1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,000
Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Here you'll find practical, relevant, biblical information.

2
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:19,000
The Bible will be broken down verse by verse so that you get the full context of the scripture to better grow in your relationship with Jesus.

3
00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:26,000
Thank you Pastor Mark. Thank the Lord for the opportunity to stand up here in front of you all today.

4
00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:37,000
So something that I think a lot of us can agree on, a lot of us are seeing, especially in this season with the election season upon us.

5
00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:46,000
And of course a lot of the movements speaking up, trying to get their voices and their opinions heard, right?

6
00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:57,000
The way we talk to each other, the way people express themselves can be quite colorful to say the least.

7
00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:04,000
You know, there's a lot of talk, there's a lot of anger, there's a lot of venom out there being spewed.

8
00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:15,000
And what's heartbreaking is a lot of this is coming from professed Christians.

9
00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:20,000
That's right.

10
00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:27,000
But professed Christians, and let's face it, some of our brothers and sisters, even some of us,

11
00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:32,000
can have some of the loudest voices in the room when it comes to this.

12
00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:47,000
You know, on one hand we're professing love, mercy, grace, and on the other hand we're shunning people, we're slapping people down,

13
00:01:47,000 --> 00:02:01,000
we're passing judgment that isn't necessarily right because of our own feeling and not necessarily because it's the Word of God, right?

14
00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:10,000
Family members becoming estranged from one another, friends stop talking to each other.

15
00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:19,000
You know, just this week I had a friend message me and said, that friend of yours is a nasty person.

16
00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,000
It's like, wow.

17
00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:28,000
It's just like when the dog relieves itself on the carpet and your spouse is like, your dog, right?

18
00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,000
That's very much how it comes across.

19
00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:38,000
What's worse is this friend introduced me to the other friend.

20
00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,000
It's a big disconnect.

21
00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:45,000
People are becoming estranged, division is ensuing.

22
00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:55,000
And unfortunately it's not just here, it's not just in our nation, but we see it all the way around the world.

23
00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:59,000
Just turn on the news, right?

24
00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:04,000
So for those of you who have your Bibles, those of you who are using apps, of course if you're just taking notes, write this down.

25
00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:09,000
Go ahead and turn with me to James chapter 3.

26
00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:14,000
So James chapter 3.

27
00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:20,000
So James 3, we're going to start through, we're going to start with verses 1.

28
00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,000
We're going to go through in segments, but we're going to be going through verse 12, all right?

29
00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:32,000
So starting in verse 1, the word says, not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers,

30
00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:37,000
because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

31
00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:50,000
So before I go into the rest of this, to teach, to be up at the front, your word, what you had to say, what you had to teach, was really up here.

32
00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,000
There's a lot of power, there's a lot of authority in what you had to say.

33
00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,000
So it was a warning.

34
00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,000
This is absolutely a warning. You need to be careful.

35
00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:04,000
Because those of us who teach should know better.

36
00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:16,000
And there's a lot of people who are teaching who should know better, but are leading the parade, right?

37
00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:20,000
So going in from there, we all stumble in many ways.

38
00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:27,000
Anyone who is never a fault on what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

39
00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:35,000
When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal or take ships as an example.

40
00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:49,000
Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder, whatever the pilot, or excuse me, wherever the pilot wants to go.

41
00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:55,000
So, you know, what we have to say here and what we don't say, it's important.

42
00:04:55,000 --> 00:05:07,000
What we say is very much like our actions. You can do just as much good through your action as you can through inaction.

43
00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,000
You steer the ship.

44
00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:29,000
You don't have to have a loud voice to steer the ship. Sometimes it's the smallest voice that makes the biggest impact.

45
00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:36,000
Gravity check.

46
00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:40,000
It's okay.

47
00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,000
Right?

48
00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,000
I need to get a better stand over there.

49
00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:47,000
That's my fault.

50
00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,000
All right. Picking back up at verse five.

51
00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:55,000
Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boast.

52
00:05:55,000 --> 00:06:00,000
Consider what the great forest is set afire by a small spark.

53
00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:05,000
The tongue is also a fire, a word of evil amongst the parts of the body.

54
00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:07,000
It erupts the whole body.

55
00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:15,000
Sets the whole course of one's life on fire and itself set on fire by hell.

56
00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:22,000
So we need to remember that what we say, we need to speak in love.

57
00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:26,000
We need to make sure love is absolutely there at all times.

58
00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:33,000
And when we look at the word, when we look at the commandments, right, what does it say about it?

59
00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,000
You know, does the word say love your neighbor unless?

60
00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:41,000
Love your neighbor but, love your neighbor except?

61
00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:42,000
No.

62
00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,000
It absolutely does not say that.

63
00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:58,000
Instead, if we go to Leviticus chapter 19 verse 8, it is, you know, this is one of those many places when we look at it.

64
00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:08,000
And we see this where the word tells us, you shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

65
00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:10,000
I am the Lord.

66
00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:15,000
We shouldn't be speaking to people begrudgingly, right?

67
00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:19,000
Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

68
00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:20,000
None of us like to be disrespected.

69
00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:26,000
None of us like to be talked down to, right?

70
00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,000
Anybody here like to be belittled?

71
00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,000
No?

72
00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:32,000
I don't think so.

73
00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,000
I know I don't.

74
00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:44,000
The Christians could be amongst the worst because when we go out and we tell people, it's like, you know, you're going to go to hell for that.

75
00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:49,000
It's not very loving, is it?

76
00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:52,000
Unfortunately, that's the way we talk to a lot of people.

77
00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:59,000
It's like, you know, you come from a bad place, you're going to go to hell because of it.

78
00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:01,000
Things like that.

79
00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:04,000
All the time.

80
00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:09,000
When we look at this, we see that there is no clause here that gets us out of loving others.

81
00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:13,000
That tells us it's okay for us to disrespect others.

82
00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:18,000
In fact, if anything, it's reinforcing that we need to love, right?

83
00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:28,000
And this is actually what Jesus was referring to in Mark 12 verses 29 through 31 when he summed up the greatest commandments.

84
00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:33,000
We also see it again in Matthew 22 verses 33, excuse me, 34 through 40.

85
00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:38,000
And I'll remind you, love is supposed to be a verb, not a noun.

86
00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:39,000
Love is an action.

87
00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,000
It's how we treat each other, right?

88
00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,000
And how we treat each other, it comes through our words and our actions.

89
00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,000
It's not just this meaningless, oh, I love you.

90
00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,000
We show it.

91
00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,000
Some of you all have heard me talk about this before.

92
00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,000
You think back to our elders.

93
00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:03,000
You think back to your grandparents, your grandfather, your father, uncles, that sort of thing.

94
00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:07,000
You know, especially those who are no longer with us, that older generation.

95
00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:12,000
Did they have to say, I love you, for you to know that they loved you?

96
00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:18,000
Matter of fact, if you think about it, a lot of them really didn't say that at all.

97
00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,000
If they did, it was on very rare occasions.

98
00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:35,000
But when they passed on, they were gone, when they were called home by the Lord, and you think on it, you think of all the things that they did for you, all the sacrifices that they made, the things that they taught you, the time that they spent with you,

99
00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:38,000
even if it was little time because of how much they had to work.

100
00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:43,000
And when you reflect on it, does it ever leave a question in your mind, did they love me?

101
00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:44,000
Not usually.

102
00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:48,000
For most of us, just thinking back on that is enough, and we know, I was loved.

103
00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:51,000
They loved me.

104
00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:55,000
Love is an action.

105
00:09:55,000 --> 00:10:01,000
When Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, it was an action.

106
00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:06,000
Taking on the action of the lowest, of the low, right?

107
00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:10,000
And we think about it, we think of washing feet, was it just dirt that he was washing?

108
00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:14,000
No, you think of the roads that they walked on, the types of shoes and boots that they wore at that time.

109
00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:19,000
This is the same highways, byways, and roads that all the animals, the carts, and everything else came through.

110
00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:27,000
So when he was washing their feet, he's washing dirt, mud, food, excrements.

111
00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,000
It's not a lovely picture, is it?

112
00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:39,000
A big part of why it was seen as the lowest lowest, get that stuff off my feet, right?

113
00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:48,000
So it shouldn't be just this empty vernacular that's used to give somebody a warm fuzzy.

114
00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:56,000
You know, that's not what it is.

115
00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:03,000
You know, just as Jesus showed his compassion in how he treated others.

116
00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:10,000
You know, Matthew 26 verses 36 through 45 at Gethsemane.

117
00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:15,000
Let's take a look at what the word has to say here.

118
00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:20,000
Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane.

119
00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:25,000
And he said to them, sit here while I go over there and pray.

120
00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:30,000
He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him.

121
00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:33,000
And he began to be sorrowful and troubled.

122
00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:39,000
Then he said to them, my soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.

123
00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:44,000
Stay here and keep watch with me.

124
00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:49,000
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, my father, is it possible?

125
00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,000
May this cut be taken from me.

126
00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:55,000
Yet not as I will, but as you will.

127
00:11:55,000 --> 00:12:00,000
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.

128
00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:07,000
Couldn't you men keep watch with me for one hour, he asked Peter?

129
00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,000
Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.

130
00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:14,000
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

131
00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:21,000
He went away a second time and prayed, my father, it is not possible.

132
00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:27,000
Excuse me, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.

133
00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:33,000
When he came back again, he found them sleeping because their eyes were heavy.

134
00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:40,000
So he left them, went away once more and prayed a third time saying the same thing.

135
00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:47,000
When he returned to the disciples and said to them, are you still sleeping and resting?

136
00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:53,000
Look, the hour has come and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.

137
00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:55,000
Rise, let us go.

138
00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:57,000
Here comes my betrayer.

139
00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,000
So when we look at this, we see this is Jesus.

140
00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,000
He's about to be handed over, right?

141
00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,000
He's about to start that long walk.

142
00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:08,000
He's under duress.

143
00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:11,000
He's going, he's speaking to the Father, your will be done.

144
00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:13,000
He comes back down once.

145
00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:14,000
He comes down twice.

146
00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:19,000
He comes down three times.

147
00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:24,000
You think he wasn't a little frustrated with them?

148
00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:27,000
He was fully manned, right?

149
00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:32,000
There is no one fully manned that would not be frustrated in that situation.

150
00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,000
Most of us would come down one time.

151
00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:35,000
What are you doing?

152
00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,000
Get up.

153
00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:41,000
I gave you one job, one.

154
00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:45,000
And here you are sleeping.

155
00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:49,000
That's why in the military they have fire watches, right?

156
00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:56,000
Bad things happen when everybody's eyes are closed.

157
00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:01,000
This is a little graphic, a little history from NIMI.

158
00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:02,000
In this story, it's always been broken away.

159
00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:04,000
It's kind of gone apart.

160
00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:08,000
Down there in NIMI, they have a memorial down around their headquarters building.

161
00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:12,000
They have blank faces going all the way around.

162
00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,000
And it goes all the way back to the beginning of the school.

163
00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,000
The cadets, they were out in the field.

164
00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:20,000
It was nighttime.

165
00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:21,000
Everybody went to sleep.

166
00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:26,000
One person was supposed to stay awake and keep watch.

167
00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:31,000
This is back when we're still fighting with the Native Americans, right?

168
00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:32,000
A scout party comes along.

169
00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:41,000
They see the one cadet who's supposed to be on fire watch keeping alert, sound asleep.

170
00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:45,000
So the scout party goes back, gets the rest of his group.

171
00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:46,000
They come back.

172
00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:47,000
They sneak past this guy.

173
00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:48,000
They let him sleep.

174
00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:52,000
They go into this tent where everybody else is sleeping.

175
00:14:52,000 --> 00:15:01,000
They killed every single person in there and left that one person who they knew was supposed to be keeping watch alive.

176
00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,000
To find them and to share their tale.

177
00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:12,000
So up around the building, there is a blank face for each of these people who were killed.

178
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:16,000
A little graphic, right?

179
00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:20,000
But that's part of what Jesus was alluding to here.

180
00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:25,000
He was using this as a commentary that we need to stay awake.

181
00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:28,000
We need to be vigilant, watching for sin.

182
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:34,000
Because sin sneaks into our lives where we're not paying attention.

183
00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:41,000
When we let our guard down, we let those walls down.

184
00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,000
And these sleeping men added to his dress.

185
00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:50,000
And we look at the picture that's painted here.

186
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:51,000
He comes down.

187
00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:52,000
Hey, wake up. Really?

188
00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:54,000
You're still asleep?

189
00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,000
He didn't berate them.

190
00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:59,000
He didn't call them names.

191
00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:05,000
He didn't do anything that was going to make them feel bad as a human being, right?

192
00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:06,000
He just, hey, you had a job.

193
00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:07,000
Wake up.

194
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,000
What did he say?

195
00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:13,000
He said, let's go.

196
00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:22,000
Which is a prime example of how when we're talking to people and things start to get heated, the emotions are flowing, right?

197
00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:24,000
Anyone who's been married can relate to this.

198
00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,000
We all have spouts, right?

199
00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:31,000
Siblings, even some of your friends, you spend a little too much time with them growing up.

200
00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:32,000
You kind of get tired of each other.

201
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:36,000
You start bickering, right?

202
00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:49,000
The difference was just as Jesus showed here, we cannot let those feelings, that anger, that frustration lead us to sin.

203
00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:51,000
That in itself is one of those barriers.

204
00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:56,000
And the problem is we put that up itself.

205
00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:02,000
You look at veterans, you look at first responders, you look at people in health care and other stressful situations.

206
00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:06,000
Part of the problem a lot of us have is we build up those walls.

207
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:15,000
We're always on guard to a certain point where we can't talk about things.

208
00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,000
But once we build that wall, we kind of turn and walk away.

209
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:19,000
And what happens?

210
00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:25,000
We end up walking into those sins, drinking, drugs.

211
00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:30,000
I'm not just going to say womanizing because it's also the women, but sex, just meaningless.

212
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:35,000
One night stands one after another, fighting.

213
00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:44,000
There are plenty of people who go out and they start fights, whether it's verbal or physical, because they let all this stuff build up.

214
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:49,000
And the difference here is Jesus, he just said, hey, wake up.

215
00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:50,000
You're failing.

216
00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:52,000
We can do better.

217
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:54,000
Let's go.

218
00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,000
And that's the example we all need to follow.

219
00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,000
It is the example that Christ set for us.

220
00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:00,000
You can get upset.

221
00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:01,000
You can get frustrated.

222
00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:04,000
It will happen.

223
00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:12,000
We are not guaranteed an easy life, and anyone who preaches otherwise has not actually taken time to read this book.

224
00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,000
Life is going to be full of strife.

225
00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:16,000
It's going to be full of hardship.

226
00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:22,000
And much like Jesus, we need to do our absolute best to speak out in love.

227
00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:33,000
And when it's even harder and we're not being we're not able to see the way to do this, it's because we're wrapped up in our storm and we're paying attention to it.

228
00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:35,000
And we need to actually start looking to Jesus.

229
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:36,000
And we need to pray.

230
00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:37,000
We need to speak to him.

231
00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,000
Lord, help me.

232
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:40,000
Give me the words.

233
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,000
Be the light to my feet.

234
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:49,000
Right?

235
00:18:49,000 --> 00:19:00,000
You know, politics and other hot topics aside, especially here in this nation, people like to cry about freedom of speech.

236
00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:01,000
Oh, I have the right to say this.

237
00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:03,000
I have the right to say that.

238
00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,000
All the way up to a point, right?

239
00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,000
And what's that point usually that we're seeing more and more today?

240
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:14,000
To that point that you disagree with them or you call them out.

241
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,000
Like, no, that's not right.

242
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,000
Especially when we have this book and we pull it out.

243
00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:19,000
Right.

244
00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:26,000
And what happens now at that point where they're like, oh, well, love is love.

245
00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:27,000
You're speaking against me.

246
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,000
So you don't love me.

247
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:30,000
So I'm going to talk bad about you.

248
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:31,000
I'm going to slander you.

249
00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:35,000
I'm going to try to cancel you with the terminology that they use.

250
00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:36,000
Right.

251
00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:39,000
And they're going to try to get you out of here.

252
00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:43,000
In some cases, they react to violence.

253
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:46,000
We just had riots out here just a couple years ago because people didn't agree with certain things.

254
00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:48,000
Right.

255
00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:58,000
A lot of vandalism up and down central, the university and several other, excuse me, other areas because people got caught up in the same thing.

256
00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,000
Like, oh, if it feels good, do it.

257
00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:01,000
Really?

258
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,000
No.

259
00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:04,000
That's not right.

260
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:08,000
That's not how you're supposed to act.

261
00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,000
That's chaos.

262
00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:16,000
And if we're acting in the chaos, then we're not following God.

263
00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:23,000
We're not following Jesus because we have a God of peace and order.

264
00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:30,000
Not hate and discontent.

265
00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,000
What's worse is people want to get offended for other people.

266
00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:34,000
You can't say that.

267
00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:38,000
You can't do that.

268
00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:52,000
They have no idea what's going on other than just what they heard without actually understanding the background of what's going on, without actually looking at it, doing some research, asking questions.

269
00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,000
And part of it comes down to the way people talk to each other.

270
00:20:55,000 --> 00:21:01,000
Different people and different groups have different ways of interacting.

271
00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:06,000
Sometimes what we think we're seeing and what we think we're hearing is not actually the case.

272
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:07,000
You look at jobs.

273
00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:13,000
We all have jobs that have their own vernacular, their own jargon, right?

274
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:26,000
If I were to stand up here and I say to you the words port, starboard, chit, right?

275
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:30,000
Words like this, what's the first thing that's going to come to mind for some people?

276
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:32,000
Some people are going to think, what was that?

277
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,000
That's right, ship.

278
00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:36,000
And they might be sort of close.

279
00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:38,000
They are nautical terms.

280
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:41,000
For other people, I might as well be speaking Greek.

281
00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:51,000
But to the sailor or the marine in the house, I'm saying left, right, a piece of paper.

282
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:56,000
Somebody hears chit alone and they don't have the understanding.

283
00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:01,000
Maybe I'm mispronouncing a word and saying something different.

284
00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:06,000
And all of a sudden they'll say, oh, he's got a potty mouth.

285
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:07,000
But was that what I was saying?

286
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:08,000
No.

287
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:10,000
I was talking about a piece of paper.

288
00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:11,000
And it's no different.

289
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:16,000
Health care, law enforcement.

290
00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:21,000
The church itself, we have our own vernacular, words that we say that you don't typically

291
00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:26,000
find in other places.

292
00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:29,000
Something to keep in mind with people who are young in their walk.

293
00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:31,000
They come in that door.

294
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,000
They profess Jesus.

295
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:34,000
Oh, good.

296
00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:35,000
Thanks for joining us.

297
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:40,000
And suddenly we expect them to understand and know everything.

298
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:46,000
And that's how some young people or people that are young in their walk turn and walk back out the door.

299
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:48,000
Because they really don't understand what's happening.

300
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:59,000
We haven't taken the time to explain things.

301
00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:00,000
Lost my place here.

302
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:01,000
Give me a second.

303
00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:04,000
Look at my notes here.

304
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:07,000
You know, Jesus, he died.

305
00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:11,000
And he used this example with the sleep to remind us that we need to be awake.

306
00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:13,000
We need to be on the alert.

307
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:23,000
We need to be paying attention, asking questions, no matter how hard they are, looking for the answers.

308
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,000
And we're not always going to like the answers we get.

309
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:27,000
That's a fact.

310
00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:32,000
Everybody in here has asked a question at some point in their life and gotten an answer like, really?

311
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:33,000
Are you kidding?

312
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:35,000
That's ridiculous.

313
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:40,000
Right?

314
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:43,000
But we have the answers.

315
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:48,000
We've been given a guide for a reason.

316
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:51,000
Just because we don't like it doesn't mean we don't follow what Jesus himself said.

317
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:56,000
I didn't come to do away with the law, right?

318
00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:05,000
There's laws that we have to follow here, whether we accept them or not or believe in them or not.

319
00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,000
And let's face it, sometimes we come across things in the Bible that convict us.

320
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:18,000
And we don't necessarily agree with that because we're being held and chained by the sin in our lives that we need to break free from.

321
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:27,000
You know, we think of Jesus when he went up.

322
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:33,000
And he was making that walk when it came to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and everything.

323
00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:34,000
You know, he could have yelled.

324
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:35,000
He could have screamed.

325
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,000
He could have called them names.

326
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:38,000
You know, I curse you.

327
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:44,000
And let's face it, I mean, the power of God, he could have blanked them out of existence, but he didn't do that.

328
00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:52,000
Even when the same people who were just championing him as he came in had turned on him when we're calling for his crucifixion, right?

329
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:54,000
Calling for his death.

330
00:24:54,000 --> 00:25:01,000
And rather, instead of yelling and turning, what happened?

331
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:02,000
He showed humility.

332
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,000
He showed love.

333
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:24,000
Even while he was being nailed to a tree, the most stressful of situations, one of the most horrific deaths imaginable, he still showed humbleness and love, setting that example.

334
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:36,000
And it's that sacrifice amongst others that set an example in building each other up.

335
00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:37,000
Building each other up.

336
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:38,000
What's this mean?

337
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:46,000
Simply put, it's recognizing that everybody has a set of gifts, a set of skills, right?

338
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:53,000
Different strengths, different potentials that can be used in building up the kingdom.

339
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:58,000
More often than not, though, we overlook those things.

340
00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:07,000
You know, somebody who plays an instrument and they play it well, they're looking for a place where they can go and they can share this gift.

341
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:08,000
Maybe they're giving a little upset.

342
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:10,000
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll find you something, sure.

343
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:16,000
And they're pushed to the side, right?

344
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:20,000
Maybe you have an idea when you're at work how to improve things.

345
00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:24,000
And you take it, oh, no, no, no, that's not going to work.

346
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:28,000
We're going to keep doing this because it's the way we've always done it.

347
00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:30,000
Everybody has ideas.

348
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:31,000
Everybody has potential.

349
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:43,000
Everybody has certain things that are in them, things that the Lord has spoken into them to share, not just within the body, but to share with the world, to show God's light, to share God's love.

350
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:44,000
It's like, look what the Lord has done for me.

351
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:49,000
And if he can do this for me, what can he do for you?

352
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:56,000
As Proverbs 27, 17 puts it, iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

353
00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:07,000
So we need to acknowledge each other's skills and build each other up so we can learn what each every person has to say.

354
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:13,000
Let's face it, even here, Pastor Mark is out sick.

355
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:14,000
What happens?

356
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:17,000
Somebody else comes in to speak, right?

357
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,000
We don't just shut things down.

358
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,000
It's like, no, we got one person one way.

359
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:23,000
If it's not him, then we're done.

360
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:27,000
It's bunk.

361
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,000
We have to acknowledge everybody has something.

362
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,000
I come up here, I can play the bass.

363
00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:34,000
I know a couple things on guitar.

364
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,000
I'm not a guitarist, though.

365
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:41,000
She can play guitar pretty good.

366
00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:44,000
She sings amazingly.

367
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:55,000
My singing might come out like a cat in a pillowcase, a bit swung around, you know?

368
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,000
Certain things we have an understanding of.

369
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,000
Doug, he's amazing.

370
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:05,000
You sit there and you talk with Doug and he can pull out scripture.

371
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:06,000
I have to look sometimes.

372
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:12,000
Well, more often than not, I'm not good with names and numbers.

373
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:15,000
But this man can pull it up on.

374
00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:17,000
It's amazing.

375
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:20,000
We can't push that stuff to the side.

376
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,000
All of this is meant to work together.

377
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:25,000
All of us are meant to work together, right?

378
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,000
The Bible speaks of the left hand and the right hand.

379
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:31,000
But you think about even more than that, you know, your feet.

380
00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:32,000
You go underneath that.

381
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:33,000
You have muscles.

382
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:34,000
You have tendons.

383
00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:35,000
All of them act differently.

384
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:40,000
Your heart, your lungs.

385
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:44,000
You know, Matthew 5 verses 14 through 16, Jesus says,

386
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:49,000
You are the light of the world, a town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

387
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:53,000
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.

388
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:57,000
Instead, they put it on a stand and it gives light to everyone in the house.

389
00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:06,000
The same way let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

390
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:10,000
So you have to ask yourself, what's this look like?

391
00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:18,000
Well, in the context of talking to others, it looks a little different to everybody.

392
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:22,000
You take into account speaking in tongues, for example, right?

393
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:27,000
Usually somebody brings up speaking in tongues.

394
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:32,000
They're talking about speaking in another language, right?

395
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:39,000
But what I was talking about earlier, jargon, that's another form of tongues.

396
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:49,000
See, if we break it down a little bit further, it's actually being able to speak to people in a way that they can understand.

397
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:50,000
That is what it is.

398
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:56,000
It is the most basic point.

399
00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,000
I'll paint you a picture here.

400
00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:00,000
There's a veteran.

401
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,000
He's at work. He's sitting at his desk.

402
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:06,000
He's kind of down, a little depressed.

403
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:09,000
A fellow veteran comes by, sees him at his desk.

404
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,000
Hey, dirtbag, how you doing?

405
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:15,000
See your heart at work doing nothing?

406
00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:19,000
Tell your dog I said hi, and he walks away.

407
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:23,000
Now, face value, that sounded kind of a little rough, right?

408
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,000
A little gruff.

409
00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:27,000
Guy's boss comes through a little bit later.

410
00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:29,000
Hey, Bob, how you doing?

411
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:31,000
Well, I got here this morning.

412
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:32,000
I was a little down in the dumps.

413
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,000
I wasn't feeling too good, a little depressed.

414
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:36,000
A friend came by and said hi.

415
00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:42,000
Made me feel better.

416
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:44,000
Everybody has a way to talk to people.

417
00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:48,000
Everybody has a way of talking to their friends, right?

418
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:54,000
This friend, to the stranger walking by, whoa, that was hideous.

419
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:55,000
That was horrible.

420
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,000
Why would you say such a thing?

421
00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:02,000
But to his friend, he just said, hey, I see you're sitting there,

422
00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:04,000
you're kind of down in the dumps.

423
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:05,000
Don't forget, I love you.

424
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,000
I'm here when you're ready to talk if you need me.

425
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:14,000
And he walked away.

426
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:17,000
Our friends have a way of lifting us up like that.

427
00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:19,000
That in itself is a gift.

428
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:22,000
That is also a way of speaking to people.

429
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:24,000
That is a type of tongue in itself.

430
00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:30,000
It's a language in and of itself.

431
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:33,000
Which is all the more reason when we hear things being said,

432
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:36,000
we shouldn't be getting offended for other people.

433
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:39,000
We shouldn't be jumping the gun because we don't necessarily know

434
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:44,000
what's going on or what's actually being said.

435
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:48,000
Politics is enough to get that picture across.

436
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:50,000
You try to look through some of that paperwork,

437
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:53,000
some of those laws that are passed.

438
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:57,000
Kind of feel like you need a decoder ring sometimes, right?

439
00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:01,000
Someone to translate that.

440
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:05,000
So these are things that we need to keep in mind when we're talking to others.

441
00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:10,000
1 John chapter 3 verse 15, the word says,

442
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,000
whoever hates his brother as a murderer,

443
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:17,000
you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

444
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:20,000
So we can't be out there spewing venom and then spewing love.

445
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:23,000
They don't work hand in hand like that.

446
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:27,000
They don't exist together the same way.

447
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:32,000
You don't have God's grace and sin in one place.

448
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,000
They cannot.

449
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:38,000
God will not tolerate that.

450
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,000
That's why when he calls out certain sins,

451
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:46,000
he calls them abominations, right?

452
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:49,000
It's the same thing for us.

453
00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:52,000
We cannot be speaking in hate.

454
00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:56,000
When we get mad and we start slamming somebody and putting them down,

455
00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,000
or maybe there's a group of people, right?

456
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:04,000
There's this thing that's called illusory truth effect.

457
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:09,000
Illusory truth effect is this phenomenon where you hear something over and over

458
00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:15,000
enough times, you start to believe it.

459
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:18,000
You take that person that's told they're no good.

460
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:20,000
They're worthless.

461
00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:25,000
You look at our homeless population out here and how people speak of them.

462
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:29,000
A bunch of lowlife junkies and drunks prostituting themselves

463
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:32,000
to make a quick buck so they can get high again.

464
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:36,000
This is the type of rhetoric that's spoken about them over and over again.

465
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:41,000
And yet we, as Christians, sit here and wonder,

466
00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:45,000
why aren't they doing more than what they are?

467
00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:49,000
Why aren't they picking themselves up and getting back out there,

468
00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:52,000
trying to find work?

469
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:57,000
Somebody puts you down enough times, you start to believe what they're saying.

470
00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:00,000
And what's worse is when you're struggling with addiction and the other sins

471
00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:05,000
that you're trying to overcome and you have that on top of it,

472
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:08,000
you've been turned away from the light.

473
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:13,000
It's back here and you're facing into the abyss.

474
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:15,000
How are you supposed to start marching towards the light

475
00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:19,000
if you don't even know where it's at?

476
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:23,000
For your own shadow.

477
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:27,000
And when we put people down, even if it's in the heat of the moment,

478
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:31,000
you can come back later that, oh, I didn't mean it.

479
00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:34,000
The damage has already been done.

480
00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:38,000
You know, I think back, what were we taught growing up?

481
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:42,000
Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

482
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,000
That's not true.

483
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,000
Words have power.

484
00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:54,000
Words absolutely have power, which is my last point.

485
00:34:54,000 --> 00:35:02,000
People get hung up on swearing, foul language.

486
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:07,000
Should we use it? No, we really shouldn't.

487
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:12,000
We're going to hear it. Most of us, we're still going to use it.

488
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:16,000
Should we though? No, we should be striving for something better.

489
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:19,000
However, often we kind of look in the wrong place when we look at this,

490
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:22,000
especially when we're looking in the Bible.

491
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:26,000
Like I said earlier, like the Bible tells us, we should be lifting each other up.

492
00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:30,000
Our foul language swear and swearing are two different things.

493
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:38,000
Unfortunately, today, our society and our culture uses these words interchangeably.

494
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:43,000
They've robbed some of the meaning from them.

495
00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:45,000
And I'll point you to it here in just a second.

496
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:49,000
You know, as Christians, I just want to say this is something we need to be mindful of.

497
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:53,000
We need to be on the alert for.

498
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:57,000
Because what I'm going to go into next is one of the least contested parts of the Bible,

499
00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:04,000
but one of the most legalistic parts.

500
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:09,000
How often are we out there, especially with heated arguments, you hear somebody say, oh, I swear.

501
00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:11,000
I swear to God.

502
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:17,000
If I hear somebody say this one more time, this person does this one more time, I'm going to.

503
00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:19,000
Right?

504
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:23,000
It's probably safe to say all of us in this room have said that at least once in our lives.

505
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:27,000
I know I have. Right?

506
00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:32,000
Turn with me to Genesis chapter 15, verses 8 through 16.

507
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:36,000
So Genesis 15, verses 8 through 16.

508
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:43,000
This is one of those places it's great to highlight or to underline, make a note of, you know, in the margins.

509
00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:48,000
This is something great to come back to, to review and to study for yourself.

510
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:51,000
As is all scripture, you should never just take my word or Pastor Mark's.

511
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:54,000
We should all be studying the word for ourselves. Right?

512
00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:56,000
Genesis 15, verses 8 through 16.

513
00:36:56,000 --> 00:37:02,000
The word says, but Abram said, Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?

514
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:12,000
So the Lord said to him, bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.

515
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:19,000
Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two, arranged the halves opposite of each other.

516
00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:22,000
The birds, however, he did not cut in half.

517
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:29,000
The birds of prey came down to the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

518
00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:34,000
As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

519
00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:43,000
Then the Lord said to him, Know for certain that for 400 years your descendants will be strangers in a country, not their own,

520
00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:50,000
and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there, but I will punish the nation they serve as slaves.

521
00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:53,000
And afterwards they will come out with great possessions.

522
00:37:53,000 --> 00:38:01,000
You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.

523
00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:09,000
In the fourth generation, your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.

524
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:20,000
When the sun has set and darkness had fallen, a smoking fire pot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.

525
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:25,000
On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram.

526
00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:32,000
So I want you to keep this in mind, especially the torch passing between the two pieces.

527
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:40,000
All right, and with that, keep it in mind, because this is a covenant, this is a promise that's being made.

528
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:47,000
So with that, just to give a little bit more clarity, right, turn to Jeremiah 34.

529
00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:54,000
So Jeremiah 34 verses 17 through 22.

530
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:58,000
It's Jeremiah 34, 17 through 22.

531
00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:03,000
The word says, this is what the Lord says, you have not obeyed me.

532
00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:07,000
You have not proclaimed freedom to your own people.

533
00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:16,000
So I now proclaim freedom for you, declares the Lord, freedom to fall by the sword, plague and famine.

534
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:20,000
I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth.

535
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:28,000
Those who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me.

536
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:33,000
I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces.

537
00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:43,000
The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priest and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf.

538
00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:47,000
I will deliver into the hands of the enemies who want to kill them.

539
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:56,000
Their dead bodies will come for food and the birds, excuse me, for the birds and the wild animals.

540
00:39:56,000 --> 00:40:01,000
So going back, again, this is a promise, right, a covenant, it's a promise.

541
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:05,000
That flame that was coming through the two pieces, that was the Lord.

542
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:08,000
See, these days we think of money.

543
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,000
We need to remember back then they didn't use coin the same way we did.

544
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:16,000
For most people, their livestock, their land, that was their fortune.

545
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:19,000
Remember Job when he lost all this stuff?

546
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:22,000
That was his fortune.

547
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:30,000
So when somebody had a contract, when they were making a promise, when they were giving their word and they brought out a calf.

548
00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:35,000
And in this place, we see three animals, right, and they're told to be at least three years of age.

549
00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:38,000
Why three years? To make sure that they were mature.

550
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:43,000
So these are good animals that could provide a lot for Abram at this point.

551
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:47,000
And he's being told, bring me these three, right.

552
00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:50,000
And then what happens?

553
00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:53,000
They're cut in half and separated opposite of each other.

554
00:40:53,000 --> 00:41:00,000
So back in these days, when somebody had a contract, when they made a promise, they would take these beasts, they would cut them in half.

555
00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:09,000
All parties that were involved would walk around, come full circle.

556
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:14,000
And then they'd walk up and through the two pieces of the animal.

557
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:22,000
And basically, this is a visual public proclamation saying, if I don't do what I'm supposed to, if I don't hold up my part of the bargain,

558
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:32,000
if I don't keep my word, may I be killed and torn apart like this animal.

559
00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:43,000
I swear I'm going to do what I'm supposed to, and if I don't, take the life from me.

560
00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:45,000
Let that sink in for a second.

561
00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:53,000
And yet we're out here, oh, I swear to God, Lord is my witness.

562
00:41:53,000 --> 00:42:04,000
This right here, this is the basis of the commandment, you shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.

563
00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:08,000
For the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

564
00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:15,000
That's what it's coming from, that we shouldn't be swearing,

565
00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:25,000
which makes it all the worse when somebody makes comments like this or they break their promises.

566
00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:31,000
You know, we use different derivatives even, you know, cheese and rice, GD, all that kind of stuff, right?

567
00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:34,000
We hear them out there all the time.

568
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:39,000
It doesn't matter, the intent is still there and you're still swearing.

569
00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:46,000
And the reason why we were given this commandment is because the Lord is saying, hey, I don't want part in your petty squabbles.

570
00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:51,000
I don't want any part of this ridiculous childish shenanigans.

571
00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:56,000
You keep my name out of your mouth, don't bring me into it, right?

572
00:42:56,000 --> 00:43:04,000
It's like when you're bickering with your siblings, mom, dad, and they're like, knock it off.

573
00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:12,000
That's what the Lord is saying.

574
00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:20,000
So whether you mean it or not, every time you utter these words, when you get upset, oh man, I swear,

575
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:24,000
you're bringing the Lord into a place he doesn't even want to be in.

576
00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:30,000
There's a lot of darkness there, right? A lot of hate, a lot of discontent, a lot of venom.

577
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:35,000
Jesus, he went to the cross and he paid that price for us so that we can see the error in our way,

578
00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:47,000
so we can turn from the error of our ways, so we can turn from the world to the light.

579
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:54,000
He didn't pay that price so we could speak ill of each other and treat each other like dirt.

580
00:43:54,000 --> 00:44:03,000
So we could put politics and celebrities before we put Jesus.

581
00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:09,000
Other idols that are being put before Jesus, that's not why he died for us.

582
00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:19,000
He died to give us that example, to lift us up, to empower us so that we can bring our praise

583
00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:26,000
and to glorify him, to share the gospel and to share the light with the world, right?

584
00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:35,000
So when you leave here today, you need to ask yourself, am I pushing down my neighbor

585
00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:40,000
or am I lifting them up?

586
00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:44,000
Lord, we thank you for bringing us together today.

587
00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:51,000
We thank you for this time in the Word. We thank you for loving us, making the sacrifices for us that you do

588
00:44:51,000 --> 00:45:02,000
and to gently remind us every time we need a reminder, especially when we let our emotions get the best of us.

589
00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:07,000
We ask that you steer us in the directions that we need to go and away from those that we don't,

590
00:45:07,000 --> 00:45:16,000
that you separate us from those petty arguments and the bickerings and all that selfish nonsense that goes on

591
00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:21,000
before we get caught up in it and get carried away.

592
00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:30,000
We ask that you use us so that when we come across this that we can intervene for others to shine your light

593
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:35,000
and show what you have taught and what you have said and what's right versus what's wrong

594
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:40,000
to help people no longer have a hardened heart but to soften to one another

595
00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:46,000
and to actually try to work things out in peace as you would have us do.

596
00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:50,000
Guide us all home safely and guide us through the world as only you can.

597
00:45:50,000 --> 00:45:54,000
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

598
00:45:54,000 --> 00:45:58,000
Thank you all for joining us here today at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.

599
00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:05,000
Please like, subscribe and share our podcast on any platform it is that you tune into us on.

600
00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:12,000
If you do have any questions, any prayer requests or would like to know more about our ministry,

601
00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:22,000
you can find us on our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org or on Facebook at BeTheLightSanctuary.

602
00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:28,000
You can also find how to contact us there whether it's direct message or email.

603
00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:56,000
We look forward to hearing from you all. God bless.