now, of course, sometimes I'm even timid sometimes. You know, if you catch me on the wrong day or the wrong time, and I know some of you are as well, but there's something inside of you that where I got to speak the truth.

I got to say something. It doesn't mean going around always saying something, but it does mean we're not going to hide from the truth. And when you're filled with the Spirit, there is boldness.

Now, boldness, again, does not mean loud and arrogant. You type A personalities. That does not mean boldness.

Boldness is actually quick to listen. You're listening. You don't have to get the first word in or the last word.

You're listening. Lord, help me. And then you're bold enough to say what needs to be said.

The response. It's basically having the courage to speak God's Word even in the midst of adversity or negative feedback or persecution. Boldness is counter what our feelings want.

Like if I'm at work, I don't want to be bold because I could lose my job. I don't want to say something. How many of you don't want to be bold because it's going to upset a family member? Oh, I deal with that all the time.

I'm not going to say anything. Nope, nope, nope. Peace in the house.

Thanksgiving's coming up. Don't talk about religion and politics. That's for sure.

There's, don't want to be bold. But there's something else going on in our culture, in our nation. It's called the sin of silence.

The sin of silence. And whatever you tolerate today, the next generation will celebrate. Hmm, let's hang out there for a minute.

Whatever you tolerate, the next generation will celebrate. So when the church is silent on important issues, that's the conscience of the nation. The conscience of the nation is not Washington D.C. or Sacramento.

Stop relying on politics and thinking Hollywood and some actor's going to save us when they come to know the Lord. I'm praying for Justin Bieber. I'm praying, good, pray for them.

Pray for Kanye. But that's not the hope. God has given the church the voice to preach the truth.

And here's why this is so unique and so dynamic and so important. Because it's not just preaching the truth. It's not just calling things out.

God actually anoints the words that go out. They are God-inspired when you preach His Word because the Word of God is inspired. So when you preach God's Word, it's not just words.

They are living words. They cut, can you imagine if many more churches now would begin to call out sin in our nation, call our nation to repentance? All these popular guys you see on TV and they do these stunts on stage and they got all these great little quick nights messages. Can you imagine if they would spend some time with God and they would repent of their sin of silence and they would come out and speak the boldness and the authority of God's Word? You might actually see genuine revival.

And I believe that's why we're seeing all these movements across the United States in college campuses and other areas. Not many in the churches. And it's not gonna happen in silent churches.

That I can tell you for certain. God honors when His Word is preached. He honors that.

We must seek God again and ask Him to empower our words. That's the key, empower our words. And let me tell you something that will really help you, okay? You don't have to do what I'm doing.

You don't have to have as many enemies. You don't have to be loud and vocal and bold all the time. Be who God created you to be.

Because a silent word, not a silent word, but a word spoken in a calm manner is also very powerful. The truth, listening, listening, and then lovingly saying something. That's why there's different designs and different makeups.

God uses us differently. But we've gotta speak the truth in love. I mean, when there's drag queens at our library, why is everybody, it's no big deal.

Why is it celebrated? Why don't they go to senior centers and veteran homes? Why don't you go read to them? It's about grooming little children. It'd be better for you if a millstone's hung around your neck than to lead one of these little ones astray. I'm just preaching the Word, guys.

That's all I'm doing. If you're mad at me, be mad at the Word. That's exactly what's happening.

Where's the outcry? I remember when I first heard about them, I'm like, are you kidding me? This has gotta be a joke. This has gotta be a joke. Sexually perverted men dressing up as women and going to reading to kids in a library? Hello, Twilight Zone? And we should call it out.

I don't think God's saying, you know what, Shane? Hey, back off this. Just love, just love only. Always love.

Well, if you always love, you'll become a doormat. And they'll do whatever they want to do. True love also confronts.

True love also confronts. When we confront people, we love them. No, you hate them.

Well, that means parents then hate their children when they confront them. We know that's not the case. And so see, the sin of silence is that's why everything's happening.

The pulpits who are supposed to be the conscience of the nation, they're supposed to say, here's what God's Word says. Here's where we're missing it. And then God says, I'm going to anoint that.

I'm going to inspire that. And I'm going to have lives radically changed. Listen, I've talked to people who they go, and there's nothing wrong with the megachurch.

My friends are megachurch pastors, right? If God's in it, that's incredible. If you're in a highly populated area, you might draw a lot of people. Dallas and LA, but for the most part, when I talk to people, sometimes they'll say there's hardly any changed lives.

You know, we see people pray. They'll say a quick prayer, and they'll have discipleship studies. But where's the radically changed lives? Because there's no mention of sin.

There's no call to repentance. How does somebody change if you don't point them in the right direction? It's impossible. So Paul immediately began to preach the Christ and the synagogue.

I can't even imagine what this would look like. I mean, he might be a little expressive. He might be a little, guys, wait, we missed it.

We missed it. The Christ, the One who we are persecuting, He is the Savior. And then everybody who heard him were amazed.

I bet they were. They were amazed. They said, is this not the One who destroyed Christians? Paraphrasing.

And now He's here? So that He might bring them bound to the chief priests. In other words, He's completely changed. And many of you have probably seen those viral videos.

He's got like a big tattoo here. He used to be a part of the satanic church. And he's become a Christian.

I just shared a daughter of Hamas on Facebook. She's become a Christian. And you see, it's such an immediate change.

So if you still hang out with the darkness, you might want to ask yourself, have I truly changed? Now that doesn't mean there's still the pull of sin. You're gonna feel that until you breathe your last breath. But the darkness should not entertain us.

We should not be drawn to the darkness, live in the darkness, and there's no difference about us. They were completely blown away. There's a difference about Him.

And the greatest testimony to the truth of Scripture is a changed life. That's all you have to remember. Shane, I don't have a degree in theology.

I don't know what you mean by pneumatology. And I don't understand soteriology. All you have to understand is how God has changed your life.

Now then, of course, study, understand the concepts, the truth, theology is so important, but the changed life, that's what draws people, seeing that difference in you. Did you know there's 25,000 copies of the New Testament? And there's 10 of Julius Caesar's work, how do they pronounce that? Gallic Wars? It's not Star Wars. And there's about a few hundred of Plato.

Why do people believe Caesar and Plato? The proof is there. It's there. We have the manuscripts.

We have the writings. It has nothing to do with facts. I say this a lot.

Coming to know the Lord has nothing to do with facts. Verse 22. But Paul became depressed.

Saul said, this is too tough. I've got critics. I can't keep doing this Christian thing.

No, he didn't. He says, Saul, who is the Apostle Paul, he increased all the more in strength. All the more, even under persecution, under people questioning him, he increased all the more in strength.

And he confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that just Jesus is the Christ. That's what I love. God chose Paul.

He knew what he was doing. Because he used to be a Pharisee. He knew exactly what to say, how to say, and still they rejected him.

But how do you increase spiritual strength? You build it. You build it. You build it just like anything else.

If you're relying on Sunday only to increase spiritual strength, that's one of the main reasons for Ren the Heavens every night. Trust me, by Friday, your spiritual strength is, mine's already, I went to bed at midnight, I was so excited. That's a first for me in a while.

A little green tea at five o'clock probably didn't help. But, you know, and just building that excitement, building that excitement, building that spiritual hunger, building, and that's how you build, so you grow spiritually. You're seeking God, and through that seeking, it's muscle training of the Spirit.

Versus lukewarmness and carnality and worldliness, it will lose strength. Come on, guys, you know that. When we're watching things we shouldn't be watching, when we're spending time, how do we feel? I feel weak spiritually.

I don't want to pray with anybody. I don't want to run into anybody at church. I don't want to go to church.

They're going to look in my eyes. They're going to know I'm not doing, and we're dying spiritually. And the best way to build up spiritual strength, I can imagine, Paul, he probably opened the Old Testament.

New Testament wasn't written yet. And he's like, oh my goodness, oh my, look at what they said in the Psalms. And he's increasing by meditating on the Word of God, he's increasing in spiritual strength.

It's seeking and surrendering and obeying and trusting. That's how you build spiritual strength. Seek God, surrender to Him, obey His will, and trust in Him.

Wouldn't that make life so much easier if we did those things? We sought God, we surrendered our will, we obeyed His Word, and we simply trusted in Him. By the way, we say trusting in God a lot. You want the bad news or good news first? That's what I thought.

In order to trust in God, you're gonna go through things that you don't like. Trust rarely comes from, oh, my check's bigger than I thought, finances are going good. No medical issues, I really trust God.

It's the complete opposite. So the bad news is, you get bad news. The good news is, that's how you build trust in God.

Because that's why, and I don't wanna belabor this point, I have a few years ago, I think, but that's why Israel, and I love this, they gave God different names. Why don't they just say just God? They gave Him different names. Jehovah Jireh, my provider.

Jehovah Nisi, Jehovah Sitkanu, Jehovah Rapha, my healer, my redeemer, my strength, the Lord of hosts, that means of God's army. They'd have all these names because they've experienced God. They know Him as healer and redeemer.

My banner, my strength, my fortress, my power, the rock of my salvation. They knew Him as these things. It's powerful when you know the one true and living God.

It changes you from the inside out. But it wasn't going good for Paul. After many days, the Jews wanted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul.

And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Nothing has changed. Have you ever noticed how interesting that is? I mean, you can say any other name.

Buddha, little chubby guy sitting there. How's that? Saying you're gonna offend Buddhists. Well, they need to be offended.

And turn to God, the one true and living God. Yes, the message of the Gospel offends. It hurts.

It hurts. Nobody gets upset until you talk about the one true and living God. People don't even have a problem with God.

Because it's their concept of God. It's kind of vague. Oh, yes, I believe in God.

He's within. He's in the trees and the animals. And God, it's the higher being.

But when you get real specific on who God is, that's when the feathers get ruffled. Because that's when you say there is no other name that saves except the name of Jesus Christ. There is no other name under heaven and earth.

And that's when you get specific. Why? Because that light of Christ challenges their darkness. That's why they don't like what you have to say.

And so they wanted to kill him and they watched for him. But then the disciples took him by night and they let him down through a wall in a large basket. So it's kind of like with this rope, and okay, Paul, hurry, get out of here.

And they're letting him down to get out of here. They used to guard, the city of Jerusalem had walls and they had gates that God called them to make. Rebuild the walls.

Rebuild the security and the protection around the city. And so he had to go down the side of the wall. And again, the false always wants to kill the real, the truth.

And it brought up an interesting question. I've been kind of, because I get asked this question sometimes at the bottom. When do you flee? When do you fight? And I wish I had the answer.

Because even Jesus said, when you see these signs, get out of Judea. My thought is the fleeing versus the fighting, it's got to be spending that time with the Lord and what He prompts you to do. You know, I'm not going to flee my school district job if God has me here.

I'm not going to run from this if God wants me to do something. But I think if somebody's trying to take your life, there's a response there. That'd be a whole new teaching on self-defense as well.

I would take it to the Lord. There are times to flee and there are times to fight. And it really depends on the person, the situation.

I mean, this comes up a lot of times with people, the challenging work environment or challenging things in their life. And like, do I just get out of this? Have you ever said that or thought that? Or do I stay in? Anybody in a hard job? Lord, please help. How long? How long, oh Lord? Again, I think He will guide us and guide you as you spend time with Him.

Because you have peace. I try not to do things without peace. You know, you might not want to do it, but as long as there's peace, that's a good indication that God is in it.

And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, so he went down the basket. And he's running. Then he tried to join the disciples.

Hey guys, I know I tried to kill you, but I'm a Christian now. And they didn't believe him. They didn't believe him.

By the way, do you know why the Israeli peace treaty isn't gonna work? Because Islam can lie and it's okay as long as they trick the infidel. And so they might have thought Paul, Saul was not truly a believer. They were all afraid of him and they did not believe that he was a disciple.

And we're gonna read how Barnabas brings him to the disciples again to confirm that he was genuine. But I want to talk about something briefly that is in Christian history. I think it was Augustine.

It's attributed to actually a German theologian, I think in the 1700s, but also Augustine. How many of you have not heard this before? In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity. Easy to read, great concept, hard to apply.

Hard to apply, isn't it? So let's start with the first one because it's so important. Paul's getting ready to go with the disciples and become a disciple. And there has to be unity.

So unity, true Christian unity. This will help a lot of people because this question comes up. Shane, can't you just be nice to everybody and be united? Well, true biblical unity.

Are we talking about that? Or government unity? Biblical unity. It's not flexible on doctrine, including worship. Why can't you, and I've been invited to things, it's called interfaith gatherings and things, and why can't you guys just all come together and let's just focus on our commonalities? Well, we're already off on these very important things about who God is.

I can get lunch with you, and I can talk with you and pray with you, but I can't be part of an organization that is ungodly. And I think you'll see it, it's been shared. The Pope just opened a prayer room for Muslims near the Vatican.

If you don't believe me, Google it, fact check. And also, it's being built, or it's already built where it's the temple, where all three major religions come together, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It's somewhere in the Middle East.

Again, you check all this. And some Christian leaders, Rick Warren, for example, would go, and I'm like, what am I missing here? But sometimes, again, I don't know their heart, but sometimes we wanna strive for unity so bad that we will compromise things. But then other people wanna get away from unity and they become a Pharisee.

I don't wanna have anything to do with anybody. I'm gonna be my own little sect here. Unless you have the same translation of my Bible, unless Pastor Shane wears a suit and tie, unless you get the old hymns back, mm-mm-mm, I can't be united with you.

Well, that's not unity either. That's called non-essentials. Non-essentials, so true biblical unity is basically unity of doctrine, unity of the faith.

We're worshiping the same God. We're saying the same thing about the essentials. Guys, there are essentials of the faith.

If you need to know all of them, look it up. Just going off memory, it has to do with like the virgin birth, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the inerrancy of Scripture. Even, and many of us would believe the Trinity, the triune nature of God.

There's things that, I mean, if you're not with me on this, it's like somebody, let's say they're coming here. This has actually happened in the past. You know, they're coming here, saying, hey, I'd like to start a home group or a men's team, but I'm not really there with you guys on Jesus being the actual, actual Son of God.

I think he was a good teacher. You know, a lot of, well, hmm. I love you, but no, we can't be united.

I mean, the Bible has some great teachings, but I also have this other book that I'd like to use. And you realize that cults do that, right? The Watchtower, Jehovah Witness will not go to the Bible. They'll go to the Watchtower.

We had a two-hour meeting in my house. My wife, remember, I've never been so frustrated in my life. And what Mormons, the Book of Mormon, it actually supersedes the Bible.

And they believe what these living prophets are the final word, not the authority of Scripture. See, everything, sola Scriptura. That's what the Reformation was built on.

Scripture alone, through Christ alone, through faith alone, by grace alone. That's the truth of the message of the Gospel. And see, that fills you up.

When a preacher's full of God's truth, that's where the boldness comes from. It comes from the fullness of the Spirit and the love for His truth. If I could come up here void of the Spirit, I would be a motivational speaker.

That's what unity is. We've got to be united. But then there's a lot of division right now on the non-essentials.

Non-essentials, non-essentials, there's flexibility. There's flexibility in this area. Boy, this would be a whole sermon, so I'm not going to do it here.

But non-essentials are things that, you know what, we're just going to agree to disagree. You know, I've had people come to me about my view about salvation. I don't think you can lose your salvation.

Others think you can. And we have healthy dialogue. Okay, that's not a hill to die on.

Calvinism, free will, that's not a hill to die on. Even I've got friends whose wives are women pastors. Now that's a little tough one, you know, if they're leading men, you know, it's like, but many of them, just so you guys know, many of them have their wives overseeing a ministry, women's ministry, children, and they choose to honor with that title.

Okay, I got it, but is she also over the men in your church? I've asked some of my friends that, and they say, yeah, co-pastoring. I'm like, oh, I don't know, I don't know if the Bible, again, if the Bible said it, we'd probably have about 10 women pastors right now. If the Bible, Morgan, would you be a women's pastor? Right, if there's qualifications, if the Bible, she doesn't want to, she doesn't want that title at all.

But again, and some of these things are a little, there's some gray areas there, because I would have a hard time going to a church where there was a woman over me, not because of male chauvinism, but because the Bible says, not usurping the spiritual authority of the man. The pastor is to be that covering, to die for the spouse, to lead the church, to be the watchman. So it has nothing to do, nothing to do with culture.

It has everything to do with design. How God designed us. How God designed us.

Another non-essential, the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. Now, granted, it would be hard to go to church that did not believe in those. That would be tough, but it's not an essential.

What about, you guys ready for the big one? I don't know if you're ready for the big one. Are they? What do you think, Abram? Should I drop the bomb? Oh my goodness, here we go. You guys want to, you guys blame yourself.

Just had a modern day Pharisee say something on Facebook about this yesterday. It starts with a W. Yep, the worship wars. The worship wars.

Even somebody watching live stream last night said, those aren't songs honoring God. You need to get back to the old hymns. Do you know the old hymns used to be new when they were first written? Are you aware of that? But see, that's hardness of heart.

That's a critical spirit. And so I know that. But there are the worship wars.

And that's probably one of the biggest things we've had to deal with over the years. Preference plays a huge role as well. What do we prefer? I mean, I love when we used to do sometimes, maybe we'll do it again, old hymns on Wednesday nights once a month.

The old rugged cross and prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. In amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I mean, there's power in that.

But then also, what about singing songs from a band, a church that might be questionable? Like, why are you singing that song? It came from such and such. Oh, you know more about it than I do. Such a beautiful song though.

Oh yeah, but you know. So they've drawn their line in the sand, right? We're not gonna play that song. We're not gonna do that.

Some churches just haven't drawn that line just yet in the same spot. They understand, it's like, okay, you got some good points, but I'm not quite there yet. I don't necessarily agree with that.

Because we could talk about some of the hymns you guys love that were written by universalists that believe all people are saved. Any hymns written by slave owners? Oh, John Newton's a good one, but he was a converted, so he gets a pass. John Newton, he was a slave trader and he wrote amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

So with the non-essentials, that's probably one of the hardest things to navigate. Because people say, why do you play that? Or why do you sing that song? Or why do you, you know, it's hard because it's a non-essential. They've made up in their mind that that song is, you know, I can't even think of instances now.

But some songs are to the Lord. Some songs are about our redemption in Christ. Some songs are just praise and worship.

Worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is His name. And as long as the songs are doctrinally sound, like it's not some weird... I remember one, it was in Lancaster.

And I was up here, the service hadn't started yet. And I'm preparing the message, kind of going. And then the worship leader starts singing, like, I'll come running to you, my lover.

I'm like, well, what song is that one? Oh, it's a new one. It's about the Song of Solomon. I'm like, well, unless you can kind of unpack that first.

You sure you want me to scrap it? Yeah, let's scrap that one. Or when heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss. Guys, hold on.

And we've caught heat for Corey Asbury's song. You guys know how that one goes? God's reckless love. What? What? But again, I don't see it, God's reckless love.

It's like reckless according to the world. I go after the one. I leave the 99 and go after the one.

Oh, the reckless, overwhelming love of God. I'm like, I don't see what you see. I don't see, oh, God's love is reckless and they're putting down God.

No, I see that according to people, according to the world, what they think is reckless is not reckless. It's God leaving the 99 to go after the one. It's beautiful.

So just because you've drawn your line in the sand, you know, maybe others of us haven't got there yet. And so that's what a non-essential is. And here's why this topic is so important.

Nothing is gonna test you more than the non-essentials. This is where we build offense, offense in our heart. I don't like what they said.

I don't like their view about the rapture. I'm post-trib, they're pre-trib, and I'm gonna argue with them, and I don't want to fellowship with them. The enemy uses the non-essentials.

Could it be that we have non-essentials so we learn how to apply the Scriptures? Quick to listen, slow to speak, season words with grace, understand and have compassion and love those who might not agree with you. Again, everything from versions of the Bible to worship choices. And I put this just so I remember.

Okay, I've been asked to go to Washington, D.C. in April, probably gonna bring my family, visit the Capitol and things like that, but they're having a national Bible campaign to read the Bible through for the course of a week. It's never been done before. It's like a Guinness Book World Record, I guess, for the longest.

So different people are gonna come, hundreds, and read from the Bible. Like, I'll just come up and I'll be in Deuteronomy, and then the next person comes up and they have senators and pastors and we're just gonna read the Bible and they're gonna get on audio and different things. And I'm looking through and I'm like, oh, I don't, I'm not sure about that person.

It's not obviously a false prophet or anything like that, but just, you know, I don't know about that. So am I gonna say, I'm not coming, take me off the list. Now, if they had Hindu, right, and Buddha and all this, oh, yeah, well, the first day I wouldn't be reading the Bible.

But just because it's like, ah, I don't really, I don't really, I don't know, I don't wanna be associated with that group, but there's like 200 people there, 200 different people reading over nine days, I think it is. And so to me, that would be a non-essential, just because I don't agree with one of the people reading. If you put 200 people together reading the Bible, we're gonna disagree on who should be reading the Bible.

Absolutely. Again, women pastors, politics, oh my, whoo. This is actually a funny one.

Politics, why is it funny? Well, it's a non-essential, because again, I've tried to explain this many times before, different people have different callings. Some pastors, believe it or not, are more political than me. And I don't think, I talk about it when it comes up, when borders is in the Bible, when the alphabet community issues are in the Bible, when abortion is in the Bible, when we've got ungodly legislation, where did you get the idea we're supposed to be silent? I don't understand that.

But what I've come to find out over the years is the person that doesn't like what I'm saying is very political, as long as I'm saying what they want to hear. Then I can be as political as all get out, as long as I'm saying what they want to hear. And so, and the church is, the pulpits are to be, politics just means governing or leading a group of people.

So does God's Word have anything about leading or governing people? Yeah, but our trust is not in politics. We should say, hey, this person's running for office, this is ridiculous. They want to, I mean, look at some of the people running for governor.

Like what? It's scary. So shouldn't we as a people, God has given us a voice and said, hey, put people in positions of leadership that you want. It's a gift.

It's a gift of God. But some people don't have that calling. Some people are more passive and they're not focused on that.

And that's okay. We agree to just walk in our lanes. Stay in our wheelhouse.

And we should respect our differences. Respect that not everybody shares that calling. But here's the key, the more filled you are with the Spirit, the less divisive you will be.

Hold on, I'm not done yet. There's a comma. The more filled you are with the Spirit, the less divisive you will be.

Have you noticed that? However, the Spirit divides. The Holy Spirit will absolutely divide. Jesus actually said, how many of you, maybe you're not aware of this, but Jesus said, I came to bring division.

Mother against father. I came to bring a sword. I came to bring division.

What's He talking about? The message of the Gospel is very divisive for those who don't want to embrace it. And so some division can be very healthy. So I think we've got the Scripture up there for this part.

I plead with you, brethren, Paul said, Paul writing this later after his conversion, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and there be no division among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. And that's Jesus' prayer as well. I pray that you would be united.

I'm gonna overlook those differences. They've offended me, I'm gonna let that go. And we just walk in the fullness of the Spirit.

Because offense can come in and really hurt your heart. I opened up last night about some offenses. And it's like, I just gotta get rid of this.

Because it will grow, the root of bitterness will grow. For it has been declared to me concerning you, there's some in Chloe's household that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you, they say, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas, or I am of Christ.

So, there's the first start of denominations. I'm Calvary Chapel. That's the only way, the truth, the life.

Calvary Chapel. I'm Vineyard. I'm Reformed.

How about you? And then we gauge the people through our denominational lens. Trust me, I've seen it. And this is okay, I do it too, but sometimes I'll go to pastor's conferences.

Number one question. What denomination are you? Just curious. Just curious.

I say, why does it matter? Well, I don't know, just kind of curious. They want to size you up, don't they? Well, let's keep reading. Is Christ divided? Is Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? Here he goes, he's gonna bring it home for us.

When you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part, I believe it, for there must also be factions, is the division, there must be divisions, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. So see, there is healthy division. When you have to confront somebody that's off and wrong, when you have to go to them and say, listen, you're kind of causing some issues here, we've heard about your gossiping and slandering, and you're not healthy, your cancer's, not you guys, just let me pick an empty seat.

Okay, you know, we've got to address this, and that person, how dare you? Who told you? Who talked to you? And now there's division in the church. But there had to be in order for us to call out that cancer and have that cancer removed. And so loving confrontation is very, very healthy.

Loving confrontation is very healthy. It's okay to lovingly confront, isn't it? That's how we grow. I remember this brother right here in the white shirt last night.

He goes, you used the wrong verse up there. And I'm like, you're right, thank you. It was Proverbs, not Psalms.

Now I can change it, right? It's because they truly want to help. That's the loving confrontation, because they truly know they want to help, and that's welcomed. But it's a critical heart that's the sniper that wants to take you out.

That's where I'll just, no, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I don't hear you. I don't hear you.

Remember those? And so there is division in a healthy church. Iron sharpens that. Have you ever seen iron sharpen those sparks? Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch.

But then from that, you become sharper. One thing I've learned over the years, I'm not great at it, but I don't talk as much as I used to, to people. Because they'll take it, little birdie, and they'll go tell somebody, like, oh, Pastor Shane said this.

And you gotta be careful who you talk to, what you say, because the enemy loves division. Because that will kill the environment in a church more than anything else. You can just sense the Spirit of God lifting when there's division.

And that's why as leaders, we must call it out from time to time, and with the right heart, of course. In Bard's commentary, the meaning is not that division is inseparable from the nature of Christian religion, nor that it is designed in wish of the author of Christianity that they should exist, but that such is human nature. Such are the corrupt passions of men, the propensity for ambition and strife that they are expected, and they serve the purpose of showing who are and who are not the true friends of God.

In other words, to sum it up, don't be divisive, work on unity, but there will be healthy division from time to time when you have to confront the person who sows discord among the brethren. Seven things the Lord hates. Proverbs, I hate hands that shed innocent blood, feet swift to evil, those who sow discord among the brethren.

Do you know how we sow discord? Right there, just, I'm sowing discord. I'm sowing discord. I'm sowing discord.

It's pretty easy, isn't it? I wonder if Pastor Shane and Abram are fighting, that's why they're leaving. Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew. Division, pew, pew, pew, pew.

Actually, it was probably the best time ever. Everything's been great, it's perfect. It's great.

God calls people to do other things. So it's great, but people will look for opportunities, plant that division. They like to stir that pot, get the gossip going.

That's funny about our human nature. I don't know why, why do we like bad news? Or we want to get people all worked up. We need to come here and get work done.

Oh, here's my other point. Those who stay planted at a church grow. Those who stay planted at a church, they actually grow during conflict.

Of course, there's seasons to go, right? God calls us to go and there are times to leave as well, but it has to be with the right heart. Not because of offense or things like that. And you will grow spiritually from that process.

You know, it's just like, have you ever, when you're younger, quit a job? I was talking to my kids about this. You quit a job and the next job you quit and the next job you quit, guess what? You're setting that pattern. Same thing with church.

Same thing with church. Oh, I got hurt, I'm going to that church. And then they're good, oh, I love this church, this is great.

Then the honeymoon's over. Oh, I still have to wake up with me. So now I have problems at this church.

So I'm going to go find this other one. Oh, I love this church. Oh, I finally found our church.

Oh, praise God. And then a couple months later, I'm going to go find a different church. It's not me, it's not me, it's not me.

Yeah, it is you, many times. And I only say that because I'm trying to lovingly convict, yes, but to get our hearts right. And I have seen that a lot over the years.

It's amazing, I've seen somebody leave, they go somewhere, and I run into them. Oh no, now we're, now what happened? You've been to five churches? Yeah, we just don't seem to fit. You do fit, you got to make yourself fit.

You've got to pursue that humility. Oh, and then the last thing, I forgot we're even talking about unity, disunity, and love, charity. Love is the final thing.

This, guys, this will solve your problems. And love, all things love. If that comes first, everything else will fall in place.

Why is that? Because if I love someone, I am going to confront them, if they're an heir, on the essentials. And if I love someone, I'm going to overlook the essentials. And let me tell you one of the biggest lessons I ever learned, in church, yes, in marriage, of course, but my mom used to say this, and I'd tell her, mm, I don't think so, but it's absolutely true.

Love, biblical love, is a choice. It's not a feeling. It's not a feeling.

Because we have to feel, wait till we feel love? Hmm, I might not ever love anybody. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. You know, but love.

And that's why the verse, in Corinthians, read that whole chapter 13 when you get a chance. Paul breaks it down. He actually starts it off, and he says, though I can speak like a great orator and like angels, and though I have not love, it profits me nothing.

Though I have great faith to move mountains, if I have not love, it profits me nothing. And though I give all my things to the poor, and I feed them, but I have not love, it profits me nothing. In case we're confused, he goes on to love.

Love is patient. Love is kind. It doesn't envy.

It doesn't boast. It's not rude. It's not proud.

It's not self-seeking. It doesn't keep any record of wrong done against it. How you doing so far? It always trusts, hopes, perseveres.

Love will never fail. But when prophecy comes, it will cease. When tongues come, it will cease.

But when that which is perfect comes, that in part will be done away with. When I was a child, I thought I was a child, understood I was a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. Love will never fail.

That's the key. That's the key. But Barnabas took him in and brought him to the apostles.

I don't know if I have time to get through this. I'm gonna try though. I'm gonna go quickly.

So Barnabas took him to the apostles and declared to him, I read like an auctioneer. I can't, I never could do that. I've tried and it's not gonna work.

So Barnabas said, okay, no, no, come back to the apostles. He said, you need to see what God is doing. Paul's conversion experience was amazing and how Jesus met him on the Damascus road.

And so Barnabas was a peacemaker. He was a bridge builder. Can you imagine if we become peacemakers and bridge builders? Things would be so much different in our lives.

Paul had genuine fruit and Barnabas had genuine fruit. Barnabas no doubt saw the opposition that Paul was receiving. So who opposes you reveals a lot.

Who opposes you? On that issue of politics, that's why I often tell people, hey, listen, if Planned Parenthood is on your side, George Soros is on your side, Hollywood is on your side, the culture of death is on your side, are you sure you're on the right side? Who opposes you? Who opposes you? Even as a church, who opposes us it reveals a lot. It reveals a lot about a person's character, about their maturity. Who's opposing you? And then verse 28, so he was with them at Jerusalem coming in and going out and he spoke, uh-oh, here we go again.

Paul spoke boldly and then it's actually impossible. I mean, I know it happens sometimes, but when you speak about Jesus to people, there's a boldness that's there. It has to be there.

Even if you're timid and shy, even if you're quiet and cathy, there will be a boldness there. So he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and he disputed against the Hellenist, but they attempted to kill him. And actually, Hellenists were just Greek-speaking Jews.

So the Jews technically were Hebrew, but this group was Hellenist and they had something called the Septuagint. It was the Greek translation of the Old Testament. And that's what this group is.

So they're more Greek-speaking Jews that are coming against Paul. And when the brethren found out that now another group wants to kill him. Poor Paul.

And so when they found out about this, they also had him escape and went to Tarsus. But what is biblical boldness? It's a confident, courageous, and fearless approach to faith and speech rooted in trust in God. So please don't confuse boldness with arrogance.

Because arrogant people, although they're loud and kind of in your face, are not necessarily bold. They're arrogant. It's an issue of the heart.

It's always an issue of the heart. You're confident about what God has done. You're courageous about the message and you're fearless about Jesus in your life and it's rooted in trust in God.

It is always characterized by proclaiming the truth. People who don't proclaim the truth are not bold. They're not filled with the Spirit.

Because again, you gotta use wisdom. There's time to be quiet and not say a lot. Praise God.

But there are also times you're empowered by the Spirit to say something. You're not reckless and you're not arrogant. You are bold.

And again, it's not necessarily about a volume. Because true boldness can be, again, listening and kind of forceful in a loving way. You know those people that are smiling as they're telling you no? You know, I hear you, I understand, but mm-mm, no, not going there.

You need deliverance. It's different from arrogance, which places trust in self. Biblical boldness is selfless and respectful even when it's assertive.

Even when you're assertive, you have to be respectful to the person. And true boldness actually is quick to listen. You're not quick to shut them down and talk all the time and not hear.

You're like, you wanna hear, and then you'll come back with the boldness. And again, I wanna put that, don't miss this. I talked about this earlier.

There are different character traits and callings. Not everybody, oh, I'm just not like Shane. Good.

Praise God. You don't wanna be like me. There's different callings.

Morgan's not like me. More of the gentle voice, right? Still bold, but you know, she'll say, you deal with it, you deal with it, you deal with it. That's my, you know, I guess the deal with it guy.

Or your kids, or you. How God, how, I just don't want people leaving here thinking they need to be loud and mean. Because a lot of the boldness in the Bible was soft and quiet and gentle.

But it was also from time to time, bold. Yeah, I don't think Jesus said, you brood of vipers. You brood of vipers.

You Pharisees. You look nice. But in the inside, you're dead bones.

Is that how you think He acted? Oh my, oh, let me tell you. Or, what are you doing? Oh, I'm making a whip. What are you gonna do with that? I'm gonna drive him out of the temple.

No way. No way. See, it depends on the situation.

Or that time He opened the scroll. Can you imagine the place is hush, and the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to preach the Gospel.

He's anointed me to mend the hearts and the brokenhearted. And today, the Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. And then He sits down.

That's one moment I'd love to see a lot of moments. I'd love to see the Pharisee moment, though, too, by the way. And John the Baptist, oh my goodness.

Man, you know you're pumped when you're eating grasshoppers and honey. I mean, you're just, mm. But see, God needs a, Jesus actually said there's been nobody ever better, stronger, more spiritual than, born of women than John the Baptist.

I mean, I can't find anywhere where John is really, subtle and quiet. I mean, he's the brood of vipers guy. Repent, bear fruit's worthy of repentance.

Don't say to this, don't say that we are children of Abraham. God is able to chop down this very tree, you brood of vipers. It's how God does, because sometimes you need that, don't you? You know you need that, that hammer.

But sometimes you need that gentle hug. And I'll close with this. Then the church prospered.

How does a church prosper? But more importantly, how do you prosper? They had peace, they were edified. And this is interesting. They walked in the fear of the Lord.

You'd think it would just say they walked in love and peace. Remember the 60s? They just walked in love and peace. And they did, but it flowed from fearing God.

Because when you fear God, everything will fall, you'll watch your words. That's why even though all the founders of our nation were not necessarily Christians, they feared God. They feared God.

They quoted the Bible four times more than any other source when they prepared the founding documents. You couldn't even run for office unless you feared God. Woo! Man, can you imagine trying that today? You narrow-minded, white nationalists.

But God's Word is clear. He wants God-fearing men and women in His house making a difference. They walked in the fear of the Lord.

Every step, everything they did, like, Lord, what do You want? I fear You. And again, it's not a dread of being hit by a lightning bolt. It's a respect.

The Word is actually a reverence. It's a reverence. You're careful, aren't you? I know there's a lot of new people, so I'll tell you the story again.

You know Avenue S? The parking right there by the lake? So I was probably in the 80s, and we had to drill those pilot holes for all those lights. And there was a guy out there, always there every time we were there in a Southern California Gas Company truck. Well, we've got a 36-inch high-pressure gas main that runs from here to Texas, and I'm making sure you don't get close to it.

Because if you hit that, we're all gone. That's reverence. I'm going to put that auger in the ground a little easier.

I might pothole first with the shovel to make sure there's nothing there. I might be careful that I read exactly off the survey stakes. Ten feet, six inches, okay, let me... There's a reverence there.

That's what it is. It's not fear in God, like, oh my goodness. That's a fear from being scared.

This is a reverence because of who He is. And you live different. You make different choices.

Fear equals comfort. Guys, if you want to be comforted by God, you want the peace that surpasses all understanding, fear Him. The Bible says fear Him and live.

It's a beautiful thing when we fear the Lord. So as a final closing reminder, you can't kill the truth. You can't kill the truth.

Even if they wanted to kill Paul, they could not kill the truth. Even though a massacre is going on in Nigeria right now, the church is growing. Even though you kill and you shoot somebody on a college campus, you just awoken a whole new movement.

You can't kill the truth. Because what you're trying to do is silence God. Who's gonna silence God Almighty? The very breath you hold as He holds that in His hand, your lungs, your heart capacity, all these things, God of the universe who sits above the circle of the earth.

The earth is His footstool. Who will tell the Lord what to do? Who will judge God? Who are you? Will you judge me, oh man? Where were you when I created the Atlantic and the Pacific? Where were you when I said here, stay no further? Where were you when I hung the sun and the moon? You're gonna kill my truth? Come on, I don't think so. The grass withers and the flower fades.

But the Word of our God stands forever. I just read recently Michael J. Fox. His words, he says, he doesn't want a dramatic death.

I just want to not wake up one day. And I hear that a lot. And the bottom line is, we will wake up someday.

There's a second death the Bible talks about. It's appointed once for man to die. And then the judgment.

And if we believe the Bible, here's what I don't understand. So many, go look at sermons this week. So many of them avoid, like man, Shane, that's too intense.

We want to be seeker-sensitive. But God wrote it. God said it.

Jesus proclaimed it. And we're gonna shy away from that? There is a second death. You die physically and then you die spiritually if you don't know the Lord.

That's why the Bible says, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. There has to be a calling on the name of the Lord. I believe in Jesus.

I want the sacrifice of the cross. I need something to bridge that gap between me and God because me and God right now are not good. And that's why Jesus said, it is finished.

It's done. Some people need to stop doing and start resting. And maybe it's about, you know, when I talk to a lot of people and even in the prayer room and man, I'm trying, Pastor, I'm trying.

I try to be better, I'm more good than I'm wicked. And I try to do these good things. That's a by-product of faith, okay? But don't, there's not a, I hope God sees my good works.

He's not gonna look at any works. That's called the Bema Seat of Christ, the judgment when Christ judges us for our good works. But the great judgment of God is when there's no works.

There's no works at all. What? There's only one work. The finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

That's why it's such an incredible Scripture. Jesus said, I'll either say to you, depart from me, I don't know you, or well done thou good and faithful servant. Do I know you? You can know about Him and not know Him.

How many of you watch Ray Comfort down at the beach? He's interviewing, oh yeah, I know Jesus. Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, He died for my sin, right? Something like that, I learned in grade school. I learned in Bible camp.

And they're tatted up and they're cussing and they're high and they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, man, He's cool. A lot of people know about Him. But boy, what an awakening when they stand before Him.

Ah, I know you, I don't know you. You never repented and believed. And so I want to challenge you this morning, if you need to do that, take it to the Lord.

And say, God, I need to do that. I've been trusting my good works. I've been trusting in religion.

I've been trusting in, I mean, you name it. We trust in so many different things. Let God convict you.

The Bible says repent and believe that Jesus is the way and He will save you. It's really where the rubber meets the road, isn't it? And we actually have it easy in America. It's like, oh, this is cool, everybody's clapping.

Go get baptized in Nigeria. Go get baptized in the Jordan River or near Gaza. Go get baptized in Iraq and Iran.

It could cost you your life. So it was a sign, I'm following Jesus and I'm not embarrassed to follow Him. A moment with God, when you make that decision, you fully surrender and God begins to fill you and change you.

Because I see people all the time, they'll listen to sermons year in and year out. But the soil's still hard. The heart's still hard.

And they think because they heard, they're good. But even the Bible says you live in deception if you hear but do not obey the word of God.